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Mi hermano tiene diez años y juega primero.

Mi hermano tiene diez años y juega primero.
My brother is ten years old and plays first.
From Lesson 157:Sequencing words (primero, después...)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Mi hermano tiene diez años y juega primero.

Why is primero used at the very end of the sentence?
In Spanish, temporal connectors like primero (first) often act as adverbs to tell us when an action happens. When modifying a verb (like juega), they typically come right after the verb or at the end of the clause.
I have seen primer used for "first" before. Why is it primero here?
You only shorten it to primer when it is an adjective directly in front of a masculine singular noun (like in el primer día). Here, primero is used as a sequencing word meaning "firstly" or "first in order," so it does not drop the -o.
Why is the verb spelled juega instead of juga?
The verb jugar (to play) is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, the u changes to ue for most forms, including the "he/she/it" form used here for mi hermano.
Do I need to say y él juega to specify who is playing?
No, you do not need the pronoun él (he) here. Because the first half of the sentence already established mi hermano as the subject, it is clear who is playing. Spanish usually drops these pronouns when the context is obvious.

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