Breakdown of No tengo ganas de trabajar hoy.
no
no, not
trabajar
to work
hoy
today
tener ganas de
to feel like (doing something)
Questions & Answers about No tengo ganas de trabajar hoy.
Why do we use the infinitive trabajar here instead of the subjunctive?
This ties perfectly into the current lesson! The phrase tener ganas de expresses a desire. Because the person who has the desire (I) is the same person who would be working (I), we just use the infinitive trabajar. If the subject changed—for example, if you wanted to say "I don't want you to work"—you would need to introduce the subjunctive: No tengo ganas de que trabajes hoy.
English uses the "-ing" form ("working"). Why doesn't this sentence use trabajando?
In English, we follow phrases like "feel like" with an "-ing" word (working). But in Spanish, whenever a verb comes directly after a preposition like de, it must always be in the infinitive. Saying de trabajando is grammatically incorrect.
What does tener ganas de literally translate to?
Could I drop the de and just say No tengo ganas trabajar?
No, the de is mandatory here. You are linking the noun ganas (desires/urges) to the action, so you need the preposition de (of) to connect them.
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