French guides · Verb tables + audio
Jouer: à for sport, de for instruments.
Jouer means “to play”, and the conjugation could not be simpler — it is a model -er verb with no stem change and no spelling quirk anywhere. The page exists for the preposition. French splits playing in two: you play à a game and de an instrument, and the choice is not stylistic. Use the wrong one and the sentence is wrong.
Présent — nothing to watch
Stem jou- plus the standard endings. The only thing to note is that joue, joues, joue and jouent are all pronounced “zhoo” — the silent-ending rule doing its usual work.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je joue | I play | |
| tu joues | you play | |
| il / elle joue | he / she plays | |
| nous jouons | we play | |
| vous jouez | you play | |
| ils / elles jouent | they play |
Jouer à or jouer de?
Sports and games take à. Musical instruments take de. Both contract with the article that follows, which is where most of the difficulty actually lives.
| French | Means | Contraction |
|---|---|---|
| je joue au tennis | I play tennis | à + le → au |
| je joue aux cartes | I play cards | à + les → aux |
| je joue à la pétanque | I play pétanque | à la stays |
| je joue du piano | I play the piano | de + le → du |
| je joue de la guitare | I play the guitar | de la stays |
| je joue des percussions | I play percussion | de + les → des |
You play against something in a game — an opponent, a rule set — which fits à, the preposition of direction. You play music out of an instrument, which fits de, the preposition of origin. It is not the historical reason, but it holds.
Jouer avec is playing with something as a toy or a companion — le chat joue avec la balle. Jouer un rôle (to play a part) takes no preposition at all.
Passé composé — joué
Regular: joué, with avoir. J’ai joué au foot.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai joué | I played / have played | |
| tu as joué | you played / have played | |
| il / elle a joué | he / she played / have played | |
| nous avons joué | we played / have played | |
| vous avez joué | you played / have played | |
| ils / elles ont joué | they played / have played |
Imparfait — and a doubled vowel
Je jouais, the tense for what you used to play as a child.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je jouais | I used to play / was playing | |
| tu jouais | you used to play / was playing | |
| il / elle jouait | he / she used to play / was playing | |
| nous jouions | we used to play / was playing | |
| vous jouiez | you used to play / was playing | |
| ils / elles jouaient | they used to play / was playing |
The stem ends in u and the ending begins with i, giving jouions — very close in sound to the présent jouons. Same near-collision as voyons / voyions.
Futur and conditionnel
The full infinitive as stem: je jouerai. The e in the middle is silent, so it sounds like “zhoo-RAY”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je jouerai | I will play | |
| tu joueras | you will play | |
| il / elle jouera | he / she will play | |
| nous jouerons | we will play | |
| vous jouerez | you will play | |
| ils / elles joueront | they will play |
Conditionnel — would play
Je jouerais. On jouerait aux cartes ? is a soft way of proposing a game.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je jouerais | I would play | |
| tu jouerais | you would play | |
| il / elle jouerait | he / she would play | |
| nous jouerions | we would play | |
| vous joueriez | you would play | |
| ils / elles joueraient | they would play |
Subjonctif — regular
Identical to the présent in four forms, as with every regular -er verb.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je joue | (that) I play | |
| tu joues | (that) you play | |
| il / elle joue | (that) he / she play | |
| nous jouions | (that) we play | |
| vous jouiez | (that) you play | |
| ils / elles jouent | (that) they play |
Impératif — your turn
Joue ! with no s, jouons, jouez. At a table, the phrase for “your turn” is à toi de jouer.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| joue ! | play! (to one person you know) | |
| jouons ! | let’s play! | |
| jouez ! | play! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had played
J’avais joué.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais joué | I had played | |
| tu avais joué | you had played | |
| il / elle avait joué | he / she had played | |
| nous avions joué | we had played | |
| vous aviez joué | you had played | |
| ils / elles avaient joué | they had played |
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Quick answers
Jouer, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.