Learn Spanish (Spain): Me van a sancionar por aparcar mal. - They are going to sanction me for parking badly.

Me van a sancionar por aparcar mal.

They are going to sanction me for parking badly.

Breakdown of Me van a sancionar por aparcar mal.

to go

to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)

mal

badly / not well

Questions & Answers about Me van a sancionar por aparcar mal.

Why does this sentence use the infinitive aparcar instead of a gerund for "parking"?

In Spanish, prepositions are always followed by the infinitive form of a verb, never the gerund. So, while English uses the "-ing" form to say "for parking", Spanish expresses the cause as por aparcar.

Would it be correct to use the compound infinitive "por haber aparcado mal" here?

Yes, absolutely. Using por haber aparcado mal means "for having parked badly", which heavily emphasizes that the parking happened before the fine. However, the simple infinitive por aparcar is extremely common and perfectly correct here because the cause-and-effect timeline is already obvious.

Could I attach the pronoun "me" to the end of the verb phrase instead?

Yes, you could also say Van a sancionarme por aparcar mal. Because you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (van a sancionar), the object pronoun me can either go before the conjugated verb or attach directly to the end of the infinitive. Both sound completely natural.

Why is the verb plural (van) if no specific subject is mentioned?

This is the impersonal "they". Just like in English when we say "they are going to fine me", Spanish often uses the third-person plural to refer to an unspecified authority, such as the police or traffic wardens, without needing to name them directly.