'El' with verbs?
 

Hey guys

In some grammar books, I have seen sentences like this:

El vivir en Madrid es muy agradable and

El beber puede conducir a la intoxicación e incluso a la muerte.

Could anyone tell me why is the masculine definite article before the infinitive? Obviously verbs are not gendered.

Welcome to the forums!

What you're calling a verb is actually an infinitive. An infinitive acts as a noun. As such, a masculine article may precede it.

The translation of the Spanish construct into English also employs a noun, one that also happens to look like a verb. This noun is called a gerund in English. The equivalent of the English gerund is the Spanish infinitive. Both function as nouns.

Living in Madrid is very nice.
Drinking can lead to poisoning, even death.

Rusty's answer is spot on.

Antonio Machado had some verses that read,

Entre el vivir y el soñar
hay una tercera cosa,
adivínala.

[Between living and dreaming,
there is a third thing,
you need to guess what.]
[or "divine which one"]

Welcome to the forums!