Use of gerund

Mi español va mejorando

Gerunds are widely used to say that something is happening now, forming the so-called Presente Continuo tense. However, it’s not their only use case. In this lesson you are going to find out more about when gerunds are commonly applied.

1. Presente Continuo

estar + gerund

You already know this grammar construction well enough. So, let’s just demonstrate a couple of examples and skip it.

El niño está comiendo una manzana — The child is eating an apple

Estoy escribiendo un reporte — I’m writing a report

Try it yourself:

What song are you singing?

What is he cooking?

2. Parallel action

Historically, the gerund appeared as a special verb form to show that one action is happening in parallel with another action. This is true to the modern Spanish.

Veo la tele comiendo palomitas – I’m watching TV eating popcorn

Mi mamá prepara la cena cantando canciones – My mom cooks dinner singing songs

This is not so widely used in the oral speech, though, but it suites very well to the written speech.

Try it yourself:

The girls go along the street speaking loudly

I drive the car listening to the radio

Maria talks to Luis thinking of Miguel

In the spoken Spanish the words andando and caminando, meaning going on foot, are very common.

Voy a la oficina caminando – I go to the office on foot

¿Cómo vas a la playa, andando o en autobús? – How do you go to the beach, on foot or on a bus?

3. seguir + gerundio, continuar + gerundio

seguir haciendo algo – to go / keep on doing something

continuar haciendo algo – to continue doing something

The verbs seguir and continuar require the gerund, not the infinitive.

Sigo trabajando en la misma empresa — I keep on working in the same company

Federico continua escribiendo su libro — Federico continues writing his book

As you might have noticed, the vast majority of Spanish verb combinations (compound predicates) are formed with infinitives: prefiero comer, quiero tener, etc.). Unlike the English verbs, which in many cases require the -ing form verbs (gerunds), there are quite few Spanish combinations with gerundio. Seguir + gerundio and continuar + gerundio are among them.

Try it yourself:

I keep on reading this book

Do you keep on playing tennis?

We continue listening to the teacher

My friends go on telling jokes

4. llevar + gerundio

This combination is used to say how long someone has been doing something.

Llevo tres años estudiando español – I’ve been learning Spanish for three years

In this expression the verb llevar can be understood as to spend some time.

The sentence above can be literally translated as I spend three years learning Spanish.

llevar + time + gerundio is a very common everyday Spanish expression. Learn it right away.

Try it yourself:

I’ve been working here for many years

How long have you been waiting for the boss?

The children have been swimming in the sea for two hours

5. ir + gerundio

This one is the least intuitive verb combination. It shows an increasing progress of some action.

Los precios van subiendo – The prices are rising

Van subiendo here means that, as time goes by, the prices are getting higher and higher.

There is no grammar equivalent in English to this verb combination, but you can translate this type of sentences using such expressions as more and more, bigger and bigger, higher and higher, little by little, etc.

Voy aprendiendo español – I’m learning Spanish. I’m getting more and more familiar with Spanish

Mi hijo va creciendo – My son is getting bigger and bigger

Mi nivel va avanzando poco a poco – My level is being improved, little by little

El tiempo va mejorando poco a poco – The weather gets better, little by little

Try it yourself:

I’m earning more and more money

My granny is getting better and better

We are learning more and more new words

The teacher is answering the questions, little by little

In addition to the different use cases that have been presented above, it’s worth noting that, unlike in English, in Spanish gerunds can’t replace nouns. In English, it’s very common to say Eating healthy food is important, or No smoking. Spanish gerunds don’t allow to do this.

Es importante comer la comida sana – Eating healthy food is important

Don’t say: Comiendo la comida sana es importante

Prohibido fumar – No smoking

Don’t say: No fumando

As you can see, it’s not so difficult to build Spanish sentences. You just have to stick to the right patterns.

The first part of this tutorial is over. There has been a lot to learn, and you’ve done it well if you reached this point. All grammar and all vocabulary in this module were aimed to building sentences only in the present tense. In the next module you will apply all your knowledge to be able to express yourself in other tenses. Without any doubt, you will learn much more interesting things about Spanish. Now you are half way a Spanish speaker. Congratulations!

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