What determines whether or not you use the gerund?
In one of the discussion threads I saw there were two ways of saying "I am trying to learn spanish" (or actually 4 ways):
Estoy tratando de aprender Español or Trato de aprender Español Estoy intentando aprender Español or Intento aprender Español
Is there any particular reason why you would use the "tratando" version over the "trato" or vice versa?
4 Answers
Very helpful; thanks so much!
In the present progressive at least, it implies that the doer is in the process of doing what they're doing, now, not at any other time. As far as rules, another prominent Spanish instruction site is emphatic:
It is important to remember that you would never use the present progressive to say something like "We are going to Spain this summer." Use present progressive only for actions that are "in progress."
There are past and future progressives, but unless you are making those more sophisticated constructions, it is easy to improperly use the gerund in the present progressive.
As an addition to tlries answer, please find below our reference article on the progressive tenses.
The way I understand it is that there isn't a specific rule of when you can or cannot use the gerund as a verb. It should not, however, be used as noun like we sometimes do in English. Basically, the gerund just places extra emphasis on the continuation of the action.
