what is a gerund. what is a participle.
what is a gerund and what is a participle?
1 Answer
Since there is so much misunderstanding regarding gerunds, gerundios and participles, it's worth reading these remarks from Samdie from a previous post:
Despite the label used in the conjugation tables, the Spanish verb forms that end in -ando, -iendo are not gerunds. In Spanish they are called "gerundios". The terms "gerund" and "gerundio" obviously are related etymologically but neither is a translation for the other.
In English a "gerund" is a verbal noun. i.e. "Walking is good exercise." However in the sentence "I am walking to the store." or "The man walking in the street ..." 'walking' is not a gerund; it is a present participle (used to form progressive/continuous tenses or as an adjective). Thus, it is incorrect that the verb form ending in '-ing' is a gerund (one should, instead, say can be used as a gerund [form != function]).
The R.A.E. says of 'gerundio': "Forma invariable no personal del verbo, cuya terminación regular, en español, es -ando en los verbos de la primera conjugación, -iendo o -yendo en los de la segunda y tercera." and goes on to say: "Tiene más generalmente carácter adverbial, y puede expresar modo, condición, tiempo, motivo, concesión y otras circunstancias."
In Spanish the only verbal form that can be used as a noun (thereby fulfilling the English definition of a 'gerund') is the infinitive.
The terms that should be used in the conjugation tables (if the entries are to be labeled in English) are 'present participle' and 'past participle'. Conversely the entries could be labeled with the Spanish grammatical terms.
