Ganar means 'to win' and 'to earn', two meanings that make it useful across sport, work and money topics. Ganamos el partido (we won the match), gano dinero los fines de semana (I earn money at weekends). It is a regular -ar verb, so the forms are predictable, and the reflexive ganarse la vida means 'to earn a living'. Because both winning and earning come up in common exam topics — sport, part-time jobs, ambitions — ganar gives you a lot of mileage. As with other -ar verbs, watch the preterite accents (gané, ganó).
Quick facts
Ganar (to win / earn) is a regular -ar verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Ganamos el partido (we won the match).
Gano dinero (I earn money).
Ganarse la vida (to earn a living).
Ganar peso/tiempo (to gain weight/time).
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
ganar is a regular -ar verb — it follows the standard -ar pattern in every tense. That makes it a good one to drill: if you know ganar, you know the template for all regular -ar verbs.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice ganar now →Three questions, no account needed. Type the form, then press Enter or tap Check.
yo: gano, tú: ganas, él: gana, nosotros: ganamos, vosotros: ganáis, ellos: ganan
The past participle is ganado (he ganado) and the gerund is ganando (estoy ganando).
Verbs that are easy to confuse with ganar or that behave like it.
Ganar is on the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas GCSE Spanish vocabulary lists. Compare the exam boards.
Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.