Double infinitives

Question

Hi guys,

I'm wondering if it's ok to have two infinitives in a row? I was talking to a native speaker today about learning spanish, and one of my answers was something like "I want to be able to speak with latinamericans". In spanish I said "Quiero poder hablar con latinoamericanos", but I'm not sure if it is grammatically correct to use 2 infinitives in a row like that. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks.

I've been wondering the same thing! Thank you for asking the question! - Pajaro44, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 1

Hey Luke!

Your sentance seems perfect to me. To answer your question, yes, absolutely you can use infinitives in a row like that. There are some cases when you need to use an "a" inbetween the infinitives. For example "¿Me puedes enseñar a bailar?" But usually infinitives go together in exactly the way you used them.

Hope that helps!

Aaron

Answer 2

Hi, Luke.

This makes sense to me too.

"Quiero poder hablar con los latinoamericanos."

Let's wait and see if some native speakers say whether it sounds natural.

Answer 3

I'm wondering if it's ok to have two infinitives in a row?

It absolutely is ok, and it's very common.