Ambos jogaram bem.

Ambos means both.

In European Portuguese, it is correct, but it can sound a bit more formal or written than everyday speech. In casual conversation, people often say os dois or as duas instead.

So all of these can work, depending on context:

• Ambos jogaram bem.
• Os dois jogaram bem.

The version with ambos is perfectly natural, just slightly more formal.

Jogaram is the 3rd person plural preterite form of jogar.

That is the form used for they played in a completed past action.

Here is the relevant pattern:

• eu joguei = I played
• tu jogaste = you played
• ele/ela jogou = he/she played
• eles/elas jogaram = they played

Since ambos refers to two people, Portuguese uses the plural verb: jogaram.

Because Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb form.

In English, you must say They played well.
In Portuguese, the verb ending already shows the subject is plural:

• jogaram = they played

So Ambos jogaram bem is completely normal without eles or elas.

Because bem is an adverb, and it modifies the verb jogaram.

• bem = well
• bom / boa = good

Compare:

• Jogaram bem. = They played well.
• Foi um bom jogo. = It was a good game.

A common English-speaker mistake is to use bom where Portuguese needs bem after a verb.

Yes. Ambos is the masculine plural form.

In Portuguese, the masculine plural is also used for a mixed group or when the gender is unknown. If both people are female, you use ambas:

• Ambos jogaram bem. = both male / mixed / unspecified
• Ambas jogaram bem. = both female

The verb jogaram does not change.

Yes, it can be used on its own.

Here, ambos is being used as a pronoun, standing for both of them.

It can also be used before a noun, more like an adjective or determiner:

• Ambos os jogadores jogaram bem. = Both players played well.

So both are possible:

• Ambos jogaram bem.
• Ambos os jogadores jogaram bem.

Yes, in most situations it would mean essentially the same thing: both played well.

The main difference is style:

• ambos = a bit more formal, concise
• os dois = very common in everyday speech

So if you are speaking casually in Portugal, os dois jogaram bem may sound more natural in many contexts.

Not always in exactly the same way English uses play, but it is the usual verb for playing games or sports.

Examples:

• jogar futebol = to play football
• jogar ténis = to play tennis
• jogar xadrez = to play chess

But for playing a musical instrument, Portuguese normally uses tocar, not jogar:

• tocar piano = to play the piano

So in this sentence, jogaram most likely means played, especially in a sports or games context.

Yes, but Ambos jogaram bem is a very natural and straightforward order.

Portuguese is fairly flexible, but some orders are more neutral than others. For example:

• Ambos jogaram bem. = neutral and natural
• Jogaram bem ambos. = possible, but less common and more marked

In normal speech and writing, the original order is the one learners should use first.

In European Portuguese, the stress is on ga:

• jo-GA-ram

A few useful pronunciation points:

• j sounds like the s in measure
• the unstressed o often sounds closer to u
• the final -am is nasal, not like English am

A rough learner-friendly approximation is:

• zhoo-GAH-rãw

It will not sound exactly like English, but that gives you the general shape.

It is the simple past / preterite: played well.

Jogaram refers to a completed action in the past.

If you wanted have played well, Portuguese would normally use a different structure depending on the context. So here, the tense is clearly a finished past event, not a present perfect in the English sense.