Hola Derek! Looks like you're giving your thesaurus a hard time! 1. ganar, triunfar, imponerse; (All of them could mean "to win") They're the same. Ganar is the most common one, the other two are more seen in written/literary/journalistic styles. Attention to the preposition that follows (ganar A, but triunfar/imponerse SOBRE) 2. vencer, derrotar; Vencer is the same as ganar, triunfar (also literary/journalistic/written, in spoken form is less frequent). Derrotar means the same, but the difference is that derrotar implies and needs a "losing" side. You can say "hemos ganado/vencido/triunfado" without saying any indirect object afterwards, but you can't just say "hemos derrotado" (you need to say "hemos derrotado a XX" o "les hemos derrotado", it needs to make explicit who has been defeated. It's the same difference in english (win vs. defeat, you can't say "I've defeated" unless you say who, "I've defeated him") 3. descomponer, pudrir; They're the same. 4. afrontar, enfrontar; enfrontar isn't a word, to my knowledge. EnfrEntar(frequently reflexive: enfrentarse) means to face or confront something/someone, typically an enemy or some sort of challenge. Afrontar is also to face something figuratively, but it's less confrontational (usually a challenge, or a problem, but not an enemy) 5. radicarse, establecerse. (They could mean "to settle down") They're the same, although radicarse is quite formal/academic.