Question 1

Why does the sentence use the infinitives perder and envejecer instead of the gerunds perdiendo and envejeciendo for 'losing' and 'growing old'?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Why are there articles before flexibilidad and vigor when the English translation just says 'flexibility and vigor'?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

Could I just say la flexibilidad y vigor instead of repeating the article?

Accepted Answer

Generally, no. Because flexibilidad is feminine (la) and vigor is masculine (el), you need to include both articles. You can sometimes drop the second article in a list if the nouns share the same gender, but since these are different, both are required.

Question 4

Is envejecer structurally related to the word viejo?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Envejecer literally means to become old or to age. It is formed by putting the root word viejo (old) inside the common verb-forming structure en- + root + -ecer. You will see this pattern in other Spanish verbs, like enriquecer (to enrich, from rico) or enloquecer (to go crazy, from loco).

Perder la flexibilidad y el vigor es parte de envejecer.

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