Prepositions A and De in hypothesis expression in Spanish

Abstract

Among the different existing modalities to express the non-realization of an event in Spanish, we will retain for this work the prepositions a and de and punctually the modal expression : « debe de estar enfermo / debe ? estar enfermo ».

The conditional modality or the hypothetical aspect of an event can be marked by the prepositions a and de, functional and lexical equivalent, grammatically speaking, of the linking word « si ». Indeed, the present or past infinitives marked beforehand and prepositionally by the relators a and de can be used as a conditional clause in Spanish. Therefore, these two Spanish prepositions have the discursive common point of being able to turn a trial declared in the infinitive form into a hypothesis. These two prepositions associated with a verb at its infinitive form in a speech — an almost nominal form carrying an intrinsic load of hypothesis — would be, grammatically speaking, the equivalent of the conditional expression « si ». Now, if the power value of the infinitive can really approach conditional constructions by this same way of refusal to make an event actual or effective, the signifiers a and de can never specify an inherent value of condition, contrary to what assert the normative grammars. This is what we will try to demonstrate, helped by the linguistic analysis of several statements where the Spanish prepositions a and de, while their value remain the same, participate differently in expressing a condition, thus excluding any synonymy.