Arruinar

Arruinar is a Spanish verb that means to cause something to deteriorate to the point of ruin, or to bring about financial ruin for a person or entity. It can refer to damaging goods, plans, reputations, or finances. The reflexive form arruinarse denotes someone’s own ruin, such as going bankrupt or suffering a ruinous outcome. The word derives from ruina (ruin) with the prefix a-, and is widely used in both Spain and Latin America.

Conjugation and usage: Arruinar is a regular -ar verb. Present indicative forms include arruino, arruinas, arruina, arruinamos, arruináis, arruinan. The preterite simple is arruiné, arruinaste, arruinó, arruinamos, arruinaron; imperfect is arruinaba, arruinabas, arruinaba, arruinábamos, arruinabais, arruinaban. The future forms are arruinaré, arruinarás, arruinará, arruinaremos, arruinarán. Subjunctive forms are arruine, arruines, arruine, arruinemos, arruinéis, arruinen. The participle is arruinado and the gerund arruinando. It is used transitively, for example: “La mala gestión puede arruinar la empresa,” or “no quiero arruinarte la sorpresa.” In reflexive or passive constructions, one can encounter arruinarse or se arruinó, to express personal ruin or a ruin that happened to the subject.

Nuances and synonyms: Arruinar connota un daño significativo o irreparable, a diferencia de estropear, descomponer o dañar de menor grado. En contextos financieros, arruinarse implica pérdida total de estabilidad económica. The term is formal-neutral and common across distintos registros.