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- "Ella no se había ganado nada…
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From what I understand (from getting this wrong before) it is because the verb 'ganar' means 'to win' or 'to gain', whereas 'ganarse' means 'to earn'...I'm guessing that this is because when you have earned something, it is as a result of your own actions. Hopefully someone can give you a better informed answer soon, but for the time being, that's my take on it :)
In Spanish, you use the reflexive when the indirect object (the part of the sentence telling to whom or for whom) is the subject. It is implied that she had not won anything for herself, so the reflexive is used.
"She had earned nothing." which sounds very natural is not accepted. It should be. In English, negation is often expressed that way!
They wont change it i reported so many times they took away my report privelegies
I think that this is because when the verb 'ganar' is reflexive, it means 'earned', and not 'won' or 'gain' like it can without this.
According to Spanishdict.com, ganarse can mean to earn or to win, e.g.
ha sabido ganarse el afecto de todos = she has managed to win everyone's affection
In fact, on another question in this lesson, Duolingo uses "ganarse" to mean "to win": "Él se había ganado un premio" Duolingo translates as "He had won a prize."
The question then is, if ganarse can mean "to earn" and "to win", can it also mean "to gain"? Personally, I see these as splitting hairs and virtually synonymous (i.e. "to gain" is somewhere between the definition of "to win" and "to earn" in many cases), though others may disagree.
So to me, it seems not valid to say that "Ella no se había ganado nada" cannot mean "She had not gained anything", and I've reported it to Duolingo.
Nice reply, and you're right, there is not a massive difference between win, gain and earn so "She had not gained anything" is probably OK.
The hint lists all 3 options for the reflexive form:
se había ganado
(I/he/she/it/you) had gained
(I/he/she/it/you) had earned
(I/he/she/it/you) had won
If 'gained' is wrong, it should not be listed. I chose 'gained' because it's the first choice, and was marked wrong yet again (March 2015).
Something similar happened to me with another question in this lesson, for 'demostrado'. The hints listed "showed, proven, demonstrated". I chose the first one, 'shown', and was marked wrong.
DL is very confused on this - on an example two examples ago it rejected "ganarse" for "earned" and simply used "ganar" ( ie rejected SE habia ganado) but in this example it DOES use " SE habia ganado" for (had) earned.....AND in the posting above swingophelia says DL is using "ganarse" for "win"??
I had thought that "ganarse" was "earn" and "ganar" was "win/gain" but now am very confused but it looks like they are interchangeable??
Sorry, I still don't get it. Why is this reflexive, but the answer to the previous question "Ella había ganado más dinero" = "She had earned more money" is not?
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I would also like to know this, I put "Ella se habia ganado mas dinero" for that question and the se was crossed out. It doesn't seem to be very consistent.
'She had not earned herself anything.' I wouldn't have bothered including 'herself' if the 'se' Wasn't there. I would have thought if you dropped 'se' it would just be 'She had not earned anything.' Anyway... boooo!
She had not earned anything herself. Why is this less correct than whithout ”Herself“? Reported
- 1927
Lucky, I totally agree! If Duo did not want the word se included, why was it in the sentence? I think Duo is playing with our brains!
I'd also like to know if, "She had earned herself nothing" should be accepted for "Ella no se había ganado nada."
Would "She had not gotten herself anything" be an acceptable translation?
So in Spanish I gather double negatives are not only okay but the rule? Because "I had not won nothing" would be incorrect in English.
I'm very fluent in Spanish, but I have always wondered if it is OK, because I think "Ella se ganó nada" is also correct...
- 2033
In my experience, [Ella se ganó nada] is not correct.
There must be a negation to the left of the verb, in this case no: Ella no se ganó nada.
Negation: studyspanish.com (Grammar Unit Two).
To answer this, as I learned in my small amount of formal education in Spanish, always use double negatives. Unlike English, where a double negative actually makes a positive sentence, you should use a double negative unless using the word nunca or jamás.
- 1216
Neither was 'She had won nothing'. IMHO She hadn't won/earned anything is the same as the above. Oh well.
I think you're confusing some vocabulary here: win = ganar; acquire = ganarse; achieve = lograr; succeed = lograrse.
- 2483
SpanishDict.com gives as translation for all three - win, gain, earn as ganar. I am thinking of a situation in which someone has said sarcastically about another's behaviour, " She has not gained herself anything!" ie She has behaved like an idiot and lost her friends' regard for her... so I agree that achieve could have been used but my phrasing is perfectly normal within my circle. But I think you have supplied the answer anyway, that in Spanish you would use lograr or lograrse.
It looks like you can use either "ganar" or "ganarse" because they both mean the same thing. Is that correct?
ganar means "to win" (like a game or a contest or a race, or a prize, the lottery, etc.) and also "to earn." The reflexive use means "to earn one's living" or, obviously, to earn something by the subject's own efforts. But you can use that meaing non-reflexively, too: Gana un buen sueldo. (He--or she--earns a good wage.)
If you translated, "Ella no se había ganado nada." to mean "She had earned nothing", you would be okay. But, if you said, "She had not earned nothing", I think it would probably not be a great idea to accept it because, even though it would be understood, it is normally not acceptable to say a double negative in English.
I didn't pick up on the double negative. Thanks for the explanation.
She didn't know that She had won nothing was marked wrong but seems reasonable to me.
She had not won anything. Worked so dont think the ganado part is the issue its you need the not and anything part.
I am still not sure when ganar should be used reflexively, but there is an interesting article here https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-use-ganar-3079801 In brief, The reflexive form ganarse usually means "to deserve" or otherwise suggests extraordinary effort. It also is frequently used to refer to those who win a lottery or drawing.
