What ir+a+infinitive ?

Question

i dont get it

Answer 1

This is a common verb construction in Spanish

Ir + a + Infinitive

It is known as the immediate future and is used to indicate actions that are shortly about to take place eg within the next ten minutes, hour, day or even next week. When the time period in the future is uncertain or a long time ahead e.g: next year the future indicative tense is used.

It can be best illustrated though examples which are already conjugated:

Voy a ir a España el año que viene = I am going to go to Spain next year

Voy a preparar mi cena = I am going to prepare my dinner

Vamos a salir al teatro esta noche = We are going out to the theatre tonight

Van a hablar con sus amigos = They are going to talk with their friends

I hope these examples help to illustrate thsi construction in a way that makes more sense to you

Another way to think about is the lazy people future tense. :D - Tasear, Nov 16, 2011

good respone! I feel slightly enlighted on topic that I know so well. I didn't know there were actually rules when to use it! - Tasear, Nov 16, 2011

Yes it could be called that lol hahahha but only when used as an excuse for not learning the future indicative tense - FELIZ77, Nov 18, 2011

Answer 2

This is how I interpret it as a beginner, it might not be entirely correct but it sure helped me remember what tense / conjugation to use.

In English, we always use the infinitive form of a verb (or what some would call the 'root word') after the word 'to'.

E.g. to eat, to sleep, to go, to swim...

Never: to eating, to ate, to eats, to eaten...

So in Spanish, since the word 'a' can mean the preposition 'to', a verb following 'a' should appear in its infinitive. i.e. no tense and no conjugation.

Answer 3

What's not to "get"? The technical term for this construction is the "periphrastic future" ("periphrastic" means "round about") this construction is used in both English and Spanish.It is, simply, an alternative way of expressing the future tense (e.g. "Comeré"/"I will eat." as opposed to "Voy a comer"/"I am going to eat."

Wow I have never heard that term before Why don't teachers even teach that term o intermediate level courses? - FELIZ77, Nov 18, 2011

Answer 4

Well.. in Spanish, an infinitive is a form of a verb that ends in -er, -ir, or -ar. The verb "ir" means "to go~, or go to~", right?

Ir+"a"+infinitive form of a verb makes a phrase that means "to do ~(whatever the verb is)" in english.

For instance, let's look at the verb leer, which means "to read". If you say ir a leer, it would mean "to read".

Well, there, I tried, but I'm still learning, so anyone, feel free to correct me!

Good try, Saphire:) Examples are best illustrated if you can conjugate the verbs like i have shown in my post above. You can say Voy a leer un libro = I am going to read a book - - FELIZ77, Nov 16, 2011

Answer 5

Going to fly

i still dont get how to use it - manban10, Nov 16, 2011