第114課: The Verbs for “To Play”
It may come as a surprise to you that there are multiple ways to say “to play” in Japanese.
遊ぶ
Although 遊ぶ is translated as “to play,” it is most synonymous with “to have fun.” It is still possible, though, to describe how you are having fun (Ex. 1). Even if you are playing a sport (Ex. 2), you can still state that that is how you are playing even though the exact verb playing is different (see section on する・やる below).
1. 子供たちが昼間に公園の遊び場でおもちゃで遊んでいる。
The children are playing with toys in the playground at the park during the day.
2. うちが飼っている犬は外で雨に濡れて遊んでいる。
The dog I have is outside playing and getting wet in the rain.
3. うちの息子は、放課後は友達と野球をして遊んでいるようです。
It looks like my son is having fun playing baseball with friends after school.
4. よく学び、よく遊べ。
Study hard, play hard.
5. ねえ、遊ぼう！
Hey, let’s go have fun!
Another nuance that 遊ぶ may have is that the person is doing nothing with no particular job to do, and this can be extended to inanimate objects.
6. あの無職の男は駅の周辺をぶらぶらして遊んでた。
That unemployed man was loitering around the train station doing nothing.
7. 先輩が仕事中でネットで遊んでばかりいる。
My senpai was goofing off on the Internet during work.
8. 原料不足で機械が遊んでいる。
The machines are lying idle due to a shortage of raw materials.
遊ぶ can also mean “to mess about with /give oneself up to (gambling, drinking, etc.). The Sino-Japanese version of this meaning is 遊興する, which is a more fancy way of referring to a “pleasure spree.”
9. 遊ぶ金欲しさにやった。悪い事をしているとは思わないし反省もしていない。
I did it out of a desire for money to splurge. I don’t think I’m doing anything bad, and I also don’t regret (my actions).
10. 病気休務又は病気を理由とする休職期間中に遊興する，又は通院を怠るなど、療養に専念していないと認められる職員についても停職とする。
(We) suspend the employment of staff members who partake in leisure during time off due to illness or during leave taken because of an illness, or who fail to receive treatment at a hospital, or who are deemed to not be devoting themselves to their recuperation.
In the pattern ～に遊ぶ, it can mean “to go to (for pleasure/study).”
11. 真理子はパリに遊んで絵画の修行に勤しんでいる。
Mariko has gone to Paris for studying painting and is devoting herself to her training.
戯（たわむ・じゃ・ざ）れる
The verb 戯れる means “to play” as in “to frolic/amuse oneself.” 戯れる may also be heard alternatively as じゃれる or ざれる, also translatable as “to play around.” ～に戯れる means “to flirt” and is synonymous with the more common ～といちゃつく. Note that 遊ぶ, despite what many learners assume, is not taken sexually.
12. 子猫が芝生の上で飛び交う蝶々と戯れている。
A kitten is frolicking on the lawn with the fluttering butterflies.
13. 外国人観光客の女性に戯れるおじさんと視線が合って気持ち悪かった。
I made eye contact with this middle-aged man flirting with foreign, female tourists, and it was creepy.
14. じゃれあいで猫が甘嚙みすることがある。
Cats will play-bite when playing with each other.
Word Note: じゃれ合う is commonly used to refer to animals/pets playing with each other.
ふざける
ふざける is a very common verb and can be understood as “to play a prank/mess around/joke around.”
15. ふざけるな！
Knock it off!
16. ふざけてるガキどもがダラダラ遊び半分でやってるようにしか思えない。
The only way I can see it is that it’s a bunch of BS-ing brats idling by doing it partially for the kick of it.
遊戯する
When the Kanji 遊 and 戯 are combined, you get the word 遊戯. This may be immediately recognizable from the infamous anime and card game 遊戯王, but the word 遊戯 is generally used to refer to “play/game” and is the Sino-Japanese equivalent of 遊び.
15. しりとりは言語遊戯のひとつである。
Shiritori is a word play game.
16. お遊戯の練習です！
It’s time for play (and dance) practice!
Culture Note: This is a part of the day performed at elementary schools in Japan.
する・やる
Playing sports or games of any sort is expressed with either する or やる. The latter option is considered more casual, but that does not mean it can’t be used in polite speech. More so than anything, it adds a friendly touch to the conversation. やる may also be seen in the written language where it emphasizes how active the person is.
17. 誕生日を祝うためにポケモンのスカーレットバージョンをやりたいと思う！
I want to play Pokemon Scarlet Version to celebrate my birthday!
18. 屏風の前で、若い女性たちがカルタをしています。
The young women are playing karuta (traditional playing cards) in front of a folding screen.
Given how these verbs can be used to express “playing” various games (ゲーム), video-games (ビデオゲーム), and sports (スポーツ), here is a list of some of the most important ones.
| アメフト | American football | サッカー蹴球※ | Soccer |
| 野球 | Baseball | バスケ（ットボール） | Basketball |
| テニス | Tennis | 卓球 | Table tennisPing-pong |
| 水泳 | Swimming | ゴルフ | Golf |
| 相撲 | Sumo wrestling | 格闘技 | Martial arts |
| レスリング | Wrestling | サイクリング | Cycling |
| ラグビー | Rugby | ダイビング | Diving |
※During WWII, Japanese names were coined for American sports to avoid English loanwords as much as possible. Up until that time, even baseball could frequently be heard as ベースボール. After the war, however, 野球 and 卓球 were the only Sino-Japanese terms that stuck around. However, the names for soccer (蹴球) and basketball (籠球), respectively, can occasionally be seen in the name of their respective sports clubs to add a fancy flair.
