Perífrasis de infinitivo: llegar a, venir a, acabar por

Perífrasis de infinitivo: llegar a, venir a, acabar por means “Idiomatic infinitive periphrases add nuances of achievement, approximation, outcome”. These fixed verb + preposition + infinitive combos carry meanings you can't guess word by word. Formation: llegar a + inf (manage to) · venir a + inf (approximate) · acabar por + inf (end up)

Idiomatic infinitive periphrases add nuances of achievement, approximation, outcome

C2

Formation

llegar a + inf (manage to) · venir a + inf (approximate) · acabar por + inf (end up)

Explanation

These fixed verb + preposition + infinitive combos carry meanings you can't guess word by word. Llegar a + infinitive = to manage/come to: Llegó a ser director (he became director). Venir a + infinitive = to amount to/roughly: Viene a costar cien euros (it comes to about a hundred euros). Acabar por / terminar por + infinitive = to end up: Acabó por aceptar. Others: dejar de (stop), ponerse a (start), volver a (do again). They belong to fluent, idiomatic speech.

Examples

Llegó a ser director de la empresa.
He went on to become company director.
Acabó por aceptar la oferta.
He ended up accepting the offer.

Note

llegar a = achieve/reach; venir a = roughly; acabar por = end up. Learn as fixed units.

FAQ

Perífrasis de infinitivo: llegar a, venir a, acabar por — what does it mean and how is it used?

Idiomatic infinitive periphrases add nuances of achievement, approximation, outcome. These fixed verb + preposition + infinitive combos carry meanings you can't guess word by word. Llegar a + infinitive = to manage/come to: Llegó a ser director (he became director). Venir a + infinitive = to amount to/roughly: Viene a costar cien euros (it comes to about a hundred euros). Acabar por / terminar por + infinitive = to end up: Acabó por aceptar. Others: dejar de (stop), ponerse a (start), volver a (do again). They belong to fluent, idiomatic speech.

Perífrasis de infinitivo: llegar a, venir a, acabar por — how do you form it?

llegar a + inf (manage to) · venir a + inf (approximate) · acabar por + inf (end up)

Perífrasis de infinitivo: llegar a, venir a, acabar por — any usage notes?

llegar a = achieve/reach; venir a = roughly; acabar por = end up. Learn as fixed units.

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