Learn French: Avec cette dette, il ne veut plus jouer. - With this debt, he no longer wants to gamble.

While jouer is the standard verb for "to play" (games, sports, instruments), it is also commonly used to mean "to gamble". The context of having a dette (debt) makes it clear that he was betting money rather than just playing a casual game.

Why does plus come before jouer?

In French, the two parts of a negative expression like ne ... plus (no longer / not anymore) always go around the conjugated verb. Here, the conjugated verb is veut (wants), so we write ne veut plus. The infinitive verb jouer simply comes directly after the negation.

Why is it cette dette and not ce dette?

Cette is the feminine singular word for "this" or "that". It is used here because dette is a feminine noun. If the noun were masculine, you would use ce (or cet before a vowel).

Is the word dette related to the English word "debt"?

Yes! They share the same Latin root. However, in French, the spelling matches the pronunciation perfectly (there is no silent 'b'). The double 't' simply forces the preceding 'e' to make a short, open sound, similar to the 'e' in the English word 'bet'.