jugué
/xuɡe/from spelling rules
jugué is the Spanish way to say "I played".
When you want to say you played a specific game or sport, Spanish often uses the construction jugar a followed by the game or sport, such as jugar al fútbol.
Which one should you use?
While jugué refers to a completed action in the past, the form jugaba is used for habitual actions or to say "I was playing" in the imperfect tense.
How does it change in a sentence?
jugué is the first-person singular preterite indicative of the verb jugar.
How do you pronounce it?
/xuɡe/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say jugué with a 'g' sound like 'game', but the 'u' is part of a digraph gu to keep the 'g' hard before the 'e'.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the verb jugar cannot be used to describe playing a musical instrument. To say 'I played the piano', you must use the verb tocar, which literally means 'to touch'.
- To say 'I played a role' in a theater production or film, Spanish uses actuar instead of jugar.
- If you want to say 'I played a prank', you would use the verb hacer instead of jugar. While English uses 'play' for pranks, Spanish considers a prank to be something you 'make' rather than something you 'play'.
Examples in context
- Jugué con mi hermano.I played with my brother.This sentence shows how to use jugué to describe playing with a person.Tatoeba #10028734 by Shishir, translation #679479 by CK
- Ayer jugué al ajedrez.Yesterday I played chess.This sentence demonstrates using jugué in the context of playing chess.Tatoeba #13706159 by ecorralest101, translation #13706156 by ddnktr
- Jugué tenis todo el día.I played tennis all day.This sentence illustrates the use of jugué when talking about playing tennis.Tatoeba #1580288 by marcelostockle, translation #528449 by fanty
- Hoy jugué al fútbol con mis amigos.Today, I played soccer with my friends.
- He jugado tenis durante muchos años.I have played tennis for many years.
- 20 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Lucía are discussing their weekend activities.
- Mateo¿Jugaste al fútbol ayer?Did you play soccer yesterday?
- LucíaSí, jugué con el equipo de la escuela.Yes, I played with the school team.
- Mateo¡Qué bien! ¿Ganaste el partido?That's great! Did you win the match?
- LucíaNo, pero jugué muy bien.No, but I played very well.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
