Una pregunta para los gramáticos españoles.

Question

This question is about the "present participle" vs. gerunds, and my "searches" haven't provided any definitive answers.

Today in my Spanish class we studied the "present progressive" which (as you probably know) is constructed using estar + a present participle (e.g. Estoy comiendo).

I asked my teacher if, as in English, the present participle could be used a gerund, as in "Running is a good exercise." She said no. But then I came home and looked at my book, 501 Spanish Verbs (Christopher Kendris)-- it labels comiendo, hablando, and all the "ing verbs" as gerundios.

So, I'll ask you the same question I asked my teacher today: In spanish, can the present participle be used as a noun/subject, and if so, is it called a gerund?

If not, then what purpose does the gerundio serve (an example would be much appreciated)?

Gracias

Edit. I have to tell you that I've finally found a good source for the answer in Lesson 4.14. Frank

• There are some wonderful, vote-worthy answers here, but not one example of the use (in Spanish) of the gerundio. - mtmonadnock Feb 10, 2012

Answer 1

@Bootstrap

"Running is good excercise" running is used as a noun so you conjugate it correr. When saying: "I like running" running is used as a verb then it is conjugated corriendo. dont know what a gerund / gerundio is though.

No, with “I like running” you are using it as a noun- Me gusta correr

An example where you are not: She crossed the street running

In which case running is an adverb modifying the verb cross.

cruzó la calle corriendo

The simple rule I saw once from Lazarus:

If you can substitute the word “it” for the gerund in the English, you must use an infinitive not a gerundio.

I like it. Makes sense, so use an infinitive . She crossed the street it. Makes no sense, so use the gerundio.

I am sure as in everything I say, there will be exceptions (and I likely misused the grammar terms), but the rule keeps me out of trouble most of the time, and it is simple.

• "I like running" running is used as a noun. Perhaps you think "ice cream" is a verb in "I like ice cream." - samdie Feb 10, 2012
• Samdie, Stadt is suggesting that we test the gerund by substituting "it" for the gerund. - mtmonadnock Feb 11, 2012
• Stadt, your example seems to be match with what Paralee says in Lesson 4.14. Thank you. - mtmonadnock Feb 11, 2012
• Yes, please note the quote above is form another answer (the part in the quote box), which I immediately negate when I start writing what I had to say. - Stadt Feb 11, 2012
• And, of course, my comment was directed at the quoted assertion, not Stadt's response. - samdie Feb 11, 2012

Answer 2

A gerand is the equivalent of the English "ing" verbs. When using an "ing" verb as a verb, you use the gerand. For example: Fui corriendo a la tienda - I was running to the store. But, when an "ing" word is being used as a noun, you use the infinitive, ie, Correr a la tienda esta bueno para te. - Running to the store is good for you.

Not quite. An English gerund is a verb ending in -ing that is used as a noun.

Running is good for you - running is a gerund.
He is running to the store - running is not a gerund, but is the present participle being used in the present progressive tense.

In Spanish a gerundio is any verb ending in -ando or -iendo. They are never used as nouns. Spanish uses the infinitive for that. The gerundio is generally used in the progressive tenses.

Está corriendo - He is running.
Me gusta correr - I like running.

Answer 3

We have discussed this many times, and I have arrived to the conclusion that it is best not to translate "gerundio", and leave it as it is, in Spanish, even when writing in English, because all translations will be inaccurate or plain wrong when one uses English as a reference.

• That's my choice! Don't translate it! - samdie Feb 10, 2012
• Yes, I came to that conclusion myself just a few days ago. - Gregory84 Feb 10, 2012

Answer 4

A gerand is the equivalent of the English "ing" verbs. When using an "ing" verb as a verb, you use the gerand. For example: Fui corriendo a la tienda - I was running to the store.

1) A gerand (sic) is the equivalent of the English "ing" verbs. --- If and only if the verb form is used as a noun. Furthermore, there is no such thing as an "ing" verb. Every verb in English has a present participle and all present participles and in "ing". It is simply a form (one of many) of the verb like the infinitive, the past participle, etc.

2) When using an "ing" verb as a verb, you use the gerand (sic). --- No! You use the present participle (which happens to look exactly like the gerund [what distinguishes them is how they are used]).

3) Fui corriendo a la tienda - I was running to the store. --- As an illustration of grammar this is not a good translation. The grammatically parallel translation would be "I went running to the store.". From the Spanish grammar point of view, "corriendo" is a gerundio and is used as an adverb to modify "fui"). From the English grammar point of view "running" in "I went running to the store" is a present participle (used as an adjective to modify 'I').

P.S. If you go to a hardware store and purchase a hammer and use it to pound nails, you and the store clerk refer to the hammer as a "tool" (as would any normal English speaker). If, on the other hand, you use the hammer to bash somebody's head in, the poice and the newspapers (and any normal speaker of English) will refer to the hammer as a "weapon". In both cases, it's a hammer but we classify it according to how it's used.

• what an apt analogy. Thanks sam - mikecarroll Feb 10, 2012
• I understand that understanding grammer terms is important to some people, but I know several native Spanish speakers that wouldn't know a gerund from a noun, they just know how to use them. - kdrinning Feb 10, 2012

Answer 5

The Spanish gerundio is neither a match to the English gerund (ing word used as a noun) nor the English present participle ("ing" verb form used for forming progressive tenses or adjectives (a rolling stone gathers...). The Spanish gerundio is mostly used as a adverb (usually modifying the verb) and much less frequently as an adjective. It also is used in forming progressive tenses with the verb Estar and is used similarly with other verbs of motion (ir, andar,venir), seguir and continuar.

when to use and not to use the Spanish gerundio

gerundio vs infinitvo-practice lessons

example sentences

Answer 6

The answer is that in Spanish the gerundio is never used as a noun. Spanish uses the infinitive for that. In English the very definition of gerund is that it's a verb being used as a noun. It's an unfortunate fact that the words look the same, since they are almost opposites.

