play – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of play

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to play back sth
Participle: played back sth
Gerund: playing back sth

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Iplay back sth
youplay back sth
he;she;itplays back sth
weplay back sth
youplay back sth
theyplay back sth

Perfect

Ihave played back sth
youhave played back sth
he;she;ithas played back sth
wehave played back sth
youhave played back sth
theyhave played back sth

Past

Iplayed back sth
youplayed back sth
he;she;itplayed back sth
weplayed back sth
youplayed back sth
theyplayed back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad played back sth
youhad played back sth
he;she;ithad played back sth
wehad played back sth
youhad played back sth
theyhad played back sth

Future

Iwill play back sth
youwill play back sth
he;she;itwill play back sth
wewill play back sth
youwill play back sth
theywill play back sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have played back sth
youwill have played back sth
he;she;itwill have played back sth
wewill have played back sth
youwill have played back sth
theywill have played back sth

Subjunctive

Present

Iplay back sth
youplay back sth
he;she;itplay back sth
weplay back sth
youplay back sth
theyplay back sth

Perfect

Ihave played back sth
youhave played back sth
he;she;ithave played back sth
wehave played back sth
youhave played back sth
theyhave played back sth

Imperfect

Iplayed back sth
youplayed back sth
he;she;itplayed back sth
weplayed back sth
youplayed back sth
theyplayed back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad played back sth
youhad played back sth
he;she;ithad played back sth
wehad played back sth
youhad played back sth
theyhad played back sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould play back sth
youwould play back sth
he;she;itwould play back sth
wewould play back sth
youwould play back sth
theywould play back sth

Perfect

Iwould have played back sth
youwould have played back sth
he;she;itwould have played back sth
wewould have played back sth
youwould have played back sth
theywould have played back sth

Imperative

youplay back sth
weLet's play back sth
youplay back sth

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam playing back sth
youare playing back sth
he;she;itis playing back sth
weare playing back sth
youare playing back sth
theyare playing back sth

Perfect

Ihave been playing back sth
youhave been playing back sth
he;she;ithas been playing back sth
wehave been playing back sth
youhave been playing back sth
theyhave been playing back sth

Past

Iwas playing back sth
youwere playing back sth
he;she;itwas playing back sth
wewere playing back sth
youwere playing back sth
theywere playing back sth

Pluperfect

Ihad been playing back sth
youhad been playing back sth
he;she;ithad been playing back sth
wehad been playing back sth
youhad been playing back sth
theyhad been playing back sth

Future

Iwill be playing back sth
youwill be playing back sth
he;she;itwill be playing back sth
wewill be playing back sth
youwill be playing back sth
theywill be playing back sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have been playing back sth
youwill have been playing back sth
he;she;itwill have been playing back sth
wewill have been playing back sth
youwill have been playing back sth
theywill have been playing back sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould be playing back sth
youwould be playing back sth
he;she;itwould be playing back sth
wewould be playing back sth
youwould be playing back sth
theywould be playing back sth

Perfect

Iwould have been playing back sth
youwould have been playing back sth
he;she;itwould have been playing back sth
wewould have been playing back sth
youwould have been playing back sth
theywould have been playing back sth

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'play'

abandon, abduct, abear, aberr, abject, abord, abort, abound, abraid, abray, abrook, abscind, abscond, absist, absorb, abstain, abstract, accend, accent, accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'play'

clay, flay, lay, pay, plan, plap, plat, plaw, pley, ploy,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to engage in sexual intercourse
bang, bauf, beat, boff, boink, bone, bonk, bop, bounce, breed, bump nasties, bump uglies, catch a dick, cohabit, company, copulate, couple, dance, discuss Uganda, do it, do the deed, do the nasty, eff, engender, exchange flesh, expletive deleted, feck, frack, frak, frig, fuck, get busy, get freaky, get it, get it on, get jiggy, get laid, get one's end away, get one's freak on, get one's groove on, get one's leg over, get one's oats, get physical, get some, go all the way, graft the forked tree, haul one's ashes, have it off, have marital relations, have sex, have sexual relations, hump, intercourse, jig-jig, make it, make love, make the beast with two backs, make whoopee, mate, meddle, ming, ride, rock and roll, roger, roll around, root, see someone's etchings, sex, shag, share a bed, shelve, show someone one's etchings, slap bellies, sleep together, stick, tumble, wango tango
act
characterize, enact, impersonate, perform, personate, emulate, imitate, mimic
compete
engage

