Why "de encontrar" rather than "encontrar"?

Question

Context: ¡Esta es la manera encontrar una aguja en un almiar!

This is the way to find a needle in a haystack!

Question: The correction is "de encontrar". I'm not sure I understand why "de" should be used in this sentence?

Answer 1

This is the manner of "a noun". ("of" is needed for this, right?)

In this case the noun is a nominative phrase (finding a needle in a haystack).

In English, the noun "finding" is a gerund.

In Spanish, the noun phrase "encontrar..." is made from the infinitive. Not "el gerundio".

Pesta, encontrar is a verb :) - FELIZ77, Feb 25, 2011

I would say, instead: an infinitive is used in Spanish in place of a gerund in English - FELIZ77, Feb 25, 2011

Yes, and it's also been described as a noun phrase (although only one word long) - pesta, Feb 25, 2011

Or, put another way, encontrar is a verb used as a noun is this type of situation. - pesta, Feb 25, 2011

In both English and Spanish the infinitive is often used as a "verbal noun." - Izanoni1, Feb 25, 2011

WEll I have never heard it being expressed in this way before well Ive learnt something new ! Thanks guys lol - FELIZ77, Feb 25, 2011

Answer 2

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/162826/de-before-infinitive
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090213215659AAsIzPN

I struggled with this for a while also, and the best way to think about it is in parts of speech as mentioned in the above link.

I can only compare this to the way I was taught english - all parts of speech answer a question of some kind in this case manera is a noun being qualified by the infinitive encontrar. What kind of manner was it? The manner to find a needle in a haystack.

Manera - Whenever an infinitive qualifies a noun in this way de is usually inserted before it. manera de encontrar

Hope these links help.

Inserted hyperlink - Izanoni1, Feb 25, 2011

Answer 3

This is the way (of finding) to find a needle in a haystack" so we use "de contrar" to mean of finding? Sorry if I'm not wording my question well.

Yes this would be a good way of interpreting it.

Remember not to get to get too caught up in word-for-word translations, however. What is considered to be the proper or idiomatic way of constructing an expression in one language is not always (or even often) the same way that an expression might be composed in another.

In Spanish, when followed immediately by a verbal noun (an infinitive), the typical idiomatic construction is "manera de"

Ex:

Manera de pensar ? way of thinking;

Manera de vivir ? way of living/life; manner of life/living

Manera de ver ? way of looking things; viewpoint

very well put! - Silvia, Feb 25, 2011

Answer 4

Are you both saying the translation is something like, "This is the way (of finding) to find a needle in a haystack" so we use "de contrar" to mean of finding? Sorry if I'm not wording my question well.