me gusta jugar a juegos
/me ɡusta xuɡaɾ a xweɡos/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "I like to play games" is expressed as me gusta jugar a juegos.
The phrase me gusta jugar a juegos is used to express a personal enjoyment of playing games. In modern Spanish, if you are specifically referring to video games, it is more natural to say jugar videojuegos rather than jugar a juegos.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, it is common to use jugar juegos de computadora to refer to playing video games.
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding the definite article los before juegos changes the meaning from a general preference for games to a preference for specific games, as in me gusta jugar a los juegos (I like to play the games). If you want to say "I like games" without the verb "to play", you must change the verb gusta to gustan to agree with the plural noun juegos, resulting in me gustan los juegos.
How do you pronounce it?
/me ɡusta xuɡaɾ a xweɡos/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use yo gusto jugar juegos to mean "I like to play games". In Spanish, the subject is the activity, not the person, so you must use me gusta.
Did you know?
- The verb jugar shares a common ancestor with the English word 'joke'.
- While jugar means 'to play', the word for a 'toy' is juguete, showing how the language derives physical objects from the action of playing.
- The Spanish structure for 'I like' actually translates more closely to 'It is pleasing to me' rather than 'I like'.
Examples in context
- Me gusta jugar a los videojuegos durante mi tiempo libre.I like to play video games in my free time.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their hobbies.
- MaríaHola Alejandro, ¿qué haces los fines de semana?Hello Alejandro, what do you do on weekends?
- AlejandroNormalmente, me gusta jugar a juegos en la consola.Normally, I like to play games on the console.
- María¡Qué bien! A mí también me gusta jugar a juegos.That's great! I like to play games too.
- AlejandroEntonces, podemos jugar juntos algún día.Then, we can play together some day.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, jugar, me, CC BY-SA 4.0.
