Play with vs, Play

A few weeks ago, I had a student who asked me about the difference between:

Play with

and

Play

So, I thought I would explain it here on my blog too.

Play with is used with things/people.

I am playing with my dog.

Go and play with your friends.

Don't play with fire!

Play with fire is also an idiom which means you are playing with something dangerous.

A: Did you hear that Tina is dating John to make Ben jealous?

B: What?! She's playing with fire!

A: I know, I think it won't end well.

Play is used with games. It isn't used with people.

Let's play monopoly!

I played video games yesterday

Do you know how to play baseball?

For more about play please read this earlier post:

http://phils-english.blogspot.com/2008/05/silly-rabbit-play-is-for-kids.html

Have a nice Sunday,

Phil

Silly Rabbit, Play is for kids!!!

Recently, I was reminded that in Japanese あそぶ is used ALOT but in English play is children's English.

Play is usually used by small children when talking about meeting friends and having fun. When you become a teenager you do not want to sound like a kid, sound childish, so you gradually stop using play. Instead, you start to use hang out.

Example:

I hung out with my friends yesterday.

Hey Phil, wanna hang out tomorrow?

Hang out simply means you meet your friends to have fun and do nothing special, you have no fixed plans.

Play is used by kids(under 12 years old) and should not be used by adults. If an adult says, "I played with my friend yesterday" it sounds sexual. So for adults, play can often mean sex. So be careful!!!

Adults use play for sports and games. For example:

I played basketball last weekend.

Do you wanna play Grand Theft Auto?

How often do you play poker?

Do you ever play Monopoly?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Phil