why is there an "a" before the infinitive "saltar"?

Question

Hola, mi amigos...

In the following sentence (below), why is there an "a" before the infinitive "saltar"? The infinitive already has "to" in it, as in "to jump." Is that not redundant? Or, does the "a" mean something else here?

Están jugando a saltar a la soga.

Thank you all

Answer 1

This question looks familiar. Did you ask it before (recently)? The "a" is in the sentence because of the verb jugar, and not because of any use with saltar.

Look at the example sentences in our dictionary under jugar to see how "a" is sometimes used with the verb.

(it does not mean "to" in this context). Spanish uses "a" for many reasons before a verb infinitive, but it is not to provide the "to" part of the English infinitive "to ....". That "to" is an inherent part of the infinitive. "To read" is leer; not "a leer".