Please help with Acordarme

[Hoble]

In my study I have found this
"Siempre doy gracias a mi Dios al acordarme de ti
en mis oraciones".

I find a verb acordar with conjugation of
acuerdo
acuerdas
acuerda

And
I find a verb acordarse with conjugation of
me acuerdo
te acuerdas
se acuerda

Questions
1/ why the al before acordarme
2/ why acordarme rather than me acuerdo?

thanks for any help.
Hoble

[Rusty]

You're looking at a use for the infinitive, that of playing the role of a noun. In this role, it is the equivalent of the English gerund, which is always a noun.
The 'al' before it is the combination of 'a' + 'el'.
When using an infinitive, pronouns are suffixed instead of written prior to the word.

This phrasing is used to express when something happens, much like the following English phrases: 'upon waking', 'on seeing' or 'when playing' (the last word in each phrase is a noun - technically, the object of the preposition)

The translation of 'al acordarme de ti' is 'upon/on/when remembering you'.

[Hoble]

Thanks Rusty,
Maybe I am understanding some of your answer.

It is acordarme instead of acuerdome because we are taking a verb and using it as a noun which doesn't take conjugation.

The 'al' before it is the combination of 'a' + 'el'.
I understand the contraction but not the reasoning for using either the 'a' or 'el'
Since we have made a verb a noun, does that require a masculine el?
And so why the 'a'? Is that the personal 'a'?

Thanks again,
Hoble

[Julvenzor]

Hi Hoble,

It's not the "personal a". Just "al" (a + el) often works as the preposition "por" (upon or on + gerund, in this case). In Spanish, all infinitives are "masculine nouns" (in English, that function is carried out by gerunds); thus, they may be preceded many times by the article "el" in order to emphasize. Generally, placing "el" before verbs is something literary. However, several verbs have fully become nouns. For example: el amanecer.

A pleasure.

[Rusty]

The 'a' is a preposition.

The infinitive acts as a noun (it never functions as a verb) and, therefore, takes an article (the 'el'). The preposition 'a' and the article are combined.

The phrase 'al acordarme' is a prepositional phrase. But, it can't be understood just by looking at its components.
I explained above how 'al' + infinitive is translated.

[Hoble]

I do appreciate the help from both of you. I will keep working on this..
thanks