Infinitive verb use??

Question

I came across the following two different sentences (from the same magazine article) and am confused about the use of the infinitive verb.

"Para nuestra industria, uno de los aspectos mas dificiles a enfrentar durante la crisis financiera global..."

"asi como la oportunidad de vivir nuevas experiencias vacacionales son altas"

I understand that an infinitive verb can be used after a preposition i.e. "para aprender" (in order to learn), that an infinitive is used after a conjugated verb i.e. "quiero aprender" (I want to learn) and after de (to express easiness, difficulty, probabaility) i. e. "Espanol es facil de aprender." (sentence #1 should fit this rule, but it does not???)

I am confused as to the rules that explain the two situations given above.

Any help is appreciated.

Gracias!

Answer 1

These are great questions. Spanish prepositions are difficult to learn, especially when required after nouns or adjectival phrases, and often times are examples of patterns, not rules. This is the case with your two examples. (By the way, in the examples in your 4th paragraph, you cited 2 examples of prepostions, 'para' but also 'de').

In any case, in 'uno de los aspectos mas dificiles a enfrentar' the preposition required is 'a', meaning 'to'. In English, we might say 'one of the most difficult aspects to confront is.., which is a very similar useage.

In the second example, we have a situation of de + infinitive which, when translated into English, becomes of + gerund. Which is to say, "la oportunidad de vivir" becomes "the opportunity for (or of) living. This is a very common useage.

These don't follow general rules about grammar so much as they are examples of different patterns of using prepositions. The key is to be exposed to lots of Spanish so you become familiar with the patterns. When you hear a very functional but non-fluent speaker of English speak, errors with prepositions are common. You notice them but at the same time rarely does it impede understanding. Same for English speakers speaking Spanish.

J

Very thoughtful of you to add 'it doesn't impede understanding' - that's a nice confidence-booster. :D - galsally, Aug 5, 2010