Sinónimos

> ¿Jugar o tocar?

The verbs jugar, tocar and interpretar are often confused. It is no surprise: in many languages they correspond to the same concept: to play (English), spielen (German), играть (Russian)…

The verb tocar is used only with musical instruments. It is used without a preposition:

Juan toca bien ___ el piano = Juan can play the piano well

No sé tocar ___ la guitarra = I can't play the guitar

Saber tocar, like in the last example, means that a person plays quite well.

The verb jugar means to have fun with a game:

Me gusta jugar al fútbol = I like to play football

Mi hijo juega mucho con su hermano =
My son plays a lot with his brother

Por la noche juego con el ordenador
= At night I play with the computer

If we use the name of the game, jugar is used with the preposition a:

jugar al ajedrez, jugar al dominó, jugar al tenis,… = play chess, play dominoes, play tennis

If we mention the person we play with, or the computer, we use the preposition con:

jugar con mi hermano, jugar con el ordenador

Finally, the verb interpretar means give life to a text or a score: in particular, play the role of a character, recite a poem or play a musical work:

En esta obra Juan interpreta a Hamlet
= In this work Juan plays Hamlet

Ana va a interpretar una suite de Bach
= Ana is going to play a Bach suite