'Para hablar' OR just 'hablar' ?
Hola!
This might seem like a silly question, but I'm confused and maybe it's because of how we were taught verbs.
I was taught that the infinitive literally means TO DO that action. As in hablar literally means TO talk.
However, I see sometimes that people put "para" before the infinitive.
Wouldn't saying para hablar be like saying "to to talk?".
Example: Raquel debe a Madrid para hablar con señora Saurez.
Why not just: 'Raquel debe a Madrid hablar con senora Saurez'?
Or does the infinitive NOT mean TO ____?
Muchas gracias !
6 Answers
Hi:
"Para" used in the way means "in order"
"Estudio mucho para aprender" I study a lot in order to learn.
Something was missing in your sentence: Here it is uncorrected.
Raquel debe a Madrid para hablar con señora Saurez.
"Debe" means "should" or "ought" and needs to be followed by (in this case) a verb like "ir" or "viajar" (go or travel) Then you need the feminine article "la" before señora Suarez. (you misspelled that also.)
Here is the corrected sentence with a translation.
"Raquel debe viajar a Madrid para hablar con la señora Suarez."
"Raquel should (or ought) to travel to Madrid in order to speak with Mrs. Suarez.
Now that I have answered your question, could you please go to your profile and fill it out? We really need to know your language levels so that we can answer your questions at the proper level . I always assume that one is a complete beginner, unless I'm told otherwise.
To add to Daniela's excellent answer:
Infinitives can be used with or without para, or other prepositions, and you must connect them correctly for the situation.
Take Daniela’s sentence:
"Estudio mucho para aprender" I study a lot in order to learn.
And do some other sentences:
Para aprender es bueno estudiar mucho. In order to learn it is good to study a lot. Here aprender has para, but estudiar doesn’t, it has no preposition.
Voy a empezar a estudiar mañana para aprender a hablar un nuevo idioma. I am going to start studying tomorrow in order to learn to speak a new language. I preceded three infinitives with a and one with para.
Aprender un nuevo idioma es difícil de hacer. Learning a new language is difficult to do. One with nothing and one with de.
I could go on.
The point is that prepositions are very difficult and do not match English necessarily, and just have to be learned.
It may be that a native speaker comes along and says I did one of these sentences wrong. Prepositions are hard.
When I took Spanish in college it wasn't until the 3rd semester that we were taught the rules of Por and Para. Seemed a little late for me. I did think it was helpful to learn both at the same time.
Para has a lot of uses. In your post, para before an infinitive indicates "in order to." Por ejemplo, "Para sacar buenas notas tengo que practicar español" - "In order to get good grades I have to practice Spanish."
It's one of those words like "ya" that has a lot of different uses depending on intent and context.
Hi, and welcome.
You might be taking the "to" in "to talk" too literally. In English we express infinitives with the word "to," but that's just an accident of English. Better to focus on how infinitives are used in Spanish. (Here's another link. Obviously you can Google up a storm to learn more.)
We would appreciate it if you'd complete your profile. Among other things, when you indicate your level of understanding of Spanish, it helps people answer appropriately.
I think you wanted to say "Raquel debe IR/VIAJAR a Madrid PARA hablar con la Sra. Suaréz.
"Para" fits better.
