Fala Gringo › Verbs › jogar
jogar — to play (sports), to throw
Full conjugation of jogar in the tenses that matter for everyday speech, with pronunciation hints in the Rio (carioca) accent and example sentences the way Brazilians actually talk — not textbook European Portuguese.
How to use jogar in Brazilian Portuguese
Jogar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to play (sports), to throw. It is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises — only the spelling shifts in joguei to keep the sound of the stem, which is orthography, not irregularity.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: eu jogo — I play (sport / game). The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu joguei — I played. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu jogava — I used to play / was playing.
Said the Rio way, jogo sounds like ZHOH-goo. The nós form jogamos ends in the carioca “sh”, zhoh-GAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | jogoI play (sport / game) | ZHOH-goo | Eu jogo futebol no fim de semana. |
| você / ele / ela | jogayou play (sport / game) | ZHOH-gah | Você joga vôlei na praia? |
| nós | jogamoswe play (sport / game) | zhoh-GAH-moosh | Nós jogamos futebol toda semana. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jogamyou all play (sport / game) | ZHOH-gahng | Vocês jogam no mesmo time? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | jogueiI played | zhoh-GAY | Eu joguei futebol ontem. |
| você / ele / ela | jogouyou played | zhoh-GOH | Você jogou videogame a noite toda? |
| nós | jogamoswe played | zhoh-GAH-moosh | Nós jogamos cartas no sábado. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jogaramyou all played | zhoh-GAH-rahng | Vocês jogaram no parque? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | jogavaI used to play / was playing | zho-GAH-vah | Eu jogava bola na rua todo dia. |
| você / ele / ela | jogavayou used to play / were playing | zho-GAH-vah | Você jogava videogame depois da escola? |
| nós | jogávamoswe used to play / were playing | zho-GAH-vah-moosh | Nós jogávamos cartas na varanda. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jogavamyou all used to play / were playing | zho-GAH-vahng | Vocês jogavam futebol no sábado? |
More “Rotina e lazer” verbs
- comer to eat
- beber to drink
- tomar to take (a shower, a coffee, medicine)
- cozinhar to cook
- almoçar to have lunch
- jantar to have dinner
- assistir to watch
- escutar to listen (actively)
- dançar to dance
- viajar to travel
- descansar to rest
- praticar to practice
- treinar to train
- curtir to enjoy (slang)
- aproveitar to make the most of, to take advantage of
- frequentar to attend, to go regularly
- torcer to root for, to cheer (for a team)
- brincar to play (kids), to joke
- nadar to swim
- passear to go for a walk, to stroll
- ganhar to win, to earn
- perder to lose