Syntax and translation of the narrative infi nitive in French and Spanish

Abstract

The narrative infinitive is a stylistic process that is rarely discussed in textbooks for teaching Spanish and French as foreign languages. Its analysis and translation pose difficulties for French-speaking students of Spanish as a foreign language for whom this process seems strange a priori. Its absence in textbooks of Spanish and French as foreign languages is undoubtedly due to the fact that certain traditional grammars have considered it an archaic linguistic fact. However, the narrative infinitive seems very popular in newspapers today and is appreciated by some authors. Therefore, the present work aims to study the morphosyntactic similarities and dissimilarities of this infinitive construction in Spanish and French and proposes from them, epistemological approaches for its translation.