Help me with these verb patterns, please.

Question

Hello amigos.... I learnt about it but I think I forgot it. I'm confused with the difference between these ones that are followed either by to + infinitive or + -ing form

begin / start / finish to read

begin / start / finish reading

Thanks in advance.... ¡Que viva SpanishDict!!!

Answer 1

To me, personally, there feels like there is not much difference between begin/start to read and begin/start reading. Finish to read, on the other hand is impossible. It must be finish reading (but we will understand you if you say finish to read, but it will definitely sound foreign to us.)

These work in all tenses, I believe....

I will start reading / I will start to read

I want you to start reading / I want you to start to read

I started reading / I started to read (in this case, there is a small difference to me)

I have started reading / I have started to read

Note: in the simple past, if you say "I started reading the book" it tells me that you started to read the book. However, if you say, "I started to read the book," it can mean the same thing, but it could also mean you never actually were able to start reading the book.

I started to read the book, but the phone rang. (Cuando estabas a punto de leerlo, soñó el teléfono.)

I started reading the book, but the phone rang. (Unos momentos después de que había empezado a leerlo, soñó el teléfono.)

It is a small difference. Probably nothing a non-native should be concerned about. But, basically, in the simple past, if you use the infinitive, I would normally expect that something prevented you from ever really starting whatever it was.

I hope that doesn't make it more confusing to you.

Good answer! - territurtle, Jun 26, 2011

Gracias Webdunce - nelson_rafael, Jan 15, 2012

Answer 2

If you begin or start to read, then we do not know when the action will stop. We only know that at that exact moment you are initiating the action. You could stop or cease the action in the very next instant.

You cannot "finish to read." You can only finish reading, because the action has both a beginning, and an end or stopping point.

If you begin or start reading, then you are "continuing to read." You are still in the process of reading. It has not yet stopped and it is not expected to stop in the immediate future.

What I have given you above is what is "going on in the mind of a native speaker." If you are looking for a more technical grammatical explanation or rules, just let me know.

Gracias territurtle. - nelson_rafael, Jan 15, 2012