# To play



## BlueWolf

I was curious to know: how many languages use the same verb for "to play (a game)", "to play (an instrument)", "to play (at theater)"?
Once I though only English, but then someone told me French does as well.
Surely Italian doesn't.


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## Outsider

I don't think that French uses _jouer_ in a theatrical context.


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## Whodunit

In German, it is possible to use "spielen" for any case:

to play a game: ein Spiel spielen
to play the guitar: Gitarre spielen
to play an important role: eine wichtige Rolle spielen


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## Outsider

Whodunit said:


> to play an important role: eine wichtige Rolle spielen


Ah, _jouer un rôle_! That does make sense.


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## avalon2004

In Spanish there are four verbs with distinct meanings for "to play":
*Jugar* =  "to play a game or sport"
*Tocar *= "to play an instrument"
*Practicar* = sometimes for "to play a sport"
*Desempeñar un papel =* "to play a role"


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## robbie_SWE

In Swedish: 

*att spela ett spel (to play a game)*
*att spela trummor (to play the drums)*
*att spela fotboll (to play football)*
*att spela en roll (to play a role)*

In Romanian I'm not sure. The verb "_a juca_" can probably be used for most things, just like in French. 

 robbie


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## Etcetera

In Russian играть (igrat') is used in all the contexts. 
Играть в игру - to play a game
Играть на гитаре - to play the guitar
Играть в театре - to play at theatre.


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## neli

In slovenian:
igrati igro- to play a game
igrati kitaro- to play guitar
igrati vlogo v gledališču- to play role


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## ronanpoirier

I always wondered that.

In Portuguese:

_Jogar_ um jogo = _to play_ a game
_Brincar _de um brincadeira = _to play_ a play (like hide and seek)
_Tocar _um instrumento = _to play_ an instrument
_Atuar_* / _Representar_ um/o papel de / _Fazer_ um/o papel de / _Desempenhar _um/o papel de = _to play_ a/the role
_Praticar_ um esporte = _to play _a sport

*That verbs don't receive the "um/o papel" because that wouldn't make sense 

In Hungarian:

_Jatszani_ for all, except for "to play a role" because I don't know the verb for that


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## Cecilio

avalon2004 said:


> In Spanish there are four verbs with distinct meanings for "to play":
> *Jugar* =  "to play a game or sport"
> *Tocar *= "to play an instrument"
> *Practicar* = sometimes for "to play a sport"
> *Desempeñar un papel =* "to play a role"



Hello, avalon. I think if we are talking about plays at the theatre, the translation for "play a role" would be rather "interpretar un papel". The verb "interpretar" is commonly used in theatre, films, etc. This verb is also used in music, e g "interpretar una partitura".


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## panjabigator

Panjabi

khedNaa/khelNaa-to play (a game, sport)
vajaauNaa-to play an instrument

Hindi/Urdu
khelnaa-to play (a game, sport)
bajaanaa-to play an instrument


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:*

*oynamak *_(a game)_
*çalmak *_(an instrument)_
*canlandırmak *_(at theater)_


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## avalon2004

Cecilio said:


> Hello, avalon. I think if we are talking about plays at the theatre, the translation for "play a role" would be rather "interpretar un papel". The verb "interpretar" is commonly used in theatre, films, etc. This verb is also used in music, e g "interpretar una partitura".



My mistake! Yes, desempeñar un papel refers more to "playing a part" in something, like "the government played a part in.."


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## Josh_

In Arabic it is possible to use the Arabic word لعب (la'iba) in the senses described above although, at least with music there is another word that is also used:

لعب لعبة/مباراة (la'iba la'batan/mubaaraatan) to play a game/match

لعب موسيقى (la'iba muusiiqa) to play music
عزف ('azafa) to play music.  used with the preposition على ('ala) to play an instrument.

لعب دورا (la'iba dauran) to play a part (in a movie, play, etc).


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## elroy

In Arabic:

to play (a game): *لعب* لعبة (_*la'iba* lu'batan_)
to play (a musical instrument): *عزف* آلة موسيقية (_*'azafa* aalatan muusiiqiyyatan_)
to play (a role): *لعب* دورًا (_*la'iba* dawran_)

So we use the same verb for games and roles, but not for musical instruments.  In fact, the (beautiful) verb عزف is used exclusively in musical contexts.


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## DrWatson

Finnish has different verbs for all of those:

*pelata* = to play (a (computer)game or a sport)
*leikkiä *= to play (with toys or e.g. hide and seek, a loanword from Swedish "leka")
*soittaa* = to play (an instrument) (same verb also means "to phone")
*näytellä */ *esittää* = to play (a role)


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## ellas!

In Greek, to play is "pezw"/"pezo" but I don't know if it's the same for a theatrical role. I think it is, but I'm not sure.


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## ireney

Παίζω (pezo) is indeed used for a theatrical role etc too.

A sidenote: In Greek we use the first person singular of the simple Present tense instead of the infinitive.


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## beclija

In Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian, it is "igrati" for "to play" (game, sport), "svirati" for music, and "glumiti" for theatre. "igrati" can also mean "to dance".


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## Maja

beclija said:


> In Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian, it is "igrati" for "to play" (game, sport), "svirati" for music, and "glumiti" for theatre. "igrati" can also mean "to dance".



It can also be said "igrati u pozorištu" (to play in a theatre).


