How to translate continuous vebs after dejar?
I understand that 'dejar de' can sometimes mean to stop doing something.
If I want to say 'we will have to stop eating sandwiches', would it be: 1) tendremos que dejar de comer los bocadillos 2) tendremos que dejar comiendo/de comiendo los bocadillos
As in would the verb be in the gerund or the infinitive?
Thanks in advance
4 Answers
Meaning "stop doing" something is "dejar de"
Voy a dejar de comer golosinas.
Voy a dejar comiendo golosinas is incorrect.
There could be some examples of "dejar plus gerund" but it's not to stop doing something.
For example:
Dejé corriendo el agua en el baño. I left the water running in the bathroom.
Estábamos charlando y Julio me dejó hablando solo. We were talking and Julio left me speaking alone.
Here's my opinion.
Tendremos que dejar de comer bocadillos.
With verbs like comer it is normal to not use the definite article los unless you are referring to some specific bocadillos.
Tendremos que dejar de comer los bocadillos
We will have to stop eating the sandwiches. (The ones at this party, for example)
You definitely to not want to use the gerund in Spanish.
I have only seen the dejar de plus infinitive for stop doing something. Dejar plus gerundio seems to exist on the net, much less commonly, but I don't know what it signifies or if it is just bad grammar. Here is a good article on how to use dejar:
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-spanish/11400-using-dejar-as-a-helping-verb-in-spanish/
Using Dejar as a Helping Verb in Spanish
written by: Eric W. Vogt • edited by: Wendy Finn • updated: 8/2/2012
This article takes you beyond the common but important observations about the differences between "salir" and "dejar" as stand-alone verbs. It concludes the story about the verb "dejar" by examining its meanings as a helping verb.
• "Dejar" in All Its Glory as a Helping Verb
The verb dejar, used alone, means to leave something or someone behind. Hence it can translate as to abandon, to jilt, to leave standing at the altar, etc., using a direct object (noun or pronoun). Dejar also can mean to bequeath, when used with an indirect object pronoun. But beyond its fundamental meaning and how dejar differs from salir, it has other uses which increase its importance and frequency in the language.
There are two ways in which dejar is used as an auxiliary verb. In one case, it is directly followed by an infinitive. When this occurs, it means to allow or to let + verb: Su padre no la deja salir con ese muchacho. (Her father won't let/allow her to go out with that guy.) This usage is quite straight forward.
When used with the preposition de before the infinitive (dejar + de + infinitive), it means to quit or to stop doingsomething (or to not stop): Mis primos no dejan de hablar. (My cousins won't stop talking). Sometimes, the verb parar(literally to stop, as in a car) is substituted in this same structure. Do you see that in English, the verb following the verb to stop is in the gerund form? This is worth a passing comment: There is one universal rule when contrasting English with Spanish grammar which is 100% reliable. Whenever a verb follows a preposition in English, the verb appears in the -ing form, whereas in Spanish, it always will remain in the infinitive.
This last structure is common in imperatives, or commands: Deja de fumar. (Stop smoking.)
Used with en, instead of de, dejar means to leave in such-or-another condition, as in Déjame en paz. (Leave me in peace/alone.) Another example: La guerra dejó la ciudad en ruinas. (The war left the city in ruins.) Note that the preposition en does not always have to immediately follow the verb.
http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/vocabulary/expressions/ex-dejar.html
dejarse de + infinitive to stop + gerund
As an interesting side note, consider the difference between these in English:
I stopped smoking
I stopped to smoke
Hi. If you translate dejar de on the translation page of this site, you will see many examples with the infinitivo and none with the gerundio.
