Linked Verbs

Linked Verbs

Linked Verbs

“Linked verbs” are verbs governed by the same subject and which are used together without any punctuation or conjunction (such as “and” or “or”). This happens frequently in Spanish, and only the first of the two verbs may be conjugated; the second verb may be an infinitive or a gerund (-ndo form). There is no simple hard and fast rule as to how these verbs are joined together, and the situation is complicated by the fact that some verbs can be used in various ways, at times with various meanings, depending on which preposition if any intervenes. Nevertheless, a few generalizations may help when these linkages occur:

Verbs meaning “to begin” and verbs of movement towards someplace or goal are normally followed by a plus an infinitive.
Verbs meaning “to stop” or “to finish” are normally followed by de plus an infinitive.
Modals (e.g., “should”, “can”, “may”) are normally followed by an infinitive with no intervening preposition.
Verbs meaning “to continue” are normally followed by the -ndo form, with no preposition.

Verbs followed by "a" plus an infinitive:

acostumbrarse a- to become accustomed to   aprender a- to learn how to 
atreverse a- to dare to                    aspirar a- to aspire to
comenzar a (ie)- to begin to, to start to  ayudar a- to help to
contribuir a- to contribute to             correr a- to run to 
decidirse a- to decide to                  echarse a- to start to
dedicarse a- to dedicate oneself to        empezar a (ie)- to begin to
enseñar a- to teach how to                 invitar a- to invite to
ir a- to go to, to be going to             llegar a- to come to
negarse a (ie)- to refuse to               prepararse a- to prepare to
ponerse a- to start to, to set about to    venir a (ie, i)- to come to
volver a (ue)- to do something again       salir a- to go out to

1 Note that the reflexive form is followed by a preposition plus an infinitive, but the non-reflexive form is followed by an infinitive without a preposition.

Verbs followed by de plus an infinite:

acabar de- to have just done something  alegrarse de- to be happy to
arrepentirse de (ie, i)- to regret      jactarse de- to boast of      
acordarse de (ue)- to remember          tratar de- to try to
cansarse de- to grow tired of           quejarse de- to complain of 
dejar de- to stop (doing something)     olvidarse de- to forget (1)
depender de (ie)- to depend on          pensar de (ie)- to think about
parar de- to stop (doing something)     terminar de- to finish

(1) Note that the reflexive form is followed by a preposition plus an infinitive, but the non-reflexive form is followed by an infinitive without a preposition.

Verbs followed by en plus an infinitive:

consistir en- to consist of
convenir en (ie, i)- to agree to
insistir en- to insist on
pensar en (ie)- to think about (i.e, to contemplate doing something)
tardar en- to delay in

Verbs followed by con plus an infinitive:

amenazar con- to threaten with/to
contar con (ue)- to count on
soñar con (ue)- to dream of/about

Verbs followed by por plus an infinitive:

acabar por- to end up (doing something)
terminar por- to end up (doing something)

Verbs followed by que plus an infinitive:

hay que- to have to, must (used impersonally)
tener que- to have to

Verbs which are followed by an infinitive with no intervening preposition:

agradar- to please (to like) (2)
amenazar- to threaten to
anhelar- to be eager to, to long to, to yearn to
deber- must, should, ought to (3)
decidir- to decide to (1)
desear- to desire to, to want to
detestar- to detest
doler (ue)- to hurt, to ache (2)
esperar- to hope to, to expect to
gustar- to please (to like) (2)
importar- to matter, to be important (2)
intentar- to try to
lamentar- to lament, to regret
lograr- to manage to, to succeed in
molestar- to bother (2)
necesitar- to need to
odiar- to hate to
olvidar- to forget to (1)
parecer- to seem to, to appear to
pensar (ie)- to plan to, to intend to (4)
poder (ue)- to be able to, can, may
preferir (ie, i)- to prefer to
prometer- to promise to
querer (ie)- to want to
rehusar- to refuse to
saber- to know how to
sentir (ie, i)- to regret, feel sorry for
soler (ue)- to be accustomed to, to be used to

(1) Note that the reflexive form is followed by a preposition plus an infinitive, but the non-reflexive form is followed by an infinitive without a preposition.
(2) With verbs used like gustar, the following infinitive is technically the subject of the verb; therefore, no intervening preposition can be used.
(3) Deber may also be used with de plus an infinitive, particularly when it indicates conjecture.
(4) Pensar may be followed by en plus an infinitive when it means “to think about” (i.e, to ponder something) or by de plus an infinitive when it means “to have an opinion about”.

