Breakdown of Perder la flexibilidad y el vigor es parte de envejecer.
ser
to be
de
from / of
y
and
perder
to lose
Questions & Answers about Perder la flexibilidad y el vigor es parte de envejecer.
Why does the sentence use the infinitives perder and envejecer instead of the gerunds perdiendo and envejeciendo for 'losing' and 'growing old'?
In English, we use the '-ing' form (gerund) as a noun to be the subject of a sentence or the object of a preposition. In Spanish, the infinitive is always used as the noun form of a verb. So, 'Losing' becomes Perder, and after the preposition de, 'growing old' becomes envejecer. Never use the Spanish gerund (words ending in -ando or -iendo) as a noun.
Why are there articles before flexibilidad and vigor when the English translation just says 'flexibility and vigor'?
Spanish requires definite articles (el, la, los, las) when talking about abstract nouns or general concepts in a broad sense. Since we are talking about flexibility and vigor in general, we must use la and el.
Could I just say la flexibilidad y vigor instead of repeating the article?
Is structurally related to the word ?