Using the infinitive: after prepositions and as a noun

Explication

Prepositions take infinitives, never gerunds: sin pagar, después de comer, para entender. Same-subject 'que clauses' compress to infinitives: espero poder ir.

As a noun (sometimes with el): fumar es caro, me encanta el cantar de los pájaros. On signs, the infinitive serves as a neutral imperative: no fumar, empujar.

Because the infinitive is Spanish's verbal noun, it can take an article and act as a full subject: el fumar perjudica la salud, su constante quejarse cansa. This is also why menu and sign language stays in the infinitive — no fumar, no tocar — where it reads as a neutral, impersonal instruction.

Exemples

Règles liées

• L'infinitif : -ar, -er, -ir et ses emplois
• What the gerund can and cannot do