As we already know, the verb is a type of word that expresses action within a sentence. When studying verbs in Spanish we find a variety of aspects: their conjugation, modes, tenses or non-personal forms. In the case at hand, we are going to analyze the verbs in the infinitive, which together with the gerund and the participle make up the three non-personal forms of the verb, also known as noun forms of the verb. It is worth remembering that the naming of non-personal forms of the verb is due to the fact that the infinitive, the gerund and the participle do not have personal endings. Thus, if we take the verb form swim as a reference, there is no person associated with it.
Main uses of the infinitive
The verb forms in the infinitive have an ending ending in ar, er or ir, such as walk, return or leave, which are the three conjugations of our language. Like the gerund and the participle, the use of the infinitive does not depend on the agreement of gender and number like the rest of verb forms. Its function matches those of the noun. In this way, if I say "he likes to dance" it is equivalent to saying "he likes to dance". Sometimes it is accompanied by an article in the singular, for example "eating" or "working" or in the plural, for example "walking" or "pleasures".
In the sentence "Drinking wine moderately is healthy" it is appreciated that the infinitive acts as a subject. In the sentence "I want to eat chicken" the infinitive works as a direct object. In the sentence "He does not give too much importance to living well" the infinitive fulfills the function of an indirect object. In the sentence "He tried to analyze it" the infinitive acts as a prepositional object. The above examples highlight that the infinitive has all the proper functions of the noun.
On the other hand, the infinitive can perform other functions. Sometimes it acts as an adverb (close to leaving), as a complement to the adjective (difficult to get), as a circumstantial complement (wine without dinner) or as a complement to the adverb (far from winning).
We must not forget that the infinitive has a simple form (win. Return or exit) but also a compound form (the infinitive of having more than one participle, such as having won or having left).
It is used after impersonal expressions with ser + adjective (it is easy to decide or it is useless to try). It is usually presented with the formulation verb + preposition a + infinitive (I'll start to play) or the structure verb + preposition of + infinitive (she has never stopped gaining weight).
Photos: iStock - Eva Katalin / kate_sept2004
