The infinitive verb to read

Question

I know leer means to read. What process do we go through to get "leyendo"? Also, what is the name of the conjunction?

Answer 1

Leyendo is the present participle of the verb leer. It gives the verb an "-ing" ending. Leyendo means "reading". Click here for a video introduction to gerunds and the progressive tenses and here for a great reference article on it.

No, it is not the "gerund"; it is the "gerundio", which is close (but not identical) to the present participle in English. - lazarus1907, Aug 14, 2011

And the reference article is incorrect to use the term "gerund". - samdie, Aug 14, 2011

Thanks, Sam. - lazarus1907, Aug 14, 2011

Ay. Sorry, normally put present progressive to avoid this. Edited. - bafalck, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 2

If you are not interested in grammatical terminology, ignore this post, but otherwise, I'm going to have to disagree with all the posts here so far:

"Leyendo" is what in Spanish call "gerundio", and its closest equivalent in English is the "present participle", like in "I am reading", where "reading" is a present participle.

The "gerund", which looks identical to the present participle, is like a noun, which is what you get in "Reading is good". In these cases, either there is no equivalent in Spanish, or the infinitive is used instead. There is no such thing as a gerund in Spanish.

If you are not sure how to recognize a gerund, replace it with "that" (or any other pronoun), and if the sentence still more or less the same, it is a gerund: "Reading is good" -> "That is good". Notice that it doesn't work with the present participle: "I am reading" -> "I am that".

No wonder we get so many threads where people are confused about "gerunds".

Ohhhhhhhhh... - SonrisaDelSol, Aug 14, 2011

Good explanation. - john20, Aug 15, 2011

Answer 3

Leyendo is the gerund of the verb leer. Spanish gerunds in present progressive always go with Estar.

Estoy Leyendo el libro = I'm reading the book.

Leer to Leyendo

In -ir and -er verbs, if the last letter in the stem is a vowel, the 'i' in the suffix -iendo becomes a 'y'. e.g.

Leer -> stem = le --> le + iendo ---> 'i' replaced by 'y' = leyendo.

Caer ---> ca + iendo --'y'--> cayendo

Traer ----> tra + iendo --'y'--> trayendo

"gerundio" not "gerund". - samdie, Aug 14, 2011

The poster is a beginner, I didn't want to complicate it for him/her. - SpanishPal, Aug 14, 2011

Answer 4

"Leyendo" is the "gerundio" form (-ing) of the verb "leer". Gerundios are used in the progressive tense.

Estoy leyendo - I am reading.

Estaba leyendo cuando llegaste - I was reading when you arrived.

The progressive tense is formed by "estar + gerundio"...(that is, any form of estar with the gerundio form of any verb)

Complete leer conjugation

"gerundio" not "gerund". - samdie, Aug 14, 2011