By + -ing verb

Question

I am a little confused on how I would say this sentence in Spanish.

By creating the beautiful painting, she proved herself to be a talented artist.

--- ---- la pintura hermosa, se demostró ser artista talentosa.

The use of by + an -ing verb is causing me the most trouble. Can anyone give me some advice?

Gracias!

Good question :) - EL_MAG0, Oct 15, 2011

Answer 1

Untranslated "by" when using the Spanish present participle: Spanish often uses present participles (the verb form ending in -ando or -endo) in a way that doesn't have an exact English equivalent but is used to indicate the means by which a goal or state of being is accomplished. In such cases, the sentences can convey the meaning of the English "by."

Examples:

A fake doctor got rich by diagnosing nonexistent cancers. Un falso doctor se hizo rico diagnosticando cánceres inexistentes.

By studying weekends, Susana will pass the test. Estudiando los fines de semana, Susana aprobará el examen.

Note that in these examples, the English "by" could be omitted with little or no change in meaning.

I got this here.

Ahh, thanks so much, Tosh! - SonrisaDelSol, Oct 15, 2011

De nada! - Tosh, Oct 15, 2011

Good answer. Helpful link. ;) - EL_MAG0, Oct 15, 2011