Infinitives and Articles
At which times would you use the article 'el' with an infinitive. I know the infinitive must be used as a noun, of course, but I have seen both.
Fumar no me gusta.
Quiero dejar el fumar.
What is the difference?
3 Answers
I lost my links! Generally you use the El when the gerund is the subject of the sentence, but as your 1st example shows, and the statement below confirms, that this is not a consistent usage.
try this one for a more unusual usage
Su partir me entristeció"
I need to find the grammar article below again.
more
When used as a noun, the Spanish infinitive is always masculine and almost always singular. Like other nouns, it can be the subject of a sentence, a predicate nominative (usually a noun that follows a form of "to be" or ser) or the object of a verb or preposition. The infinitive noun sometimes retains the characteristics of a verb; it sometimes is modified by an adverb rather than an adjective and can sometimes have objects. It is often translated into the English gerund (the "-ing" form of the verb).
Gracias, vuestras respuestas me ha ayudado tanto :D
I strongly suggest you look at this forum on the topic.
It's very helpful!
Good question...I hope I helped 
Also, This may be of some help, even though it is about "al":
The use of the contraction al followed by an infinitive is a very common way of indicating when something happens. Al followed by an infinitive is usually the approximate equivalent of "upon," "on" or "when" followed by the gerund (the "-ing" form of a verb) in English.
