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Is there any difference between "reprobar" and "desaprobar" (Latin America)/"suspender" (Spain) when they mean "to fail" (a test, a course) ?

Example1:

  • Reprobé el examen.
  • Desaprobé/Suspendí el examen.

Example 2:

  • Reprobé en Matemática(s).
  • Desaprobé/Suspendí en Matemática(s).
DGaleano
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Alan Evangelista
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  • In Colombia we rarely use "reprobar" but instead we say "Perdí el examen" or "Juan perdió matemáticas" – DGaleano Nov 18 '19 at 15:32
  • "perdí el examen" already means "I missed the test". If it can also mean "to fail an exam" in Colombia, doesn't it become "ambiguous" ? – Alan Evangelista Nov 18 '19 at 15:36
  • Nop. It is not ambiguous because it does not mean "I missed the test" but only "I failed it". For us to say "I was late so I missed the test and because of that I flunk the course" we say "Llegué tarde y me perdí el examen y por eso perdí la materia" – DGaleano Nov 18 '19 at 19:50
  • I don't follow. If "perder el examen" cannot mean to miss the test", why have you just translated "I missed the test" as "me perdí el examen"? – Alan Evangelista Nov 18 '19 at 22:33
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    @AlanEvangelista What DGaleano seems to mean is that with a dative "perderse el examen" means "miss the exam", but without the dative "perder el examen / la materia" means "fail an exam / a subject" (Colombian usage). – Gustavson Nov 18 '19 at 22:47
  • That makes more sense. Thanks, @Gustavson! – Alan Evangelista Nov 18 '19 at 23:22
  • @Gustavson thanks for the explanation. That is correct. Alan the difference between usages is on the bold bits of the sentences. – DGaleano Nov 19 '19 at 13:38

1 Answers1

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In Argentina, "reprobar" is slighly more formal than "desaprobar". We also have "bochar" (flunk), which is very informal and always used with "en X":

  • Me bochó / Me bocharon en (el examen de) matemática.

Both "reprobar" and "desaprobar" (we don't use "suspender" with this meaning) are used transitively:

  • Reprobé / Desaprobé (el examen de) matemática.
  • Me reprobaron / Me desaprobaron en (el examen de) matemática.

For further reference, see http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?key=reprobar.

Although the intransitive use is not described in dictionaries, we can hear it, mainly with "desaprobar":

  • Desaprobé en (el examen de) matemática.

"aprobar" can in fact be used intransitively (see: https://www.spanishdict.com/comparar/desaprobar/aprobar), in sentences like:

  • Después de mucho trabajo arduo, por fin aprobé. (After a lot of hard work, I finally passed.)

so I see no reason for not using "desaprobar" intransitively, too.

Gustavson
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