Para/que

[zuma022]

I usually say:
Tengo muchas cosas para hacer.

I've been told this one is better:
Tengo muchas cosas que hacer.

Are both correct? Is there a difference in meaning or is one more common/natural sounding? This que + infinitive has always confused me. My ear wants a conjugated verb, something like this:
Tengo muchas cosas que debo hacer.

[Premium]

I've only used the second one so far. The first one sounds odd to me, though I don't know much about this.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Premium: You're right. The second one is the usual way to say it. :)


@Zuma: Your first sentence sounds strange, because "para" here suggests that these "cosas" are not activities, but actual objects for making something specific, so "hacer" seems to be the very purpose of your action.
Although the sentence would be understood in context, in the head of the native Spanish speaker it sounds incomplete and a question arises: "¿tiene cosas para hacer qué?" :confused:

Your third sentence is alright, but it sounds heavy because of the implicit emphasis both verbs make on the "yo" and on the obligation of doing something. It would sound better to me if you said "hay muchas cosas que debo hacer"; the impersonal "hay" makes the sentence more natural and lighter, I think.

I can't quite explain why "que" + infinitive is a perfectly normal and actually very common construction, but I guess it's mostly practice what will tell you in the end what is right and what shouldn't be said. :)

[zuma022]

Thanks to both of you. I was going to say that I can only think of tener que and hay que where an infinitive follows, only to realise that I did use tener que!

So just to confirm, something like
Voy al restaurante que comer.

Would need para comer?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I think you know, but just to state it: "voy al restaurante que comer" is not correct.
"Que" is not a preposition, but a linking word; the pieces of the sentence must make a complete idea through this "que". :thinking:

You can certainly say "para comer", because that is the very purpose of going, but the usual collocation with "ir" is "ir a", so it's more natural to say "voy al restaurante a comer". :)

[zuma022]

Got it! Thanks so much Angelica. Now the que + inf above makes sense.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Glad that it helps. :)