Gerund? Participle??
I'm studying the grammer of Spanish, but I don't understand some of the vocab used in the grammer parts. I didn't want to have to ask here, but it's the last place I'm turning to, trust me. I've tried to understand it by my own, but apparently, my IQ isn't that high. lol
Ok, all I want to know is...
What is a Gerund?
What is a Participle?
What is a past Participle and a present participle?
I dn't need these is spanish, just explaining it to me in English would be fine. I just don't dunderstand these meanings and what they do.
3 Answers
A Gerund is the same thing as a Present Participle. It is used to express a continuous action in Spanish, like the English verbs talking, singing, or dancing. An example of a Gerund is estudiando. -ando is the equivalent of adding -ing to an English verb.
A Past Participle is a way of expressing a verb in the Past Tense. It's the equivalent of adding -ed to English verbs. In Spanish it's -iendo or ado. For example vivir (to live) is viviendo (lived).
Hope this helps
From the O E D entry for "gerund": A form of the Lat. vb. capable of being construed as a n., but retaining the regimen of the vb.
The definition makes reference to Latin but the same definition applies to English. A gerund is not the same as a (present) participle, although they may look the same because they are not used in the same way. The -ing form is a gerund, if and only if, it is used as a noun. In all other cases (when forming progressive tenses or when used as an adjective, the -ing form is a (present) participle.
In Spanish there is no such thing as a "gerund" (the only verb form that can be used as a noun is the infinitive. The "gerundio" (aka present participle) is used to form progressive tenses (as in English) or as an adverb (not an adjective).
Despite the apparent similarity of "gerund" and "gerundio", they refer to quite different things.
P.S. The phrase "retaining the regimen of the vb." in the definition serves to distinguish the the "gerund" from an ordinary noun that may have been derived from a verb. Thus, in "Walking the dog is my favorite form of exercise.", "walking" is the form of the verb "to walk" that is being used as a noun but (despite functioning as a noun) can still take a direct object ("the dog"). Similarly, "Walking quickly can be tiring." the gerund is modified by an adverb ("quickly"). Like the English gerund, the Spanish infinitive when used as a noun also retains the regimen of a verb (can take a direct object, be modified by an adverb, etc.)
P.P.S. Unfortunately a number of textbooks about Spanish (for English speakers) misuse the term "gerund" (treating it as a synonym for "gerundio").
What is a Gerund? It is a word made by adding -ing to the verb - eat + ing = eating
This eating (without the "to be" verb) is a gerund and can act as a noun.
What is a past Participle and a present participle?
The past participle for the verb "to eat" is "ate"
The present participle is "eating"
I hope this helps.
Note that an English Gerund is not the same as a Spanish Gerundio.
I hope this helps.
