用 play with sb. 表述「和某人一起玩」是中式英语吗？ 第1页

It is not about Chinglish, but age.

Children can play with children. Adults can play with children. But if teenagers/adults play with teenagers/adults, it sounds either childish or sexual. (I would say people over 13 or 14-years-old shouldn't say "play with".) An exception is if they play a game together, like video games.

Actually, the first week I was in China, some of my students said to me "Maybe we can play together some time," and I was very confused and a little uncomfortable. Later, I realized they probably just meant "hang out".

Instead, teenagers and adults can say:

Hang out with

• Let's hang out again tomorrow.
• I like to hang out with Laura and Nikki.
• He hangs out with his friends every afternoon.

Spend time with

• I like spending time with you. (This might sound a bit romantic.)
• He spends a lot of time with his friends.
• We spend time together every weekend.

Definitely don't ever talk about playing with yourself! You know why！

You can, however, play by yourself (alone).

I hope this is helpful!

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