Is it said differently in some regions?
There is a regional difference in how the phrase is constructed: in Spain, it is more standard to use the preposition a in the phrase jugar a los videojuegos, whereas in many Latin American dialects, the a is often omitted, resulting in jugar videojuegos.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the indirect object pronoun me (to me) and the verb gustar (to be pleasing), so it literally translates to "playing video games is pleasing to me". If you wish to say you like the video games themselves rather than the act of playing them, you must change the verb to me gustan los videojuegos to match the plural noun videojuegos.
How do you pronounce it?
/me ɡusta xuɡaɾ a los bideoxweɡos/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid saying yo gusto jugar to mean "I like to play". English speakers often make this error, but in Spanish, the verb gustar requires the indirect object pronoun me and does not use yo as the subject.
Did you know?
- While me gusta is used for hobbies, saying me gustas to another person usually means 'I am attracted to you' rather than just liking their personality.
- The English word 'joke' and the Spanish verb jugar are distant relatives, both tracing their roots back to the Latin word iocus, which meant 'joke' or 'jest'.
- The word juego does not only mean 'game' but also 'set'. For instance, a 'set of tools' is called un juego de herramientas.
Examples in context
- Me encanta jugar videojuegos.I love playing video games
- Me fascina jugar videojuegos.I'm fascinated by playing video games
- Me apasiona jugar videojuegos.I'm passionate about playing video games
- Me gusta jugar videojuegos de aventura.I like playing adventure video games
- Disfruto jugando a Mario Kart.I enjoy playing Mario Kart
- Me gusta jugar videojuegos con mis amigos.I like playing video games with my friends
- Me gusta jugar a los videojuegos con mis amigos.I like playing video games with my friends.
- Me gusta jugar a los videojuegos en mi tiempo libre.I like playing video games in my free time.
Example conversation
Javier and Lucía are talking about their hobbies at a cafe.
- Javier¿Qué haces para divertirte, Lucía?What do you do for fun, Lucía?
- LucíaA mí me gusta leer, ¿y a ti?I like reading, and you?
- JavierA mí me gusta jugar a los videojuegos.I like playing video games.
- Lucía¡Qué bien! Es un pasatiempo genial.That's great! It is a cool hobby.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, jugar, los, me, CC BY-SA 4.0.