Antonyms

act
rest, repose, refrain, cease

Additional Information

Etymology

1. O.E. plegian "to exercise, frolic, perform music," from W.Gmc. *plegan (cf. M.Du. pleyen "to rejoice, be glad"), of uncertain origin. Opposed to work (v.) since 1377. Playground is attested from 1780. Playmate is from 1642 in the innocent sense, from 1954 in the sexual sense; playboy "wealthy bon vivant" is from 1829; fem. equivalent playgirl is first recorded 1934. Plaything is from 1675. To play up "emphasize" is from 1909; to play down "minimize" is from 1930. To play with oneself "masturbate" is from 1896; play for keeps is from 1861, originally of marbles or other children's games with tokens. To play the (something) card is attested from 1886; to play fair is from c.1440. Play-dough is first recorded 1959. To play (something) safe is from 1911; to play favorites is attested from 1902. For play the field see field.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-West Germanic *plehan
4. Old English pleġan
5. Proto-West Germanic *plegō
6. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
7. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
8. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
9. Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
10. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti
11. Proto-Germanic *-ōną
12. Proto-West Germanic *-ōn
13. Proto-West Germanic *plegōn
14. Old English plegian
15. Middle English pleyen
16. Proto-West Germanic *plegō
17. Old English plega
18. Middle English pleye
19. English play
20. From Middle English pleyen (verb) and Middle English pleye (noun), from Old English plegian and plegan, plagian (“to play, exercise, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *plehan (“to care about, be concerned with”) and Proto-West Germanic *plegōn (“to engage, move”), of uncertain origin.
21. cognates and related terms
22. Cognate with Scots play (“to act or move briskly, cause to move, stir”), Saterland Frisian pleegje (“to look after, care for, maintain”), West Frisian pleegje, pliigje (“to commit, perform, bedrive”), Middle Dutch pleyen ("to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; compare Modern Dutch pleien (“to play a particular children's game”)), Dutch plegen (“to commit, bedrive, practice”), German pflegen (“to care for, be concerned with, attend to, tend”). Related also to Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight, pledge.
23. The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, plega, plæġa (“play, quick motion, movement, exercise; (athletic) sport, game; festivity, drama; battle; gear for games, an implement for a game; clapping with the hands, applause”), deverbative of plegian (“to play”); see above. See: Middle English 'pleyen', Old English 'plegian', Frisian, Saterlandic 'pleegje', Dutch 'pleien', Dutch 'plegen', German, old spelling 'pflegen'.

Verbs referencing "play"

Ido plear, English placard, Sranan prei, Tok Pisin pilai.

Sample Sentences

  • [...] hands are ill, and have given in, dead beat. Several berths are full of water, and all the cabins are leaky. The ship 's cook, secretly swigging damaged whiskey, has been found drunk; and has been played upon by the fire-engine until quite sober. All the stewards have fallen down-stairs at various dinner-times, and go about with plasters in various places. The baker is ill, and so is the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] repaired, without any guide or leader, to a spacious music-hall, where they took their seats in an orchestra erected for that purpose, and listened with manifest delight to a voluntary on the organ, played by one of themselves. At its conclusion, the performer, a boy of nineteen or twenty, gave place to a girl; and to her accompaniment they all sang a hymn, and afterwards a sort of chorus. It was [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] gives her a vivid pleasure, which is plainly marked in her expressive features. She never seems to repine, but has all the buoyancy and gaiety of childhood. She is fond of fun and frolic, and when playing with the rest of the children, her shrill laugh sounds loudest of the group. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • ‘The mother stood some time, gazing with overflowing eyes upon her unfortunate child, who, all unconscious of her presence, was playing about the room. Presently Laura ran against her, and at once began feeling her hands, examining her dress, and trying to find out if she knew her; but not succeeding in this, she turned away as [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • ‘He learned more than a half-dozen letters in half an hour, and seemed delighted with his success, at least in gaining approbation. His attention then began to flag, and I commenced playing with him. It was evident that in all this he had merely been imitating the motions of my fingers, and placing his hand upon the key, cup, &c., as part of the process, without any perception of the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • Each ward in this institution is shaped like a long gallery or hall, with the dormitories of the patients opening from it on either hand. Here they work, read, play at skittles, and other games; and when the weather does not admit of their taking exercise out of doors, pass the day together. In one of these rooms, seated, calmly, and quite as a matter of [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] on haphazard, pell-mell, neck-or-nothing, down the middle of the road. There—with mechanics working at their trades, and people leaning from their doors and windows, and boys flying kites and playing marbles, and men smoking, and women talking, and children crawling, and pigs burrowing, and unaccustomed horses plunging and rearing, close to the very rails—there—on, on, on—tears the mad dragon of [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] and cutting loose from the protection of a friend whom she loved and revered. Then there was the parting from every familiar object,—the place where she had grown up, the trees under which she had played, the groves where she had walked many an evening in happier days, by the side of her young husband,—everything, as it lay in the clear, frosty starlight, seemed to speak reproachfully to her, and [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • There was another: a young man, whose madness was love and music. After playing on the accordion a march he had composed, he was very anxious that I should walk into his chamber, which I immediately did. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] yard; female slaves, with cotton handkerchiefs twisted round their heads are running to and fro on the hotel business; black waiters cross and recross with dishes in their hands; two great dogs are playing upon a mound of loose bricks in the centre of the little square; a pig is turning up his stomach to the sun, and grunting ‘that 's comfortable ! ’; and neither the men, nor the women, nor the dogs, [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [tense music playing] Sit. Sit. Stay there. [ breathing heavily ] [ pop music playing faintly ] (iHostage)
  • Come on. Luis, there. [ sighs ] We'll never make it. Yes, you will. -[♪ Heroic music plays ] -Go ! (Descendants: Wicked Wonderland)
  • sitting at home, and I was playing around with, (The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist)
  • Playing with that fuel, with that in your heart, doesn't work. (Saquon)
  • Go straight to the feed and leave it open. Director, no cuts. This plays itself. (Disclosure Day)