Past Tense of verbs

Question

I need help understanding the infinitive of verbs. Please help.

Answer 1

The infinitive? that's the main verb form that you find in the dictionary that ends with -ar (hablar/to speak), -er (comer/to eat), -ir (escribir/to write) etc

Is that what you mean or do you mean the imperfect past tense?

That's when verbs end in -aba or -ía.

-aba for -ar verbs, eg. hablaba - I was speaking, I used to speak etc

-ía for -er and -ir verbs, eg. comía - I was eating, I used to eat etc

escribía - I was writing, I used to write etc

Good, clear answer , Kiwi :) - FELIZ77, Jun 14, 2013

thanx Feliz :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 14, 2013

Answer 2

For advanced learning of infinitives, they can sometimes be used as a noun. In the following sentence the infinitive, leer, is the subject (noun) of the sentence.

Leer es bueno.
Reading is good.

Answer 3

Netta, the infinitive is the basic verb form of any verb before it is formed (conjugated) for a specific person. ex's dar = to give, ayudar = to help, pensar= to think, esperar = to hope, to wait, to expect.

Most of the time when verbs are used in Spanish they must be conjugated for a particular person. For example: 1. He reads, /he is reading) = lee 2. You run/you are running : corres 3. They dance/they are dancing = bailan.

However, sometimes verbs are used in their infinitive forms; especially when speaking about things generally!

Es bueno verte de nuevo = It's good to see you again

Siempre es una buena idea pensar antes de actuar = It's always a good idea to think before acting.

I hope this helps