u→ue

Stem-Changing Verb Jugar

Level 1

In the present tense, the 'u' in 'jugar' changes to 'ue' for 'yo', 'tú', 'él/ella/usted', and 'ellos/ellas/ustedes'.

How It Works

The verb jugar (to play) is a unique stem-changing verb in Spanish. It's the most common verb where the stem vowel u changes to ue in the present indicative.

In the six-form table below, nosotros and vosotros retain u. In many voseante regions, familiar vos jugás also retains u. Because of this pattern, these verbs are often called 'boot verbs'. If you draw a line around the conjugated forms that change, it looks like a boot!

Here is the six-form present-indicative table:

  • Yo juego (I play)
  • Tú juegas (You play)
  • Él/Ella/Usted juega (He/She/You play)
  • Nosotros/as jugamos (We play) - No stem change!
  • Vosotros/as jugáis (You all play) - No stem change!
  • Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes juegan (They/You all play)

Notice that after the stem changes from 'jug-' to 'jueg-', you still add the regular -ar verb endings.

This is not a rule for every tense. The imperfect uses jugaba; the present subjunctive includes spelling changes such as juegue and juguemos. Jugar a un deporte and, in much of the Americas, jugar un deporte are both established constructions; the native examples here show both patterns.

Examples (5)

  1. Yo juego al tenis los sábados.

    I play tennis on Saturdays.

    Word by Word: I play to the tennis the Saturdays.

  2. ¿Tú juegas videojuegos?

    Do you play video games?

    Word by Word: You play video games?

  3. Mi hermana juega muy bien al ajedrez.

    My sister plays chess very well.

    Word by Word: My sister plays very well to the chess.

  4. Nosotros jugamos a las cartas con nuestros abuelos.

    We play cards with our grandparents.

    Word by Word: We play to the cards with our grandparents.

    Notice there is no stem change for the 'nosotros' form.

  5. Ellos juegan en el equipo de la escuela.

    They play on the school team.

    Word by Word: They play in the team of the school.

Common Mistakes

  • Applying the stem change to the 'nosotros' form.

    Nosotros juegamos al baloncesto.
    Nosotros jugamos al baloncesto.

    In the present indicative, nosotros jugamos and vosotros jugáis retain u; the common vos form jugás does too. Nosotros juegamos is not the form taught here.

  • Forgetting the stem change for the 'yo' form.

    Yo jugo con mi perro.
    Yo juego con mi perro.

    The present-indicative yo form is juego, with stressed ue. Do not extend that rule to every yo form in other tenses.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

u→ueLevel 1Stem-Changing Verb Jugar

Learn This First

To understand the stem change in 'jugar', learners must first be familiar with regular -ar verb conjugations. Additionally, having experience with other stem-changing patterns like o→ue provides the necessary conceptual framework for how vowels shift in the root of a verb while maintaining standard endings.

Words in This Pattern

jugar