Spanish and English Gerund and Infinitive
Okay so I have some questions about this in Spanish and I'd thought I'd couple it with an explanation of the English because all of my questions are about the differences.
In English
You use a gerund
After certain verbs e.g. Enjoy (here's a list: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/wordlist?21 )
After prepositions e.g. I am good at swimming
As the subject of a sentence. e.g. Teaching English is difficult. Sitting on my balcony is a wonderful thing to do.
You use an infinitive:
After certain verbs: e.g. want (list: http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/infinitive_list.htm )
After adjectives: It is terrifying to go through a catastrophe. It is difficult to teach English.
To say the reason you do something: I am learning Spanish to communicate. I am going to the shop: to buy milk.
In Spanish
Where you use the gerund in English, in Spanish...
After certain verbs: seguir / continuar (are these the only two verbs?)
You don't use it after prepositions, do you? You use the infinitive? E.g. Con llegar muy tarde, quedó sin cenar. Is this after every preposition? Estoy por trabajar los lunes.
You use the infinitive as the subject of a sentence and not the gerund. Aprender español es difícil.
Where you use the infinitive in English, in Spanish...
After certain verbs? (any verb that has a preposition after it? Or any verb besides seguir / continuar?)
After adjectives?
Es difícil decir cuando voy a salir. Es maravilloso vivir aquí.
And of course if it's the reason why you do something you have to say "para"
Voy al tiende para comprar leche. Aprendo español para comunicar.
4 Answers
Spanish does not use gerunds the way English does. In English a gerund is a verb ending in -ing that is used as a noun. That's the important part. Just ending in -ing does not make it a gerund. It might just be a present participle.
I like swimming. - Swimming is a gerund, used as a noun. It's a "thing" you like.
I am swimming. Swimming is a participle, part of the present progressive verb tense.
The Spanish gerundio is not the same as a gerund. Gerundio just means it ends in -ando or -iendo. You cannot use a gerundio as a noun. In Spanish if you need to use a verb as a noun you use the infinitive.
Me gusta nadar. - I like swimming, used as noun.
Estoy nadando - I am swimming, used as verb.
In Spanish there are the so called verboides. They are the infinitive, the gerund, and the participle.
Infinitives are used as nouns:
Fumar es malo para la salud. (Fumar = subject, noun)
Se prohíbe fumar. (fumar = direct object, noun)
Gerunds are used as adverbs:
Llegó corriendo. (corriendo, gerund, adverb, it modifies a verb: llegó)
Entró cantando. (cantando, gerund, adverb, it modifies a verb: entró)
Participles are used as adjectives.
Un día nublado. (nublado, participle of the verb nublar, adjective, it modifies a noun: día)
Un coche descompuesto. (descompuesto, participle of the verb descomponer, adjective, it modifies a noun: coche)
More uses of the gerundio: link
Are the ones I mentioned the only two verbs that take a gerund? (And after those two verbs I would argue that it does in fact function as a noun like in English)
Gerund or gerundio? English or Spanish? Remember that they are two different things that just happen to resemble each other, mostly to confuse people, I think. 
Spanish just doesn't use gerunds at all, and doesn't use gerundios often. If you see a verb ending in -ando or -iendo it's virtually always preceeded by some form of the verb estar in some form of a progressive verb tense. If estar isn't there chances are good it should be an infinitive.
