ir + a + infinitive

Question

In spanish class were learning about how to say whats going to happen. She said its ir + a + infinitive but on a test the infinitive was ir. Would it be Voy a ir or just voy to say im going to the amusement park. Sorry dumb question but please help. Thanks .

Answer 1

Not really...

ir +a+ infinitive = go + participle

Would that help?

Answer 2

Well, ir + a + infinitive is the informal future tense. You use it to say what someone or something is going to do. If you want to do the informal future with ir then it is simple Voy a ir. However, that doesn't say "I'm going," but rather "I'm going to go."

If I wanted to say I'm going to the store, I would say:

Voy a la tienda.

If I wanted to say I'm going to go to the store, I would say:

Voy a ir a la tienda.

I just think wording is an issue here because someone could say "I'm going to the store (later)" instead of "I'm going to go to the store" in English.

If you're going now, use voy, if you're trying to say you will go, use voy a ir.

(By the way, I don't mean to confuse you into thinking you should only use "voy" only if the action is currently happening, because you could just use it generally. i.e. Voy a la tienda cada día. I go to the store everyday.)

Answer 3

I am going to go = Voy a ir.

Not a dumb question at all. Most of us have asked it when we were learning this perífrasis verbales.

There is a weekly thread of these phrases. Here is the link for the one for ir+ a + infintivo:

ir + a + infinitivo