Nadar = swimming?

Question

My fiance is Spanish native, and I said this to her: "Amando de ti es como nadando en un mar de ponis y arco iris". She corrected me saying "nadar*". To my knowledge, "nadar" = "to swim", and "nadando" = "swimming". Why then is "nadar" correct in this sentence?

Thanks to all answerers. I never knew that English used verbs as nouns in the gerund. I always naturally viewed it as an action taking place. But now I can see why it's a noun. It's because it is being described and used in the sentence the same way as a noun would be. It will take some times for me to get used to this idea. It comes natural for me to think of them as verbs, so I'll have to think 3 or 4 times before using it in Spanish.

Ask yourself, "Is it being done at this moment?". See my post below. - Tosh, Aug 12, 2011

"Amarte es como nadar en un mar de ponis y arco iris." - Deanski, Aug 12, 2011

Oh, and your girlfriend is your fiancée. A fiancé is the man. ;) - Tosh 2 secs ago delete | flag - Tosh, Aug 12, 2011

Answer 1

This is one of the big differences between English and Spanish, and you can't translate word for word. In English we call adding -ing to the end of a verb and using it as a noun a gerund. Spanish doesn't do this. To use a verb as a noun you use the infinitive. The Spanish word gerundio is not the same as the English gerund. It just means the Spanish word ends in -ando or -iendo, and it's never used as a noun.

In your sentence "swimming" is used as a noun. In Spanish it has to be nadar. I would have said that it should have been amar instead of amando, as well, since it's also being used as a noun.

Answer 2

In English, we use the -ing form of verbs all the time. In Spanish, you only use the -ando and -iendo form of the verb if it is actually being done at that moment.

If you walk up to a vendor at a flea market and want to ask, what are you selling?, you can say:

¿Qué está vendiendo? (He is selling things right at that moment.)

If you are having dinner with a friend who sells different things for a living and want to ask what he is selling now, you would say:

¿Qué vendes ahora? (He isn't selling things right at that moment.)

But since you are eating dinner, you could ask:

¿Qué estás comiendo?

Eh, my fiancee is Mexican, we don't use "usted" lol(at least not as often as most spanish speakers). But yeah I already knew these things. My problem was using them as nouns. - ArchLich, Aug 13, 2011

Answer 3

Also, if you are talking about the sport of swimming, it is:

natación

Answer 4

In this case, "swimming" is being used a noun. You cannot use gerunds as nouns in Spanish. You would use the infinitive instead.

Gerunds are wonderful because they can be adverbs and adjectives, but they can never ever ever be used as nouns!

The is no such thing as a "gerund" in Spanish. - samdie, Aug 13, 2011

Answer 5

As a general rule, the infinitive can be (and is) used in exactly the same way. e.g.. "To know her is to love her." (both infinitives function as nouns). There are constructions where English only uses the infinitive and others where only the gerund is used (these are exceptions and must be learned on a case-by-case basis) but, on the whole, both are possible. In Spanish, on the other hand, only the infinitive can function as a noun.

P.S. The (English) term "gerund" only applies to a verbal used as a noun. In "Walking is good exercise." it's a gerund. In "The man walking the dog is ..." it's a present participle (not a gerund).