Severn Spanish

Infinitives II

 

 

Introduction/Review

Infinitives are the simplest form of a verb, meaning “to ________” in English. In Spanish, there are three types of infinitives: -ar, -er, and -ir.

 

Using verbs as nouns in the subject of a sentence

Sometimes, you may want to use a verb as the subject of a sentence. For instance, you might want to say “Running is good for the health.” You might think that to say this in Spanish, you need the present participle of correr — corriendo, which means “running” when used in the present progressive. However, this is not the case. In fact, the present participle CANNOT be used as a noun. Instead, you need to use the infinitive. This means that this sentence is perfectly correct:

Correr es bueno para la salud. (To run is good for the health./Running is good for the health. [Either translation is acceptable.])

 

You may want to note that all infinitives, when used as nouns, are masculine. This means that all adjectives (such as bueno, above) are masculine, and that masculine articles should be used.

If you want to use the definite article, you can — El correr es bueno para la salud is correct — but the article is usually dropped when the infinitive is the subject of another verb.

 

Connections

Remember using gustar with infinitives? And remember what you know about the way gustar works? Well, that was a simple example of using infinitives as the subject of a verb. Take a look at this sentence:

Me gusta comer.

Remember that with gustar, which means “to please,” the subject usually follows the verb. So in this sentence, our infinitive — comer — is the subject, the thing that is doing the pleasing.

 

Practice