Starting the game with "primero"
When explaining the rules of a board game, you need to organize your instructions. To start a sequence of events, use the word primero (first).
It usually goes at the beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma. You will often use it alongside game vocabulary like la regla (the rule) and el tablero (the board).
| First, I explain the rules to you. | Primero, te explico las reglas. |
| First, we put the board here. | Primero, ponemos el tablero aquí. |
Continuing the sequence with "después"
To explain the next steps, use después (then / afterwards). Like primero, it frequently sits at the start of the sentence to smoothly transition to the next action. This is when you might tell someone to roll el dado (the die) or move their ficha (piece/token).
| Then, you need the dice. | Después, necesitas los dados. |
| Then, you put your piece on the board. | Después, pones tu ficha en el tablero. |
If you want to say "after" a specific event or person, use the phrase después de. Remember that de + el combines to form del. This is very useful for explaining el turno (the turn) of each jugador (player).
| After the red player, it is your turn. | Después del jugador rojo, es tu turno. |
Finishing up with "al final"
To describe the outcome or the last step of the game, use the phrase al final (at the end). You will usually hear this right before finding out who is going to ganar (to win).
| At the end, we see who wins the game. | Al final, vemos quién gana el juego. |
| At the end, I win! | ¡Al final gano yo! |