Spanish word of the week: conseguir

conseguir VERB to get, to obtain; to achieve; to manage

Conseguir is a frequent and very versatile verb, with lots of different translations, depending on the context. Remember that conseguir has forms exactly like seguir.

No se consiguen entradas. You can’t get tickets.

Mi tío me consiguió el trabajo. My uncle got me the job.

In the meaning of achieve, conseguir is often used with words like meta (goal), objetivo (objective) and resultado (result):

Para conseguir este objetivo se ha hecho ya un gran trabajo preparatorio. To achieve this objective a great deal of preparatory work has already been done.

Another main meaning of conseguir when followed by a verb in the infinitive is to manage to do something:

Finalmente conseguí convencerla. I finally managed to convince her.
Consiguió aprobar el examen. He managed to pass the exam.