• Yes. Thank you. - mtmonadnock Feb 9, 2012

Answer 7

The Spanish gerundio is neither a match to the English gerund

Note Qfreed's excellent answer.

(1) The Spanish word "gerundio" is not the same thing as the English "gerund." So long as you try to understand one in terms of the other, you'll be confused. So first off, consider the two words as "false friends."

(2) In Spanish the progressive tenses are always formed using the verb "estar. (also in Qfreed's post). See Present Progressive and Imperfect Progressive in the grammar section.

(3) As a separate topic go to the Grammar Section (as suggested by Qfreed) and under Verbs, go through the first seven topics.

If you need further clarification, you can type any of the key words into Google [preceded by the word "Spanish"]. There are numerous articles there which are quite good.

Point number (1) is the most important. You'll never get there so long as you confuse the word gerundio with the word gerund. Although there is some overlap in the two meanings, the differences are significant

• I might disagree with the progressive tenses are always formed with estar. Some articles consider the seguir, continuar, andar, ir, correr, venir, etc. + gerundio as progressive tenses. - qfreed Feb 10, 2012
• Handy links! - pesta Feb 10, 2012

Answer 8

I suffered from exactly the same confusion because my Spanish teacher calls the gerundio the gerund, and even the Oxford Spanish dictionary translates it that way. For those who know their English grammar this is confusing, because the English gerund acts as a noun, but the Spanish gerundio does not; it is more like the English present participle.

The gerundio is used in progressive tenses - Estoy trabajando. I am working. Estuve escribiendo. I was writing. Estaré durmiendo. I shall be sleeping. Estaría diciendo. I would be saying.

• Jenny, I voted for you, but in the present progressive wouldn't trabajando, in your example, be called the present participle? - mtmonadnock Feb 10, 2012
• Yes, to me the gerundio seems like an English present participle and that's how I think of it. However, I am not an expert in Spanish grammar, and others say the gerundio is more like an adverb. I don't know why. - jennyren Feb 12, 2012

Answer 9

I suffered from exactly the same confusion because my Spanish teacher calls the gerundio the gerund, and even the Oxford Spanish dictionary translates it that way.

Well the folks at the Spanish Oxford dictionary should talk to their cohorts at the Oxford English Dictionary (who define a gerund as a verb form used as a noun). As for your Spanish teacher ... at university I majored in Spanish (to mix British and American [U.S.] phrasing). Had I been so inclined, I suppose that I could have gone on to work as a Spanish teacher (although to teach in an American high-school, I would have had to take a course in how to take roll and how to make a lesson plan). The point is that at no time would I have had to take a course in English grammar. In fact I had serious doses of grammar as a child when studying Latin and English but most of my contemporaries had no more than the most casual encounters with English grammar.

Thus, even when a Spanish teacher know what a gerundio is in Spanish, it is quite likely that there is no corresponding knowledge of what a gerund is in English and they are frequently led astray by the similar sounds of the words. It's certainly no crime to not know what a gerund is but, in that case one shouldn't use the word. If you must talk about it call it (shudder) a verb form in "-ing" used as a noun (or as an adverb if talking about the gerundio in Spanish grammar).

Answer 10

Hey I am teaching myself spanish. All i know is when you are saying:

"Running is good excercise" running is used as a noun so you conjugate it correr.

When saying:

"I like running" running is used as a verb then it is conjugated corriendo.

dont know what a gerund / gerundio is though.

• Gerund=(ing ending) - 0043ad50 Feb 9, 2012

Answer 11

You are not the only one to find that "gerund" and "gerundio" are not the same! Do a search here on the sight... I just typed the word "gerund" and got a lot of great answers to this very question. Happy reading, many of us have done the same!

• I've done the search again. If you have found a post that answers my specific question, I wish you would share it with me. - mtmonadnock Feb 9, 2012
• This place is a "site", not a "sight" :) - pesta Feb 10, 2012

Answer 12

A gerand is the equivalent of the English "ing" verbs. When using an "ing" verb as a verb, you use the gerand. For example: Fui corriendo a la tienda - I was running to the store. But, when an "ing" word is being used as a noun, you use the infinitive, ie, Correr a la tienda esta bueno para te. - Running to the store is good for you.

• Thank you. That makes sense to me. - mtmonadnock Feb 9, 2012
• It may make sense to you but it's wrong. - samdie Feb 10, 2012
• gerund - lazarus1907 Feb 10, 2012

Answer 13

I understand that understanding grammer terms is important to some people, but I know several native Spanish speakers that wouldn't know a gerund from a noun, they just know how to use them.

Absolutely! Using (much less knowing the definition of) "gerund" and "participle" rank very low on the scale of essential survival skills. One can obtain a driver's license, graduate high-school and register to vote without having the slightest idea what these terms mean. Most English speakers go through their entire lives without ever using these words. On the other hand, when one enters into a discussion (and offers opinions) about gerunds and participles, it is desirable to know what the words actually mean.