The Spanish infinitive is one of the most basic forms of verbs in Spanish and, therefore, you should learn to distinguish them during your intensive Spanish course. This verb form is necessary to know how to conjugate the rest of the verbs in Spanish.
In this article from don Quijote, we tell you all about infinitives in Spanish so you can learn how they are used, when they are used and examples of the most used verbs in the language.
You can also read this article in Spanish, French or Italian.
What is a Spanish infinitive?
An infinitive in Spanish is the verbal form that designates an action or state in a general way, without indicating who performs it or when it occurs. It is a non-personal form of the verb, which means that it does not express time, person, number or mood. The infinitive in Spanish can be defined as the base form of the verb, as it appears in the dictionary next to its definition.
In Spanish, infinitives end in -ar, -er or -ir. The three infinitive endings in Spanish are divided into:
Verbs ending in -ar are first conjugation verbs and are the most numerous and regular. Examples of verbs in the Spanish infinitive form -ar: estudiar (to study), caminar (to walk), cantar (to sing), bailar (to dance), madrugar (to wake up early), jugar (to play), buscar (to look for), comprar (to buy), escuchar (to listen), hablar (to talk), llamar (to call), etc.
Verbs ending in -er are in the second conjugation and include many common verbs. Examples of verbs ending in -er: comer (to eat), beber (to drink), coser (to sew), correr (to run), deber (to have to), leer (to read), romper (to break), vender (to sell), comprender (to understand), etc.
Finally, verbs ending in -ir are those of the third conjugation and are the least frequent of the three types of infinitives, even so, they are also very important. Verbs ending in -ir: vivir (to live), escribir (to write), abrir (to open), cubrir (to cover), pedir (to ask), permitir (to allow), recibir (to receive), servir (to serve), decidir (to decide), etc.