How do I Use the Infinitive IR?

The infinitive "ir" is the Spanish verb that means "to go." The infinitive form can be used in several different ways depending on what you want to say. The most typical ways to use the infinitive are "querer + infinitive," "deber + infinitive," "ir + a + infinitive." "Querer + infinitive," means to want to do something, and in the case of "ir," means to want to go. "Deber + infinitive" means to have to do something and in the case of "ir," means to have/need to go. "Ir + a + infinitive" means to be going to do something and is an expression of the future. It is easiest to begin by writing these expressions, so as to learn the grammatical rules and to see on the paper (or computer screen) how the verbs are put together. Once the rules have been learned, speaking Spanish and using these expressions with "ir" is a good way to practice and tests your memory as well as the speed of your mental process.

Instructions

"Querer + infinitive" and "deber + infinitive"

1. Write (or type, if you prefer) the formula "querer + infinitive" or "deber + infinitive," depending on whether you intend to say "to want to do something" or "to need to do something."

2. Substitute the infinitive "ir" into the formula, and rewrite the formula, which will result in either "querer + ir" and "deber + ir," depending on your choice in Step 1.

3. Write the subject of your sentence below the formula, being either I, you, she, he, we, you all (you plural), or they. In Spanish, these are yo, tú, él, ella, nosotros, vosotros, and ellos (they masculine) or ellas (they feminine).

4. Write the subject of your sentence in Spanish below its equivalent in English.

5. Remove the "er" ending on either querer or deber, depending on your choice in Step 1. You should be left with either "quer" or "deb," which is called the stem. This is the first step in conjugating the verb.

6. Write the stem next to the subject in Spanish.

7. Add the appropriate ending to the stem depending on the subject of your phrase. The appropriate endings for regular verbs that end in "er," like deber and querer, are the following: "-o" (for yo), "-es" (for tú), "-e" (for él), "-e" (for ella), "-emos" (for nosotros), "-éis" (for vosotros), and "-en" (for ellos and ellas). The stem plus the ending should make one single word.

8. Add the infinitive "ir" after the conjugated verb (the stem plus the ending). For example, this could result in "yo quiero ir" or "tú debes ir," both of which are full Spanish sentences using the infinitive "ir."

"Ir + a + infinitive"

1. Write the subject of your sentence, either I, you, she, he, we, you all (you plural), or they. In Spanish, these are yo, tú, él, ella, nosotros, vosotros, and ellos (they masculine) or ellas (they feminine).

2. Write the subject in Spanish below the subject in English.

3. Conjugate the infinitive "ir" according to your subject. The verb "ir" is very irregular, so the conjugations must simply be memorized. The conjugations of the verb "ir" are the following: yo voy, tú vas, él va, ella va, nostros vamos, vosotros vais, ellos/ellas van.

4. Write the appropriate conjugated form of "ir" after the subject in Spanish and add "a" after the conjugated form of the verb.

5. Add the infinitive form of a different verb after the "a," depending on what you'd like to say. For example, "yo voy a nadar" means I am going to swim.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to check your conjugation of the verb "querer" or "deber" in Step 7 of Section 1, the correct conjugations of the verb querer are the following: yo quiero, tú quieres, él quiere, ella quiere, nostros queremos, vosotros queréis, ellos/ellas quieren. The correct conjugations of the verb deber are the following: yo debo, tú dees, él debe, ella debe, nostros debemos, vosotros debéis, ellos/ellas deben.

References

• Study Spanish:Ir + a + infinitive