Spielen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Spielen means “to play”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — 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 spielen, 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 spielen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.” — “I play football on Sunday.”
  2. “Du spielst Klavier jeden Tag.” — “You play the piano every day.”
  3. “Ich habe mit den Kindern im Park gespielt.” — “I have played with the children in the park.”
  4. “Er spielte Fußball am Sonntag.” — “He played football on Sunday.”
  5. “Wir werden Klavier jeden Tag spielen.” — “We will play the piano every day.”
  6. “Du hast mit den Kindern im Park gespielt.” — “You have played with the children in the park.”
  7. “Ich spielte Fußball am Sonntag.” — “I would play football on Sunday.”
  8. “Er spiele Klavier jeden Tag.” — “He plays the piano every day.”
  9. “Wir hatten mit den Kindern im Park gespielt.” — “We had played with the children in the park.”
  10. “Er wird Fußball am Sonntag spielen.” — “He will play football on Sunday.”
  11. “Sie spielen Klavier jeden Tag.” — “They play the piano every day.”
  12. “Spiel mit den Kindern im Park!” — “Play with the children in the park!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about football on Sunday. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how spielen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of spielen below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Spielst du Fußball am Sonntag?” — “You play football on Sunday?” Jonas: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.” — “I play football on Sunday.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde Klavier jeden Tag spielen.” — “I will play the piano every day.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe mit den Kindern im Park gespielt.” — “I have played with the children in the park.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich spielte Fußball am Sonntag.” — “I would play football on Sunday.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II 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.

Spielen in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of spielen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, spielen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is spiele: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.” — “I play football on Sunday.”

The preterite: the past as a finished event

In the preterite, spielen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is spielte: “Er spielte Klavier jeden Tag.” — “He played the piano every day.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, spielen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gespielt. The ich form is habe gespielt: “Ich habe mit den Kindern im Park gespielt.” — “I have played with the children in the park.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, spielen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden spielen: “Wir werden Fußball am Sonntag spielen.” — “We will play football on Sunday.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, spielen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is spieltest: “Du spieltest Klavier jeden Tag.” — “You would play the piano every day.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In reported speech, spielen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is spiele: “Er spiele mit den Kindern im Park.” — “He plays with the children in the park.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich spielen Fußball am Sonntag.”

✓ Right: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.”

The infinitive spielen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form spiele.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du spiele Fußball am Sonntag.”

✓ Right: “Du spielst Fußball am Sonntag.”

spiele is the ich form. With du you need spielst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe Fußball am Sonntag gespielt.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gespielt, not the present.

Using the indicative in reported speech

✗ Wrong: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.” (quoted as reported speech)

✓ Right: “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.” (quoted as reported speech)

In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: spiele, not the indicative spiele.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich gespielt Fußball am Sonntag.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe Fußball am Sonntag gespielt.”

The Perfekt of spielen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gespielt: the full ich form is habe gespielt.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on spielen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of spielen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) spielt
    • B) spielen
    • C) spiele
    • D) spielst

  2. What is the du form of spielen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) spielst
    • B) spiele
    • C) spielt
    • D) spielen

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of spielen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) hast gespielt
    • B) haben gespielt
    • C) hat gespielt
    • D) habe gespielt

  4. What is the wir form of spielen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) spielten
    • B) spielte
    • C) spieltest
    • D) spieltet

  5. What is the du form of spielen in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) werde spielen
    • B) wird spielen
    • C) werden spielen
    • D) wirst spielen

  6. What is the ich form of spielen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?

    • A) spielten
    • B) spieltet
    • C) spielte
    • D) spieltest

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of spielen in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) spielen
    • B) spielet
    • C) spiele
    • D) spielest

  8. What is the ich form of spielen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hattet gespielt
    • B) hatte gespielt
    • C) hattest gespielt
    • D) hatten gespielt

  9. What is the past participle of spielen?

    • A) gehört
    • B) gefühlt
    • C) gewohnt
    • D) gespielt

  10. What does spielen mean in English?

  • A) to hear
  • B) to feel
  • C) to live
  • D) to play

Answer key

  1. C) spiele — the ich form of spielen in the Present (Präsens) is spiele. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. A) spielst — the du form of spielen in the Present (Präsens) is spielst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. C) hat gespielt — the er/sie/es form of spielen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gespielt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) spielten — the wir form of spielen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is spielten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. D) wirst spielen — the du form of spielen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst spielen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) spielte — the ich form of spielen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is spielte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. C) spiele — the er/sie/es form of spielen in the Konjunktiv I is spiele. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. B) hatte gespielt — the ich form of spielen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gespielt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. D) gespielt — the past participle of spielen is gespielt. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. D) to play — spielen means “to play” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does spielen mean in English?

spielen means “to play”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is spielen regular or irregular?

spielen is regular in every tense. The present participle is spielend and the past participle is gespielt.

How do I practise spielen every day?

Say one sentence with spielen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich spiele Fußball am Sonntag.”, “Ich habe Fußball am Sonntag gespielt.” and “Ich werde Fußball am Sonntag spielen.”. 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 spielen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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