spielen

Spielen is a common German verb meaning "to play." It covers activities such as participating in games or sports, playing a musical instrument, acting or performing a role, and gambling in expressions like um Geld spielen. The verb belongs to the standard class of weak verbs and forms its tenses with regular suffixes.

In the present tense: ich spiele, du spielst, er/sie/es spielt, wir spielen, ihr spielt, sie spielen. The simple past (Präteritum) is ich spielte, du spieltest, er/sie/es spielte, wir spielten, ihr spieltet, sie spielten. The past participle is gespielt, and the auxiliary verb is haben: ich habe gespielt. Spilen also appears in compounds with prefixes, such as mitspielen (to participate in playing along) or durchspielen (to play through a game or a script).

Usage examples include playing a musical instrument (Ich spiele Klavier), playing a game or sport (Wir spielen Fußball), acting or performing a role (Sie spielt die Hauptrolle), and formal or informal gambling (Um Geld spielen). The verb can take direct objects (etwas spielt eine Rolle) or be combined with prepositions or prefixes to modify meaning.

Nouns related to the verb include das Spiel (game) and das Spielen (the act of playing). The family also includes Spiel, Spieler (player), and the related adjective spielbar (playable). Etymologically, spielen is rooted in Germanic language families and is closely connected to the noun Spiel.

See also entries for Spiel, Spieler, and compound forms like mitspielen or durchspielen for broader usage.