ganar Preterite Conjugation
ganar — to win
The preterite of ganar is regular: gané, ganaste, ganó, ganamos, ganasteis, ganaron.
ganar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific victory that happened in the past, like a match that ended or a prize that was received at a specific moment.
Notes on ganar in the Preterite
Ganar is fully regular in the preterite. Note that the 'nosotros' form 'ganamos' is the same as the present tense.
Example Sentences
Ayer gané mi primera carrera.
Yesterday I won my first race.
yo
El equipo ganó el campeonato el año pasado.
The team won the championship last year.
él/ella/usted
¿Ganasteis el sorteo de la lotería?
Did you all win the lottery draw?
vosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: ganó vs gano
Correct: ganó (with accent)
Why: Without the accent, 'gano' is present tense 'I win'. The accent on 'ganó' marks it as past tense 'he/she won'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: gano
Ganar is regular in the present tense: gano, ganas, gana, ganamos, ganáis, ganan.
Imperfect
yo: ganaba
The imperfect of ganar uses the regular -aba endings: ganaba, ganabas, ganaba, ganábamos, ganabais, ganaban.
Future
yo: ganaré
To form the future of ganar, add endings to the infinitive: ganaré, ganarás, ganará, ganaremos, ganaréis, ganarán.
Conditional
yo: ganaría
The conditional of ganar is formed by adding -ía to the infinitive: ganaría, ganarías, ganaría, ganaríamos, ganaríais, ganarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: gane
The present subjunctive of ganar uses -e endings: gane, ganes, gane, ganemos, ganéis, ganen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: ganara
The imperfect subjunctive of ganar uses the stem from 'ganaron': ganara, ganaras, ganara, ganáramos, ganarais, ganaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: gana
The imperative of ganar provides commands: gana (tú), ganad (vosotros), gane (usted), ganen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no ganes
The negative imperative of ganar uses the present subjunctive forms: no ganes, no gane, no ganemos, no ganéis, no ganen.