Ganar VS derrotar VS vencer

Question

I was going to correct a post last night which used batir to mean beat, which of course means to beat an egg etc... but I wanted to use ganar and I thought of derrotar and then vencer as better, then I see they were corrected with ganar after all. Do they all mean the exact same? Is there one reason to use ganar over derrotar etc.. just preference?

• Derroté a ese hombre en su propio juego.
• Vencí a ese hombre en su propio juego.
• Gané contra ese hombre en su propio juego.
• Gané ese hombre en su proprio juego.
• What is the difference between gané ese.. and gané contra ese?
• Can you even say "a su proprio juego" and mean what it means in English?

Gracias.

I had this exact question and I found it in the forums!! - Chavag, Dec 20, 2010

Answer 1

I agree with Margaret that it is "en su propio juego". Tú compites en algo (you compete in something) and then you can either ganar or perder (win or lose) en su propio juego.

They all, derrotar, ganar and vencer, must be followed by the preposition "a", as they need it to intruduce who was beaten: derroté a ese hombre and vencí a ese hombre are fine, but you also need "a" for gané a ese hombre instead of gané ese hombre which would be wrong.

Ganar and vencer can be also followed by the preposition "contra": (gané contra ese hombre, as you already said, and vencí contra ese hombre. However I must admit I consider more common to use "a" rather than "contra", although it may depend on regions...

In addition, you can use vencer and then say where you won using the preposition "en": vencíen la competición de ski = I won the ski competition.

And ganar with no preposition meaning where or what you won: gané la competición (I won the competition) or gané una medalla (I won a medal).

And if it was a real thrashing you could say le di una paliza a ese hombre en su propio juego.

Answer 2

Antes de vencer a alguien tienes que derrotarlo, y una vez lo has conseguido has ganado.

Answer 3

I think it has to be 'en' su propio juego. (Don't know why) and I recall some sayings, ganarle en su propio campo which I believe can apply - it has the same idea, no?. Even the one 'pagarle con la misma moneda'...... Hopefully someone will answer.