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## Marga H

In Polish *grać *for all contexts:
grać w jakąś grę -play a game
grać na pianinie -play the piano
grać w tenisa-play tennis
grać rolę (w teatrze.w filmie)-play a role
noun gra = a game


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## BlueWolf

Thanks for your answers. 
So, since in so many languages the same verb is used, they must be the same thing for many cultures.


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## Flaminius

Japanese:
to play a game - N de asobu (intranstive verb with a noun marked by _-de_ postposition)
to play an instrument - hiku (for string or keyboard instruments); fuku (for pipe instruments, literally "to blow")
to play a role - enjiru


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## Frank06

Hi,

In Dutch:
to play a game: een spel *spelen*
to play guitar: gitaar *spelen*
to play a role: een rol *spelen

*Groetjes,

Frank


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## badgrammar

In French it absolutely holds true:

jouer un jeu
jouer d'un instrument
Jouer au théatre/au cinema


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## bacardimojito

Chazzwozzer said:


> *Turkish:*
> 
> *oynamak *_(a game)_
> *çalmak *_(an instrument)_
> *canlandırmak *_(at theater)_



you must say "oynamak" for playing in theater
"canlandırmak" is used for phrases like this: i played as romeo at the theather


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## panjabigator

What is it in Gujarati and Catalan?


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## jazyk

In Catalan:
tocar un instrument = to play an instrument
jugar a cartes = to play cards
jugar a futbol = to play soccer/football


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## brian

ireney said:


> Παίζω (pezo) is indeed used for a theatrical role etc too.
> 
> A sidenote: In Greek we use the first person singular of the simple Present tense instead of the infinitive.



Παίζω (paizo) in ancient Greek also meant a number of things: _to play (like a child), to sport/joke/jest/make fun of/mock, _as well as _to dance_ and _to play an instrument_.  It of course comes from παις, παιδός, meaning _child_, hence the original proper meaning of _to play like a child_.

Not sure about Latin.  The most common word for _play (a game)_ is _ludo_, which can also mean to _mock/jest_ but not _play an instrument _(which is normally something like _pello/to strike (a chord)_) or _play a role_.

ciao


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## zaigucis

*Latvian:*

Spēlēt spēli - to play a game
Spēlēt ģitāru  - to play the guitar
Tēlot lomu - to play at theatre (role).


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## k823

To play = *mängima *in Estonian

mängu *mängima - *to play a game
kitarri *mängima - *to play an instrument
*but*
näitlema - to play (at theatre), but *mängima* is still possible in some contexts.


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## fragola selvatica

*in Indonesian :*

ber*main* game (to play a game)
me*main*kan alat musik (to play an instrument)
ber*main* di teater (to play in a theatre)


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## macta123

In Malayalam :

 To play a game : KaLikya
 To play a sound (instrument) : Vayikya
 To play drums/instrument(beated upon) : KoTTuKa
 To play a role : AbhinayiKyuKa.


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## ridziniece

Just like in Swedish, English and German, in Latvian too we have the word "play" (spēlēt) for different occasions. It is possible also to play a role in theatre (spēlēt lomu teātrī), not only "tēlot" as Zaigucis said.


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## pizzi

Albanian:

Luaj (I play) is used for all meanings, and for _I move_, too.


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## Lemminkäinen

Norwegian:

*Å spille fotball *(sport)
*Å spille Monopol* (game)
*Å spille trompet* (instrument)
*Å spille Peer Gynt* (a role)

However, if you want to say that "the children are playing", you have to use a different verb - *å leke* (*barna leker*).


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## parakseno

The Romanian word for "to play" is "a (se) juca". It can be used when one refers to
a game: "a (se) juca un joc" - to play a game
sports:  "joc fotbal" - I play football
a role: "A jucat pe scena Teatrului Naţional" - He/She played on the stage of the National Theater.
in expressions as "a juca teatru" which besides its literal meaning (to interpret a theater role) also means "to pretend".
There are some more but I'll stop here.

However, in Romanian this verb is not used for "playing an instrument". "A cânta" (το sing) is the most frequently used.


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## Jana337

Czech uses "hrát" for all of them, too.

Jana


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## Gavril

Welsh:
_chwarae _"play (a game or a role)"
_canu _"play (an instrument)" (_canu _normally means "sing")

Probably due to English influence,  modern speakers will sometimes use _chwarae_ for playing instruments as well.


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## Messquito

In Chinese:
玩 to play (a game or with a toy, also applicable in the next two cases) lit. to play (with joy)
打 to play (video games; (gambling)cards, majong...) lit. hit
下 to play (chess) lit. to put down

(扮)演 to play (a character/a movie) lit. to act

彈 to play (a stringed instrument with fingers e.g. guitar, piano, etc.) lit. to flip, tap
拉 to play (a stringed instrument with a bow e.g. violin, fiddle, etc.) lit. to pull
吹 to play (a wind instrument, e.g. flute, whistle, etc.) lit. to blow
打 to play (a percussion instrument, that you hit with a club or hand,e.g. drum) lit. to hit
敲 to play (a percussion instrument, often hard(metal or wooden), not with bare hand e.g. wooden fish) lit. to knock

打 to play (a sport with hands, e.g. dodgeball, rugby, hockey, basketball, volley, handball, water polo, etc.) lit. to hit
踢 to play (a sport mainly with feet, e.g. soccer, football, badminton, ping-pong etc.) lit. to kick

A little complicated but logical.


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