Breakdown of Al esquivar al enemigo, ganas más tiempo.
al
to the
el tiempo
time
ganar
to win / to earn
más
more
esquivar
to dodge
el enemigo
the enemy
Questions & Answers about Al esquivar al enemigo, ganas más tiempo.
How does the structure al esquivar work in this sentence?
Why is there a second al right before enemigo?
This second al is the mandatory contraction of the preposition a and the masculine article el. The a here is the "personal a," which is required because the direct object of the verb, the enemigo, is being treated as a specific person.
Does ganas mean "you win" or "you earn" here?
It translates best to "you gain." While ganar is the standard verb for winning a game or earning money, the set phrase ganar tiempo specifically means "to buy time" or "to gain time."
Could I use the future tense ganarás instead of the present tense ganas?
You could, but the present tense is very natural here. Just like in English ("When you dodge, you gain time"), Spanish frequently uses the present tense to express a general rule or an immediate, guaranteed result of an action.
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