Verbs which are followed by the gerund (-ndo form), with no intervening preposition. This group includes verbs meaning “to continue”, estar (used in the progressive tenses), several verbs of motion (to go somewhere doing something) and verbs meaning “to finish” (to end up doing something).

acabar + -ndo- to end up, finish up (by doing something)
andar + -ndo- to walk, to go around (doing something)
continuar + -ndo- to continue to, to continue (doing something)
entrar + -ndo- to enter, to go in (doing something)
estar + -ndo- to be (doing something)
ir + -ndo- to go (doing something)
salir + -ndo- to go out, to leave (doing something)
seguir + -ndo (i, i)- to keep on (doing something), to continue to
terminar + -ndo- to end up, finish up (doing something)
venir + -ndo (ie)- to come (doing something)

Special case: (Im)personal expressions involving ser plus an adjective.
When used impersonally, expressions with ser plus an adjective are normally followed by an infinitive, with no intervening preposition:

• Es fácil leer.
  It's easy to read.

• Es difícil describir a mi madre.
  It's difficult to describe my mother.

However, when this type of expression is used to modify something specific (rather than an impersonal “it”), de is used before the infinitive. This occurs most frequently with fácil and difícil.

• ¿Este libro? Es fácil de leer.
  This book? It's easy to read.

• Mi madre es dificil de describir.
  My mother is hard to describe.

Alphabetized list of the verbs given above in Sections I - VIII.

acabar + -ndo- to end up (doing something)
acabar de + inf.- to have just (done something)
acabar por + inf.- to end up by
acordarse de + inf.- to remember to
amenazar + inf.- to threaten to
amenazar con + inf.- to threaten with
anhelar + inf.- to long to
acostumbrarse a + inf.- to be used to
alegrarse de + inf.- to be happy to
aprender a + inf.- to learn how to
arrepentirse de + inf.- to repent of
aspirar a + inf.- to aspire to
atreverse a + inf.- to dare to, be so bold as to
ayudar a + inf.- to help to
cansarse de + inf.- to get tired of
comenzar a + inf.- to begin to
consistir en + inf.- to consist of
contar con + inf.- to count on
continuar + -ndo- to continue to
contribuir a + inf.- to contribute to
convenir en + inf.- to agree to
correr a + inf.- to run to
deber + inf.- must, should, to ought to
deber de + inf.- must, should
decidir + inf.- to decide to
decidirse a + inf.- to make up ones mind to
dedicarse a + inf.- to dedicate oneself to
dejar de + inf.- to stop
depender de + inf.- to depend on
desear + inf.- to desire to
detestar + inf. to detest
doler + inf.- to hurt to
echarse a + inf.- to bust out, start to
empezar a + inf.- to begin to
enseñar a + inf.- to teach how to
entrar + -ndo- to go in (doing something)
esperar + inf.- to hope to, expect to
estar + -ndo- to be (doing something)
gustar + inf.- to be pleasing [=like] to
hay que + inf.- have to
importar + inf.- to be important to
insistir en + inf.- to insist on
intentar + inf.- to try to
invitar a + inf.- to invite to
ir + -ndo- to go along (doing something)
ir a + inf.- to be going to
jactarse de + inf.- to brag about
lamentar + inf.- to lament
lograr + inf.- to manage to
llegar a + inf.- to come to
molestar + inf.- to bother
necesitar + inf.- to need to
negarse a + inf.- to refuse to
odiar + inf.- to hate to
olvidar + inf.- to forget to
olvidarse de + inf.- to forget to
parar de + inf.- to stop (doing something)
parecer + inf.- to seem to
pensar + inf.- to plan to, intend to
pensar de + inf.- to think about (=have an opinion about)
pensar en + inf.- to thing about (= to consider)
poder + inf.- can, to be able to
ponerse a + inf.- to start to, set about to
preferir + inf.- to prefer to
prepararse a + inf.- to prepare to
prometer + inf.- to promise to
quejarse de + inf.- to complain about
querer + inf.- to want to
rehusar + inf.- to refuse to
saber + inf.- to know how to
salir + -ndo- to go out (doing something)
salir a + inf.- to go out to
seguir + -ndo- to keep on (doing something)
sentir + inf.- to regret
soler + inf.- to be used to, to usually
soñar con + inf.- to dream of
tardar en + inf- to delay in, take time to
tener que + inf.- to have to
terminar + -ndo- to end up (doing something)
terminar de + inf.- to stop
terminar por + inf.- to end up (doing something)
tratar de + inf.- to try to
venir + -ndo- to come (doing something)
venir a + inf.- to come to
volver a + inf.- to return to, to (do something) again