Spanish: An Essential Grammar

En aquella universidad At that university teaching was a

enseñar era un suplicio. terrible ordeal.

No me conviene vivir tan Living so far away is not

lejos. convenient for me.

An infinitive with an explicit subject

Unlike in English, the infinitive in Spanish may appear with its own subject

in the form of a noun or pronoun. Such explicit subjects must follow the

infinitive:

Por llegar tú tarde, a mí me echaron una bronca.

Because you arrived late, I got told off.

Al llegar Pedro se fue María.

When Pedro arrived María left.

Note: More usual than the above is the pattern of conjunction followed by a verb:

Me echaron una bronca porque tú llegaste tarde‘I was told off because you arrived

late’.

17.5

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

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An infinite

with an

explicit

subject

195

Use of ser + adjective + de + infinitive

Students of French in particular should note that deis only used in

sentences such as the following, when the subject of the finite verb

is a noun or pronoun:

Esa puerta es difícil de That door is difficult to open.

abrir.

Eso es imposible de That is impossible to verify.

averiguar.

In cases where the infinitive itself is the subject of the finite verb, then

deis not used:

Es imprescindible tenerlo. It is essential to have it.

Tenerlo es imprescindible.

No era posible cruzar el Crossing the river was not

río. possible.

Cruzar el río no era posible.