Jouer Conjugation in French
jouer means “to play” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 37 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about playing football on Sundays, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of jouer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: jouer
- English: to play
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: jouant
- Past participle: joué
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read jouer in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about jouer
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle joué. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is jouant and the participle is joué: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for jouer. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joue |
| tu | joues |
| il/elle | joue |
| nous | jouons |
| vous | jouez |
| ils/elles | jouent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je joue du piano tous les jours tous les jours.” — “I play the piano every day every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | jouai |
| tu | jouas |
| il/elle | joua |
| nous | jouâmes |
| vous | jouâtes |
| ils/elles | jouèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu jouas du piano tous les jours hier.” — “You played the piano every day yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | jouais |
| tu | jouais |
| il/elle | jouait |
| nous | jouions |
| vous | jouiez |
| ils/elles | jouaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il jouait du piano tous les jours autrefois.” — “He used to play the piano every day in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | jouerai |
| tu | joueras |
| il/elle | jouera |
| nous | jouerons |
| vous | jouerez |
| ils/elles | joueront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je jouerai du piano tous les jours demain.” — “I will play the piano every day tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | jouerais |
| tu | jouerais |
| il/elle | jouerait |
| nous | jouerions |
| vous | joueriez |
| ils/elles | joueraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu jouerais du piano tous les jours un jour.” — “You would play the piano every day one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai joué |
| tu | as joué |
| il/elle | a joué |
| nous | avons joué |
| vous | avez joué |
| ils/elles | ont joué |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a joué du piano tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has played the piano every day this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais joué |
| tu | avais joué |
| il/elle | avait joué |
| nous | avions joué |
| vous | aviez joué |
| ils/elles | avaient joué |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais joué du piano tous les jours avant la fête.” — “I had played the piano every day before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai joué |
| tu | auras joué |
| il/elle | aura joué |
| nous | aurons joué |
| vous | aurez joué |
| ils/elles | auront joué |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras joué du piano tous les jours pour demain.” — “You will have played the piano every day by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais joué |
| tu | aurais joué |
| il/elle | aurait joué |
| nous | aurions joué |
| vous | auriez joué |
| ils/elles | auraient joué |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait joué du piano tous les jours hier.” — “He would have played the piano every day yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joue |
| tu | joues |
| il/elle | joue |
| nous | jouions |
| vous | jouiez |
| ils/elles | jouent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je joue du piano tous les jours.” — “It is important that I play the piano every day.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | jouasse |
| tu | jouasses |
| il/elle | jouât |
| nous | jouassions |
| vous | jouassiez |
| ils/elles | jouassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu jouasses du piano tous les jours.” — “It is important that you play the piano every day.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | joue |
| nous | jouons |
| vous | jouez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Joue du piano tous les jours !” — “Play the piano every day!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | joue |
| nous | jouons |
| vous | jouez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne joue pas du piano tous les jours.” — “Do not play the piano every day.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en jouant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En jouant au football le dimanche, je passe un bon moment.” — “While playing football on Sundays, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | joué |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai joué au football le dimanche cette semaine.” — “I have played football on Sundays this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with jouer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.”
- “Tu jouas du piano tous les jours hier.” — “You played the piano every day yesterday.”
- “Il jouait avec mes enfants au parc autrefois.” — “He used to play with my children in the park in the past.”
- “Je jouerai au football le dimanche demain.” — “I will play football on Sundays tomorrow.”
- “Tu jouerais du piano tous les jours un jour.” — “You would play the piano every day one day.”
- “Il a joué avec mes enfants au parc cette semaine.” — “He has played with my children in the park this week.”
- “J'avais joué au football le dimanche avant la fête.” — “I had played football on Sundays before the party.”
- “Tu auras joué du piano tous les jours pour demain.” — “You will have played the piano every day by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il joue avec mes enfants au parc.” — “It is important that he play with my children in the park.”
- “Joue au football le dimanche !” — “Play football on Sundays!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form joue.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je jouent au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je joue au football le dimanche.”
jouent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with joue.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je jouai au football le dimanche tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.”
The passé simple jouai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present joue.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je joue au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je joue au football le dimanche.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use joue here, not the indicative joue.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis joué au football le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je ai joué au football le dimanche.”
The passé composé of jouer is formed with avoir plus the past participle joué: the je form is ai joué. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “joue” written without its accent
✓ Right: “joue”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on jouer. Choose the right form, 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 il/elle form of jouer in the Passé simple?
- A) jouâmes
- B) joua
- C) jouai
- D) jouas
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 perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a joué
- B) ai joué
- C) as joué
- D) avons joué
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 Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) jouât
- B) jouassions
- C) jouasse
- D) jouasses
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.
- B) joua — the il/elle form of jouer in the Passé simple is joua. 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.
- 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) joue — the il/elle form of jouer in the Present subjunctive is joue. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) jouasse — the je form of jouer in the Imperfect subjunctive is jouasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en jouant — the gerund of jouer is en jouant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. 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: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is jouant and the past participle is joué.
What are the gerund and past participle of jouer?
The gerund is jouant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is joué — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai joué.
Which auxiliary does jouer take in the passé composé?
jouer takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai joué. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle joué.
How do I say “I play” in French?
Say “Je joue au football le dimanche tous les jours.” — “I play football on Sundays every day.” The je form of the present is joue, and it is the form you will use most often.
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 Conjugator — practise jouer with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise jouer with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise jouer with the interactive tool.