Verbal periphrases with the infinitive often behave differently in Spanish and
Italian. In this paper, through a contrastive analysis between the two languages
I analyze some aspects of the use of such periphrases, such as the way in which a
non-personal form is attached to the auxiliary verb (directly or through a prepositional
link), the behaviour of clitics within the verbal periphrasis and the behaviour
of these structures when they are used in the passive.
Moreover, given the absence of verbal periphrases both in practical dictionaries
and bilingual dictionaries, I propose the Italian translation of the main structures
using the infinitive in Spanish, focusing on those in which the auxiliary
verb is subject to a major lexicalization. This marks a significant contrast with
the Italian language, which is not so rich in verbal periphrasis.
In the search for Italian equivalents, two main dimensions have been taken
into account: on the one hand, the characteristic aspectual values of the periphrases
(such as time, modality, reiteration and perfectiveness); on the other, the situational
context.
