Spanish: An Essential Grammar

(avery) #1
Quedamos en reunirnos a We agreed on meeting at two
las dos. o’clock.
Persisten en llamarnos. They persist in calling us.
But note alsopensar en ‘to think of/about’.
(e) Con+ infinitive
This occurs with a few common verbs:
Le han amenazado con quitarle el permiso de conducir.
They have threatened him with taking away his driving licence.
Me conformo con dormir en el sofá.
I’m happy to sleep on the sofa.
María sueña con vivir al lado del mar.
María dreams of living by the sea.

Preposition required by preceding noun

Sometimes what demands a specific preposition is not a preceding verb but
a noun. If this noun is derived from a verb, it usually takes the same prepo-
sition as the corresponding verb:
su empeño enllamarme de usted
his insistence on addressing me as usted
In other cases, deis very common, although other prepositions are possible:
Tiene la suerte de vivir en He’s lucky enough to live in
Madrid. Madrid.
la idea de veranear con ellos the idea of going on holiday with
them
el derecho a votar the right to vote
cierta tendencia a criticar a certain tendency to be critical

Translating ‘the first/last to’

After the adjectives último ‘last’, único ‘only’, and primero ‘first’ etc., an
infinitive is preceded by en:
Fue el tercero y último en He was the third and last
terminar. to finish.

17.2.3

17.2.2

1111


2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


1011


1


12111


3 4 5 6 7 8 9


20111


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


30111


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


40


41111


17


Infinitive
constructions


192

Free download pdf