Verb periphrases: the map

Explication

Big families: obligation — tener que + inf (personal), hay que + inf (impersonal), deber + inf; phase — empezar a, ponerse a (start), dejar de (stop), estar a punto de (about to), terminar de; repetition/recency — volver a, acabar de; continuation — seguir + gerund, llevar + gerund.

Each periphrasis fixes its connector: tener que (never *tener de), dejar de, empezar a. Learning the connector with the verb is half the battle.

Group them by what they add to a bare verb: obligation (tener que, hay que, deber), aspect/phase (empezar a, ponerse a, dejar de, terminar de, estar a punto de), recency and repetition (acabar de, volver a), and continuation (seguir + gerund, llevar + gerund, ir + gerund). Mastering the family is mostly memorizing which connector — a, de, que, or none — each one locks in.

Exemples

Règles liées

• Ir a + infinitive: the spoken future
• Acabar de + infinitive: 'just did'
• Volver a + infinitive: doing it again
• Seguir + gerund: still doing it