Gustar + infinitivo: perifrasis verbal ¿Sí o no?

Question

¡Hola!

He intentado buscar si gustar + infinitivo es un perifrasis verbal, pero me quedé con mucha duda.

Espero que alguien aqui lo sepa

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Apr 27, 2017

Answer 1

No it isn't. The infinitive is the subject of the sentence.

Example:

Me gusta bailar.

Dancing is pleasing to me.

Now if someone will tell me what a perífrasis verbal is I'll know what he's talking about. Grammarians are always coming up with new terms that don't appear in most textbooks. "Verbal paraphrase" ??? Sheesh! - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

Dani: I added another reply "tell you what a perifrasis verbal is"....Not that you really need to know :) - DilKen, Apr 27, 2017

Let me add my vote to this. - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

Answer 2

Yesterday, when I answered this question, I was using my phone, so I just gave the bare minimum information to answer the question. Well, I guess, the bare minimum would have been "No."

OdioElSubjuntivo asked whether gustar + infinitive was an example of "parifrasis verbal." For those of you who don't know this grammatical term, here is an explanation:

A parifrasis verbal generally consists of two verbs, one conjugated, and the other in either the infinitive, past participle or gerundio form. In addition, the meaning of the first, conjugated verb, is different from its meaning when it is used alone. Both requirements (two verbs) and (different meaning) must be met in order for the combination to be a perifrasis verbal.

I have read that there are approximately 140 perifrasis verbales in Spanish. Here is one that almost everyone here is familiar with:

Ir + a + infinitive

Ir, with a place, means "to go" somewhere. Voy al trabajo a las ocho todos los días. I go to work at 8 everyday. When answering the door, you might just say ¡Voy! = I'm coming, in English. Again, there is physical movement involved.

Ir + a + infinitive, as you all know, means "going to do something" or "will do something" - it is the informal future tense. "Voy a leer esta tarde" just means "I'm going to read this afternoon." You may or may not "go" anywhere else to do the reading. The verb ir completely changes its meaning when used with "a + infinitive."

Here is the SpanishDict article about perifrasis verbales:

SD article on Verbal Perifrasis

And here is a Youtube video of a Spanish teacher. It is completely in Spanish, but it he "shows his work" so even if you can't understand what he is saying, I think you will learn a lot about this topic.

Youtube video on perifrasis verbal

So, back to OdioElSubjuntivo's original question about gustar: Gustar does not change it's meaning, at all, when followed by an infinitive. It still means "is pleasing to" The infinitive is the subject of the sentence...the thing that "is pleasing to someone" Therefore, gustar + infinitive is in no way, shape or form a verbal perifrasis.

OK, we use these all the time. It was that I wasn't acquainted with the grammatical term. I have never seen that term in any textbook. Thanks again. - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

Answer 3

I decided to bump this because I added the explanation about perifrasis verbal after this thread went stale. Hope no one minds.

I don't mind at all. :) - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

The SD article was very clear. The You Tube thing was done by a Spaniard who used all sorts of grammatical gobbledegook. This is why I prefer scientific linguistics over "grammar" - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

In all my textbooks the word "grammar" is never mentioned. The preferred word is "structure" Followed by "rule" stated in a more logical to understand manner. The only low grade (below "A") I ever got was when the textbook was written by a Spaniard who - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

used a lot of gobbledygook and even came up with "cases" like "nominative," "ablative" "genitive" and so forth. That's ridiculous in a language that doesn't have case endings as do Greek and Latin. When I studied Greek, it made sense. In Spanish, the idea - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

Is "moronic" to say the least. - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

By the way "perífrasis" carries an accent on the first "i." - Daniela2041, Apr 27, 2017

Answer 4

Gracias por contestarme!

Ahora entiendo todo lo del verbo gustar, pero es que no entiendo porque, por ejemplo, poder + infinitivo es una perífrasis verbal. Es decir que "poder" no pierde su significado en ninguna manera?

ejemplo:

¿Puedes ayudarme con esto?

see poder in SD dictionary 7,8,9,10 - DilKen, Apr 28, 2017

Odio: I thought the same about poder when I first saw it on the list - DilKen, Apr 28, 2017