Jouer: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Jouer means “to play”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for jouer, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with jouer, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.”
- “Tu joues du piano tous les jours tous les jours.” — “You play the piano every day every day.”
- “J'ai joué avec mes enfants au parc cette semaine.” — “I have played with my children in the park this week.”
- “Il jouait au football le dimanche autrefois.” — “He used to play football on Sundays in the past.”
- “Nous jouerons du piano tous les jours demain.” — “We will play the piano every day tomorrow.”
- “Tu as joué avec mes enfants au parc cette semaine.” — “You have played with my children in the park this week.”
- “Je jouerais au football le dimanche un jour.” — “I would play football on Sundays one day.”
- “Il est important que il joue du piano tous les jours.” — “It is important that he play the piano every day.”
- “Nous avions joué avec mes enfants au parc avant la fête.” — “We had played with my children in the park before the party.”
- “Il jouera au football le dimanche demain.” — “He will play football on Sundays tomorrow.”
- “Ils jouent du piano tous les jours tous les jours.” — “They play the piano every day every day.”
- “Joue avec mes enfants au parc !” — “Play with my children in the park!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about football on Sundays. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how jouer changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of jouer below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je jouerai du piano tous les jours demain.” — “I will play the piano every day tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai joué avec mes enfants au parc cette semaine.” — “I have played with my children in the park this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je jouerais au football le dimanche un jour.” — “I would play football on Sundays one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Jouer in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of jouer that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, jouer describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is joue: “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, jouer describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is jouait: “Il jouait du piano tous les jours autrefois.” — “He used to play the piano every day in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, jouer reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle joué. The je form is ai joué: “J'ai joué avec mes enfants au parc cette semaine.” — “I have played with my children in the park this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, jouer talks about what will happen. The nous form is jouerons: “Nous jouerons au football le dimanche demain.” — “We will play football on Sundays tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, jouer talks about what would happen. The tu form is jouerais: “Tu jouerais du piano tous les jours un jour.” — “You would play the piano every day one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, jouer appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is joue, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je joue avec mes enfants au parc.” — “It is important that I play with my children in the park.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je jouer au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je joue au football le dimanche.”
The infinitive jouer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form joue.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu joue au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Tu joues au football le dimanche.”
joue is the je form. With tu you need joues. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je joue au football le dimanche hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai joué au football le dimanche hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai joué, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu joues du piano tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu joues du piano tous les jours.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: joues, not the indicative joues.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je joué au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je ai joué au football le dimanche.”
The passé composé of jouer needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle joué: the full je form is ai joué.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on jouer. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of jouer in the Present indicative?
- A) jouez
- B) joue
- C) joues
- D) jouons
What is the tu form of jouer in the Present indicative?
- A) jouons
- B) jouez
- C) joues
- D) joue
What is the il/elle form of jouer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a joué
- B) ai joué
- C) as joué
- D) avons joué
What is the nous form of jouer in the Imperfect?
- A) jouiez
- B) jouions
- C) jouais
- D) jouait
What is the tu form of jouer in the Future?
- A) jouerai
- B) jouera
- C) jouerons
- D) joueras
What is the je form of jouer in the Conditional?
- A) jouerions
- B) joueriez
- C) jouerais
- D) jouerait
What is the il/elle form of jouer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) jouiez
- B) joue
- C) joues
- D) jouions
What is the je form of jouer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez joué
- B) avais joué
- C) avait joué
- D) avions joué
What is the gerund of jouer?
- A) en jouant
- B) en connaissant
- C) en devenant
- D) en revenant
What does jouer mean in English?
- A) to know (a person)
- B) to become
- C) to come back
- D) to play
Answer key
- B) joue — the je form of jouer in the Present indicative is joue. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) joues — the tu form of jouer in the Present indicative is joues. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a joué — the il/elle form of jouer in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a joué. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) jouions — the nous form of jouer in the Imperfect is jouions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) joueras — the tu form of jouer in the Future is joueras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) jouerais — the je form of jouer in the Conditional is jouerais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) joue — the il/elle form of jouer in the Present subjunctive is joue. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais joué — the je form of jouer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais joué. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en jouant — the gerund of jouer is en jouant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to play — jouer means “to play” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does jouer mean in English?
jouer means “to play”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is jouer regular or irregular?
jouer is regular in every tense. The gerund is jouant and the past participle is joué.
How do I practise jouer every day?
Say one sentence with jouer in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.”, “J'ai joué au football le dimanche cette semaine.” and “Je jouerai au football le dimanche demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for jouer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of jouer — every tense of jouer in one place.
- Jouer in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Jouer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Connaître conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Devenir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Revenir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise jouer with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise jouer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise jouer with the interactive tool.