Learn Spanish (Spain): Voy a alquilar una casa y pasar el verano allí. - I am going to rent a house and spend the summer there.

Voy a alquilar una casa y pasar el verano allí.

I am going to rent a house and spend the summer there.

Breakdown of Voy a alquilar una casa y pasar el verano allí.

and

la casa

the house / home (also "at home")

a, an, some

allí

there

Questions & Answers about Voy a alquilar una casa y pasar el verano allí.

Why is it y pasar instead of y voy a pasar?

When you use the ir a structure with a list of actions, you only need to use ir a once. The voy a (I am going to) at the beginning applies to both alquilar (to rent) and pasar (to spend).

Where is the word for 'I' in this sentence?

It is built right into the word voy. Voy is the 'I' form of the verb ir (to go). Since voy can only ever mean 'I go' or 'I am going', Spanish speakers usually drop the word yo (I) because it is already obvious from the verb.

Why is the word a needed before alquilar?

To say you are 'going to' do something in Spanish, you always need this formula: a form of ir (to go) + a + an infinitive verb (a verb in its dictionary form, like alquilar). Without the a, the sentence is incomplete, similar to saying 'I am going rent' in English.

I thought pasar meant 'to pass'. Why does it translate to 'spend' here?

When talking about spending time, Spanish uses pasar (which literally means 'to pass'). You only use the Spanish verb for spend (gastar) when you are talking about spending money!