Breakdown of Mi novio empieza a controlar sus gastos porque quiere dejar de gastar demasiado.
porque
because
mi
my
su
his / her / their / your (formal)
a
to
querer
to want; to love (a person)
empezar
to begin
el novio
the boyfriend
dejar de
to stop (+ infinitive)
gastar
to spend (money, resources)
controlar
to control
el gasto
the expense
demasiado
too, too much
Questions & Answers about Mi novio empieza a controlar sus gastos porque quiere dejar de gastar demasiado.
Why is there a de in dejar de gastar?
The phrase dejar de followed by an infinitive verb (like gastar) is a set expression meaning 'to stop doing something'. You must include de to connect dejar, which usually means 'to leave', to the action you are stopping.
Why does empieza use a instead of de to connect to controlar?
Different verbs require specific prepositions when they connect to another verb. While dejar (to stop) always pairs with de, the verb empezar (to start) always pairs with a. This gives us empieza a controlar (starts to control) but dejar de gastar (stops spending).
Why are there three verbs together in quiere dejar de gastar?
When you string verbs together in Spanish to form a single idea, only the first verb changes to match the person doing the action. Here, querer changes to quiere (he wants). The next verbs stay in their infinitive (unconjugated) forms: dejar (to stop) and gastar (to spend).
Are the words gastos and gastar related?
Since gastos is plural, why isn't demasiado plural too (demasiados)?
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