'Al pensar de' translated as 'at the thought of'

Question

Hi, I'm confused with how 'Al pensar' can mean 'at the thought of' since the word is in the infinitive (should mean: to think). Can anyone provide any clarification on this? Pls and tks!

Answer 1

Hi, cguirguis!

I agree with the previous answers, but I would like to add something:

We don't say:

Al pensar de

but:

Al pensar en

I know this does not answer your original question. Just to clarify:

"Al pensar de" sounds very odd.

Pensar de also is another way to say "to have an opinion about." http://spanish.about.com/od/usingparticularverbs/qt/using_pensar.htm - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 22, 2011

Hey Cogu :) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 22, 2011

Answer 2

When infinitives are used are nouns, they can translate kind of like "the action of (insert verb)ing.

So, if you so chose, you could translate it as "at the action of thinking of", but you want to not translate literally, and so "at the though of" sounds much better.

Answer 3

In English we can use gerunds as nouns.

Reading is good for the soul.

but we can't do that in Spanish instead we use the infinitive

Leer es bueno para el alma.

So for your example you could translate it as:

Al (upon) pensar (thinking) de (of) or as you said - At the thought of...

Answer 4

Al pensar en algo... = Upon thinking of something...

Al pensar en algo... = Just as he/she/it/they/you thought of something...

.

However, it can get translated in various ways. The important thing is that it shows an action was just completed, and it is usually used as a lead-in to show that someone did something else just as they completed the first action.

.

Just as he opened the door, he saw his mother. = Al abrir la puerta vio a su madre.

Upon opening the door, he saw his mother. = Al abrir la puerta vio a su madre.

Very, **very** important for me to learn right now. Thanks so much, Webdunce!! - territurtle, Sep 22, 2011