Why is "de" used before an infinitive?

Question

Context: Michael Jackson as a dancer.

Su estilo es muy difícil de copiar. - His style is very difficult to copy.

If the above translation is correct, why is "de" used befor "copiar"?

About.com indicates there are times "de" isn't even translated. Is this one of those times?

Does the adjective "difícil" have anything to to with the use of "de"?

Any feedback is appreciated. Gracias!

Answer 1

"de" is a preposition. The use of prepositions in Spanish is largely arbitrary

It is not arbitrary at all. As a general rule, nouns in Spanish that modify another noun or adjective have to be connected with a preposition, and the default one is "de". Infinitives in Spanish behave as nouns, so you have to connected with "de" too:

difícil de carácter [adjective + noun]

difícil de tratar [adjective + infinitive]

cuchillo de cocina [noun + noun]

cuchillo de cortar [noun + infinitive]

P.S - Sorry for the mistakes I made earlier

Spanish infinitives behave like nouns and there are arbitrary lists of which preposition, if any, goes between two of them. - lorenzo9, Apr 4, 2011

Lazarus I think you've told me about the infinitives acting like nouns before, so I'm sorry I can't seem to keep things strait!! I'll keep tryi g, though! :) - bandit51jd, Apr 4, 2011

And difícil is an adjective, not a noun. - lorenzo9, Apr 4, 2011

You're completely right about the adjective, lorenzo9. I've ammended it now. However, using "de" as a link word is not arbitrary in most cases. - lazarus1907, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 2

In general, prepositions are not used because of what follows but because of what precedes.

Answer 3

You're completely right about the adjective, lorenzo9. I've ammended it now. However, using "de" as a link word is not arbitrary in most cases. - lazarus1907

I'd love to see a rule

As far as I can tell, the use of prepositions in Spanish is almost as arbitrary as that in English, and using them imbetween adjectives and nouns (or infinitives acting as nouns) doesn't seem to be any more regular.

Answer 4

I went and looked up difícil in the dictionary (Oxford) and there were example sentences of "difícil + X + infinitive" where X was de ,que, or no word at all. The case of de was singled out as meaning "hard to infinitive". Googling also shows examples where X is en or como.

Answer 5

I think of the infinitive in these situations as the English gerund, and as a noun, in any case:

difícil de copiar

I think, "difficult of/in copying"

The infinitive is used in some unusual ways, such as a noun.

Usually I think "difficult to to copy" and thank was really throwing me off, thinking "adjective of/in verb in it's infinitive form" makes better sense now! Gracias pesta! - bandit51jd, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 6

You're on the right track. Adjective + de + infinitive. Difícil de copiar. In English, we would use the preposition "to". Difficult to copy. Hope that helps.

MMany grammarians would say that to is part of the infinitive and an infinitive without the to is called a bare infinitive. - lorenzo9, Apr 3, 2011

It just didn't look correct to say "to to copy", but between you and lorenzo I think I understand better, thank you. - bandit51jd, Apr 3, 2011

I think I commented over yours, could you explain bare infinitive again, please? - bandit51jd, Apr 3, 2011

A bare infinitive is the infinitive without the to. . .it often functions as something other than a verb. The conjugated verb is often the verb without the to, but this is not called a bare infinitive. - lorenzo9, Apr 3, 2011

Gracias, Lorenzo! - bandit51jd, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 7

"de" is a preposition. The use of prepositions in Spanish is largely arbitrary, although not nearly as bad as in English. One of the set phrases is "difícil de + infinitive".

Gracias lorenzo, I'll try and remember this set phrase. - bandit51jd, Apr 3, 2011