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Cocinar con amigos es excelente.

Cocinar con amigos es excelente.
Cooking with friends is excellent.
FromLesson 13inHardcore Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of Cocinar con amigos es excelente.

el amigo
the friend
ser
to be
cocinar
cooking
con
with
excelente
excellent

Questions & Answers about Cocinar con amigos es excelente.

Why is cocinar in the infinitive form here, and not a gerund like cocinando?
In Spanish the infinitive can function as a noun (just like “cooking” in English). It acts as the subject of the sentence. A gerund (-ando/​-iendo) usually describes an ongoing action within a clause (e.g. “Estoy cocinando con amigos”).
Why isn’t there an article before cocinar (for example, el cocinar)?
Spanish commonly uses the bare infinitive as a general noun phrase and doesn’t require an article. You can add el for extra formality or emphasis (El cocinar con amigos es excelente), but in everyday speech it’s dropped.
Why is con used and not para when talking about “cooking with friends”?
Con means “together with.” It indicates that you and your friends are cooking side by side. Para would imply “on behalf of” or “for the benefit of” your friends (e.g. “Voy a cocinar para mis amigos” = “I’m going to cook for my friends”).
Why does the phrase say con amigos instead of con mis amigos or con los amigos?
Con amigos without an article or possessive is general (“with friends” in general). Use con mis amigos when you want to specify your friends, or con los amigos when you and your listener both know exactly which group of friends you mean.
Could I start the sentence with es instead of ending with it? For example, Es excelente cocinar con amigos?
Yes. Spanish allows both orders. Starting with Es excelente shifts the focus slightly onto the evaluation (“It’s excellent…”), whereas ending with it keeps the order more neutral. Both mean the same.
Why is excelente invariable here? Don’t adjectives need to agree in number and gender?
Excelente ends in -e, which is the same for masculine and feminine singular. Since cocinar con amigos is a singular activity, the adjective stays singular: es excelente. If you had a plural subject (e.g. Las reuniones con amigos son excelentes), you would use excelentes.
Can I replace excelente with other adjectives? Any rules about where they go?
Yes. You could say es divertido, es genial, es estupendo, etc. In Spanish most predicates follow the structure “ser + adjective” after the subject (“Cocinar con amigos es divertido”). Some adjectives can precede nouns for emphasis, but here you’re using it after es, which is standard.
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