※蹴球 may refer to either soccer or rugby. To clarify, ラ式蹴球 (rugby) and 米式蹴球 (soccer) were coined to distinguish them, but these terms also became moribund once WWII was over.
19. サッカー（を）してみない？
Wanna try playing soccer?
Grammar Note: In casual speech, を is frequently dropped, but it is especially dropped with “sport + する” as the words are being reanalyzed as verb-like nouns.
20. ゴルフをやる女性が急増しています。
There is a rapid increase in the number of women who play golf.
21. 野球してる人ってバカばっかなの？
Are people who play baseball just all stupid?
22. 毎日テニスをすることはできないが、できるだけ練習回数を増やそうと心がけています。
I can’t play tennis every day, but I am striving to increase my practice rounds as much as possible.
23. スキューバダイビングをやり始めた。
I’ve started to do scuba diving.
Many of the idiomatic ways “to do” is used in English carry over to やる. For instance, when seen written as 殺る, it is “to do” as in “to do the dead = to kill.” When seen as ヤる, it is almost always the sexual meaning of “to do.”
24. 雄太君を殺ったな！
You killed Yuta, didn’t you!
25. 姉さんとヤッただろ！
You did it with (my) sis, didn’t you!
試合をする
To play a match of a sport/contest is expressed with 試合をする.
26. 試合をしないで勝つことを「不戦勝」と言います。
Winning without playing the match is called “winning by default.”
27. 5回サッカーの試合をして3回勝ちました。
We played five matches of soccer and won three of them.
To Play an Instrument
Playing instruments (楽器) is also not so straight forward from the perspective of an English speaker, but the verbs assigned to instruments are all based on the physical action that accompanies playing them.
| Category | Instrument(s) | Verb |
| String Instrument 弦楽器 | ピアノ (piano)・三味線 (shamisen)・琴 (koto)・バイオリン (violin) | 弾く |
| Wind Instrument 吹奏楽器 | 笛 (flute)・尺八 (shakuhachi)・喇叭 (trumpet) | 吹く |
| Percussion Instrument 打楽器 | ドラム (drums)・太鼓 (Japanese drums)・木琴 (xylophone) | 叩く |
28. 三味線が弾ける外国人の方、どうぞご回答ください。
To any foreigner who can play the shamisen, please leave a response.
29. 一人の羊飼いさんが笛を吹いている。
A shepherd is playing the flute.
30. 和太鼓を叩くことは実は難しいですよ。
Playing the Japanese drums is actually difficult.
31. ドラムが叩ける夢を叶えたい。
I want to fulfill my dream of being able to play the drums.
32. ピアノが弾ける人って賢い人ばっかだよね？
The people who can play the piano are all pretty smart, huh?
When performing in the sense of instruments or a dance, the verb 演奏する may be used. No distinctions are made for this verb, but the performance is treated as a formal occasion.
33. 以前から習っていたチェロを演奏しました。
I performed on the cello, which I had been practiced for a while.
かける・再生する
Whether you are playing a song (曲) on your phone, an old-fashioned record レコード, playing a CD or a DVD, etc., the verb かける is used.
34. Hey Siri、音楽をかけてください。
Hey Siri, play music.
35. 新しいCDをかけてあげるよ。
I’ll put on a new CD for you.
36. 車で子供が好きなDVDをかけても10分と経たず泣き出すことも多い。
My child frequently starts balling not even 10 minutes into putting on his favorite DVD in the car.
37. 録音や盤質の優れた良質のレコードをかけてみた。
I tried playing a good-quality record with excellent recording and back condition.
Another word you may see is 再生する, which literally means that you are “regenerating/replaying” what you have chosen.
38. YouTubeで1日に同じ動画を再生しまくっても再生回数にカウントされますか？
Whenever you watch the same video over and over in a day on Youtube, are (those views) counting in the view count?
演じる
The verb 演じる meaning “to play” as in “to perform (an act)” originates from the voiced サ変 form 演ず(る), which is still in use in the written language. Incidentally, the word for “play” as in “drama/theatre” is 演劇.
39. あの役を演じてしまったあとでこの役をやるのはちょっと・・・
Doing this role after having performed that role is just……
40. 全霊でジュリエットを演じたいなという気持ちで今はいっぱいです。
I’m filled with so much emotion over wanting to play Juliet with all my soul.
41. 演劇を観に行きましょう！
Let’s go watch a play!
Word Note: 芝居 also translates to “play/drama,” but it may also refer to small theatres or “playing someone.”
プレイする
The English word “to play” has also been borrowed into Japanese with all of its original meanings – both nominal and verbal.
42. 正々堂々とプレイしましょう！
Let’s play fair and square!
43. ポケモンをプレイしたことがない人がいるなんて存在しないはずよ！
There shouldn’t be anyone who hasn’t ever played Pokemon before!
44. リビングの隣の部屋をプレイルームにしました。
We turned the room next to the living room into a play room.