Noun Formation

There are different ways of forming nouns in Spanish, and using infinitives is one of the simplest ways to do it. Now, let's learn how to use it.

Remember that the infinitive form is when verbs have not been conjugated yet. In Spanish, verbs in their infinitive form end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

Forming Nouns from Infinitives

Rule 1. If you are an English speaker or your second language is English, you will probably find it strange to know that in Spanish, you can form nouns from the infinitive form of verbs.

In English, this is done using the gerund, as you may have noticed in the translation of the introduction. However, the gerund in Spanish does not have this function.

Remember that the gerund is used in the verbal periphrasis estar + gerund to talk about an action in progress or an action that happens at the same time as another. A quick reminer:

So, to form nouns in Spanish, the infinitive form of the verb is used instead.

How are nouns formed with infinitives?

There are two ways of forming nouns with infinitives, and both are quite simple.

Rule 2. For the first option, just take the infinitive form of the verb and add the masculine singular definite article (el). It is important to consider that you can only use this article and not its plural (los) or indefinite form (un, unos), nor the definite (la, las) or indefinite (una, unas) feminine articles.

Rule 3. The second option is even easier. It only consists of using the infinitive by itself, without articles.