Ganar means to win, to earn. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: gano, ganas, gana, ganamos, ganáis, ganan.
Ganar in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
Ganar in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Ganar in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Ganar in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Ganar in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | gano | gané | ganaba | ganaré | ganaría |
| tú | ganas | ganaste | ganabas | ganarás | ganarías |
| él / ella / usted | gana | ganó | ganaba | ganará | ganaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganamos | ganamos | ganábamos | ganaremos | ganaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganáis | ganasteis | ganabais | ganaréis | ganaríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganan | ganaron | ganaban | ganarán | ganarían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | gano | I win |
| tú | ganas | you win |
| él / ella / usted | gana | he/she wins |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganamos | we win |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganáis | you all (vosotros) win |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganan | they win |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | gané | I won |
| tú | ganaste | you won |
| él / ella / usted | ganó | he/she won |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganamos | we won |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganasteis | you all (vosotros) won |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganaron | they won |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | ganaba | I used to win |
| tú | ganabas | you used to win |
| él / ella / usted | ganaba | he/she used to win |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganábamos | we used to win |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganabais | you all (vosotros) used to win |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganaban | they used to win |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | ganaré | I will win |
| tú | ganarás | you will win |
| él / ella / usted | ganará | he/she will win |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganaremos | we will win |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganaréis | you all (vosotros) will win |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganarán | they will win |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | ganaría | I would win |
| tú | ganarías | you would win |
| él / ella / usted | ganaría | he/she would win |
| nosotros / nosotras | ganaríamos | we would win |
| vosotros / vosotras | ganaríais | you all (vosotros) would win |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | ganarían | they would win |
Ganar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The present forms are gano, ganas, gana, ganamos, ganáis, ganan, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
gané, ganaste, ganó, ganamos, ganasteis, ganaron. For example, gané means “I won”.
Ganar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The preterite (gané) presents a completed event; the imperfect (ganaba) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I won” and “I used to win”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are ganaré (“I will win”) and ganaría (“I would win”). The full charts above include every person.
Ganar means to win, to earn.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.