play – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of play

Nominal Forms

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

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

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

Perfect

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

Past

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

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Subjunctive

Present

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

Perfect

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

Imperfect

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

Pluperfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

Imperative

youplay sth down
weLet's play sth down
youplay sth down

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

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

Perfect

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

Past

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

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

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)