Giocare Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

giocare — to play — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, regular -are verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to play a game or a sport, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the -care stem keeps its hard c by inserting h before e and i, so the tu form is giochi and the future is giocherò. On this page you will find giocare in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the giocare conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the giocare present tense page.

Example sentences with giocare

In the present tense

  • “Io gioco a calcio ogni giorno.” — “I play football”
  • “Tu giochi a calcio ogni giorno.” — “You play football”
  • “Lui gioca a calcio ogni giorno.” — “He plays football”
  • “Noi giochiamo a calcio ogni giorno.” — “We play football”
  • “Voi giocate a calcio ogni giorno.” — “You play football”
  • “Loro giocano a calcio ogni giorno.” — “They play football”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “I have played football”
  • “Tu hai giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “You have played football”
  • “Lui ha giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “He has played football”
  • “Noi abbiamo giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “We have played football”
  • “Voi avete giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “You have played football”
  • “Loro hanno giocato a calcio questa settimana.” — “They have played football”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Io giocavo a calcio una volta.” — “I used to play football”
  • “Tu giocherai a calcio domani.” — “You will play football”
  • “Lui giocherebbe a calcio un giorno.” — “He would play football”
  • “È importante che noi giochiamo a calcio.” — “It is important that we play football”
  • “Gioca a calcio!” — “Play football!”

How giocare is used

The first thing to know about giocare is its core meaning: to play. It means to play a game or a sport, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the -care stem keeps its hard c by inserting h before e and i, so the tu form is giochi and the future is giocherò. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the passato prossimo, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company giocare keeps. The present io form is gioco, and it pairs naturally with the time words ogni giorno and sempre for habits, and with adesso for what is happening right now. The passato prossimo io form is ho giocato, and it pairs with ieri and questa settimana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what giocare does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need gioco, never giocare. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho giocato, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle giocato is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Giocare in context

Io gioco a calcio ogni giorno. Tu giochi a calcio ogni giorno. Lui gioca a calcio ogni giorno. Noi giochiamo a calcio ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of giocare is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — gioco, giochi, gioca, giochiamo — while the meaning stays the same: to play. Io ho giocato a calcio questa settimana. Tu hai giocato a calcio questa settimana. Lui ha giocato a calcio questa settimana. Noi abbiamo giocato a calcio questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of giocare appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to play — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Io giocare a calcio.”

✓ Right: “Io gioco a calcio ogni giorno.”

The infinitive giocare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form gioco.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io giochi a calcio.”

✓ Right: “Io gioco a calcio ogni giorno.”

giochi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is gioco — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io gioco a calcio ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho giocato a calcio questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho giocato here, not the present gioco.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono giocato a calcio.”

✓ Right: “Io ho giocato a calcio questa settimana.”

giocare takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho giocato — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on giocare across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of giocare in the Present indicative?

    • A) gioco
    • B) giochi
    • C) gioca
    • D) giochiamo

  2. What is the io form of giocare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai giocato
    • B) ha giocato
    • C) ho giocato
    • D) abbiamo giocato

  3. What is the lui/lei form of giocare in the Imperfect?

    • A) giocavo
    • B) giocavi
    • C) giocavamo
    • D) giocava

  4. What is the noi form of giocare in the Future?

    • A) giocheremo
    • B) giocherò
    • C) giocherai
    • D) giocherà

  5. What is the tu form of giocare in the Conditional?

    • A) giocherei
    • B) giocheresti
    • C) giocherebbe
    • D) giocheremmo

  6. What is the io form of giocare in the Passato remoto?

    • A) giocasti
    • B) giocò
    • C) giocai
    • D) giocammo

  7. What is the noi form of giocare in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) giochi
    • B) giochiate
    • C) giochino
    • D) giochiamo

  8. What is the gerund of giocare?

    • A) giocando
    • B) giocato
    • C) giocare
    • D) gioco

  9. What is the past participle of giocare?

    • A) giocando
    • B) giocato
    • C) giocare
    • D) gioco

  10. What does giocare mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to play
  • D) to do, to make

Answer key

  1. B) giochi — the correct form is giochi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho giocato — the correct form is ho giocato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) giocava — the correct form is giocava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) giocheremo — the correct form is giocheremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) giocheresti — the correct form is giocheresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) giocai — the correct form is giocai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) giochiamo — the correct form is giochiamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) giocando — the correct form is giocando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) giocato — the correct form is giocato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to play — the correct form is to play. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does giocare mean in English?

giocare means “to play”. You use it whenever you talk about to play in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.

Is giocare regular or irregular?

giocare is regular. giocare is regular: every form follows the standard -are endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of giocare?

The gerund is giocando and the past participle is giocato. The perfect tenses use avere + giocato.

Where can I see the full conjugation of giocare?

On the giocare conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The giocare present tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for giocare, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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