The infinitive form of a verb is the most basic one. It’s like the verb introducing itself by saying, “Hello, I am a verb, and my name is to rent.”
In English, we make the infinitive form by adding to before the root of the verb (the part that will always remain unchanged: he rents, he rented, he is renting). Infinitive: to rent.
In Spanish, to form infinitives, we use the root of the verb and add a specific ending: ar, er, or ir, depending on the verb.
For example, the verb to rent has the same root in Spanish: rent. So, to express the infinitive form in Spanish, we add the appropriate ending, which in this case is ar. Therefore, to rent in Spanish becomes rentar.
AR-ER-IR
In Spanish, we have three families of infinitives, and every verb belongs to one of these groups. Each group has its own rules. The three families are:
AR VERBS: hablar (to speak).
ER VERBS: comer (to eat).
IR VERBS: vivir (to live).
Exciting News! Some verbs have the same root in English and Spanish, meaning they look incredibly similar. We will learn 5 of them here:
| # | ENGLISH | ESPAÑOL |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | TO DOCUMENT | DOCUMENTAR |
| 3 | TO EXIST | EXISTIR |
| 4 | TO INVENT | INVENTAR |
| 5 | TO PREFER | PREFERIR |
| 6 | TO RENT | RENTAR |
| 7 | TO VISIT | VISITAR |
