What is soler + infinitive?

Question

My teacher explained this and i dont understand it at all.

Answer 1

Welcome to the forum!

"Soler" is another way to say "usualmente", but in a verb form. "Soler" needs to be conjugated, and sometimes that can be confusing, since in English we don't have a verb that means "usually".

For example, in English you would say: "I usually study a lot." In Spanish you can say either: "Usualmente estudio mucho" or "Suelo estudiar mucho." In that example, the "suelo" part gives the concept of "I usually [do something]". Remember, you need to conjugate "soler".

Let's take a few more examples... "She usually goes with me" - "Usualmente va conmigo" or "Suele ir conmigo."...... "They usually drink Pepsi" - "Usualmente toman Pepsi" or "Suelen tomar Pepsi"...... "We usually swim on weekends.' - "Usualmente nadamos los fines de semana" or "Solemos nadar los fines de semana,"

This structure of "soler + infinitive" is quite common in Spanish. I hope this has helped you to understand it.

Nice explanation. - KevinB, Oct 3, 2010

Thank you so much. Finally got it. - Ann-Frances, Apr 4, 2011

A very good explanation. Taught me something too. Thanks! - NickDan, May 10, 2011

Answer 2

soler

Suelo despertarme temprano.

I usually wake up early.

Answer 3

You have to implement solo in that sentence

Answer 4

I am confused on the distinction between solemos meaning we usually and solemos meaning we only as in "we only have 2 cats" -solemos tener dos gatos

That confusion is easy to solve: "solemos" doesn't mean "we only", ever. If you want to say "we only have 2 cats", you can only translate it as "solo tenemos 2 gatos". - bill1111, Oct 4, 2010

Right... solemos tener dos gatos would mean, "we usually have 2 cats." - Jeremias, Oct 4, 2010