ir + a + inf

Question

Hello i am confused a little bit. I know that "ir (voy, vas,va...) + a + infinitive" equal english "going to". Recently i encountered "Verb + ir + a + infinitive + ?marcador?". I would like to know if its the same or not. Also what does that mercador means and what if i remove that mercador. Honestly i cant really translate it into going to so i am wondering where the shoe pinches.

good question :) - 006595c6, Jul 10, 2017

Answer 1

Voy + a + an infinitive is what is called "the near future"

Voy a estudiar los verbos mañana. "I am going to study the verbs tomorrow.

Mañana mi novio va a pasar por mi casa y vamos a estudiar juntos.

"Tomorrow my boyfriend is going to stop by my house and we are going to study together"

As to your word "marcador" Doesn't that mean scoreboard? I don't know what you mean by that. It also means "marker" like the kind you write with on a white board.

As stated before, the "going to/gonna" construction is "Ir" + "a" + infinitive. and that's it!!

As to the shoe pinching, It must have gotten stuck in the "marcador"

Answer 2

Perhaps marcador relates to another preposition which may be required in certain cases.

Voy a tratar de estudiar.

I am going to try to study.

The "de" might be referred to as "infinitive marker" but we would normally just refer to it as the required preposition between tratar and infinitive. Tratar + de + infinitive.

When I see ?? marks on both sides a a grammatical feature, it usually means that it is optional or that it is used in some situations and not in others.

If you could copy and paste where you've seen this, or provide a link, we might be able to help you more.

I think I cleared up the mud for him. His shoe got pinched in the "marcador" - Daniela2041, Jul 10, 2017

"Where the shoe pinches" is just an idiom for "the source of the problem / confusion" - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

I know that. I'm just trying to be funny. - Daniela2041, Jul 10, 2017

Answer 3

I have seen it in spanish book for teachers and students (direct method) and there is just highlighted

Verbo + ir + a + infinitivo + marcador indica accíon/intención en futuro cercano.

I know what ir + a + infinitivo is. But what really confuses me is a verb before ir.

Is it still the same? Like "Quieres ir a comer esta noche conmigo?" Is it still english "going to", expressed in little different way? Or is there a difference?

And yeah that marcador confuses me cuz it seems like it's part of the definition. So if it's part of the definition i can't really believe it just means a scoreboard or marker but on the other hand i also can't find out what can it really means. Maybe it's just a print error?

There are grammatical terms such as "marcador de infinitivo" (in English...infinitive marker) I think it is a grammatical term here, I'll try to understand it better and let you know if I can figure it out. Thanks. - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

English: Do you want to go to eat tonight with me? We would normally say Do you want to go out to eat with me tongiht. Go out is a phrasal verb. (normally salir in Spanish) - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

So yes, Voy a + infinitive = I'm going to verb, Voy a estudiar. I'm going to study. - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

Verb + IR + infinitive is different. Quiero ir a la tienda. I want to go to the store. Here the English infinitive is use, not the -ing form. - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

Of course, voy can be translated as I go as well. Voy a la tienda todas las noches. I go to the store every night. - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017

Quieres ir a comer ---etc. =Do you want T O G O ti eat tonight---etc. Don't make this harder than it is. This is why I hate useless grammar terms--especially the Spanish ones. I speak fluent Spanish and English and thank God that I was never confused - Daniela2041, Jul 10, 2017

with obfuscating grammatical terms while learning English. - Daniela2041, Jul 10, 2017

ok i got it also i will ignore marcador i cant learn every gramatical rule ... often its better to not to think about it ... just using it how it is thanks guys - Daniel5841, Jul 10, 2017

Daniel5841: Yeah, I agree that is the best approach. Just learn Spanish, initially with good English sentences to compare, and then just start reading and listening to Spanish without the English crutch. - DilKen, Jul 10, 2017