# voittaa pelin / voittaa pelissä



## Gavril

Is it normal (or correct) to use _voittaa pelin _to mean "win a game / win the game"? Also, is there a difference of meaning between _voittaa pelin _and _voittaa pelissä_, or are the two phrases more or less synonymous?

Kiitos


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## Grumpy Old Man

_Voittaa pelin_ is fine in many contexts. _Voittaa peli_ is often required. Please note that "peli" can be used in more than one sense. Some examples:

_Voitimme pelin.
_We won the match / game. (For example football, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, volleyball etc.)

_Roger Federer voitti toisen erän ensimmäisen pelin.
_Roger Federer won the first game of the second set.

_Voittaa peli*ssä*_ requires a continuation. It can't replace _pelin_ in the above examples. The first thing that comes to my mind is gambling: _Hän voitti tuhat euroa [uhka]pelissä/pelaamalla. _(He won a thousand euros gambling.)

GOM


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## sakvaka

This is again a thing that many natives may mess up in the usage. I agree with GOM, but in careless talk, no continuation is necessarily needed.

Inessive is used in gambling (including lottery) and when comparing your achievements to the ones of somebody else.

_Oletko koskaan voittanut lotossa suuria summia?_
_Voitin Pekan ristinollassa._


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## sakvaka

I forgot to add that nominative is the case of the total object when combined with infinitives. _Voittaa pel*i*_, but: _minä voitin peli*n*_. So, "voittaa pelin" is correct only if it's singular 3rd person.


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