"I am going to go do spanish."

Question

Today I was trying told someone in english "I am going to go do spanish and help the little kids in Señora's classroom." but then I was wondering how to say "I am going to go do"?

I was thinking Voy a ir a hacer and when I used the translator it said the same thing but I was hoping for an explanation and possibly another example, other than with ir+a+infinitive (when the infinitive is ir) in which you would need that "a" before the verb.

I have asked a teacher about this before and she had just said to use ir+a+infinitive like you normally would and not worry about the going to part because it is close enough that someone would understand me but I don't just want to be understood, I want to be correct. I think that if I can have an answer and an explanation of why, it will be much clearer for me to understand. Thanks in advance

Sorry, typo: Today I told someone in english.. - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

Answer 1

Sentences constructed in this manner almost always need to be re-constructed when communicated in Spanish. Most of my Spanish-speaking friends do not understand the purpose of "to go" being placed in the sentence, so they would not understand the phrase "voy a ir ".

Consider the idea being communicated, then construct the sentence in Spanish. I'm guessing you will be helping or teaching in a spanish class, so here are my suggestions

Voy a enseñar una clase de español.

Voy a ayudar en una clase de español.

I'm new at this, but that's my suggestion. Hope it helps!

Spanish is my mother tongue, and I do say ""voy a ir " in Spanish. - lazarus1907, Oct 27, 2010

thanks. ok i understand the use of ir+a+infinitive where you conjugate ir for the subject to say "going to" then the infinitive.. What I'm getting mixed messages on is whether ir+a+infiniteive ir is correct to use? - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

keown, your answer makes sense but then lazarus says he uses "voy a ir" Is it a regional difference perhaps? - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

Lazarus says "Voy a ir" when he means "I am going to go (someplace)". He probably doesn't say "voy a ir a hacer", - KevinB, Oct 27, 2010

Oh ok I see what you mean. So it is just something we say in english that doesn't translate DIRECTLY. Ok great, thanks everybody :) - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

Answer 2

Really "to go do" is a colloquialism of English. It's used and understood by many, but it's also superfluous. Also, what do you really mean by "do Spanish". Are you studying it? Practising it? etc.

I would use "Voy a estudiar español" or "Voy a la clase español para ayudar la Señora".

Well whether or not I'm doing spanish or something else, what you're saying is that there isn't a translation for "going to go do" because it's an english phrase? So instead just figure out another way to say it by using a more specific verb or by - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

dropping the "to go"? - lchsnicolita, Oct 27, 2010

In this case I think "I am going to go to do" is redundant. You don't need both "goes" in English or Spanish, though a lot of English speakers say it that way. - KevinB, Oct 27, 2010