optar: ¿Optaste por fin por estudiar empresariales?
Did you choose to do management studies in the end?
terminar: Termino por citar otro ejemplo.
I’ll finish by quoting another example.
votar: Yo votaría por mantener el status quo.
I’d vote for maintaining the status quo.In all the above cases, the subject of the main verb is the same as the implied subject
of the infinitive complement. Some of these verbs (esforzarse, luchar and votar) also
take a sentence complement with que and the subjunctive when the subjects are
different, e.g.:
Nos esforzamos porque saliera bien la empresa.
We strove so that the enterprise turned out well.NOTE The por is preserved before the que in such a construction. The sequence porque does not
mean ‘because’ here.Quedar por takes an infinitive which corresponds to a passive in English:
Dos cosas quedan por hacer.
Two things remain to be done.26.3 Gerund complementation
The chief verbs which take gerund object complements are:acabar: Acabaron peleándose.
They ended up quarrelling. (acabar+ gerund is an alternative to acabar
por+ infinitive)
continuar: Continuó escribiendo.
He/she continued writing.
llevar: Llevo años preparando mi tesis. (see 20.3)
I’ve spent years preparing my thesis.
seguir: Siguieron caminando.
They carried on walking.
The gerund is also used with verbs of perception to stress the ongoing nature of the
action involved:
Vimos a los diputados entrando en el palacio.
We saw the deputies going into the palace. (suggests a succession of
deputies going in one after the other)COMPLEMENTATION 26.3