Ando buscando una respuesta

Question

Yes, this is a present participle question!

I just heard that "ando pensando" is slightly different from "estoy pensando", in that "andar" has the meaning of "lately, I have been thinking".

I also learned that you can say something like "voy a terminar pensando" to mean "I am going to end up looking".

Can you give me a few more examples of words that change their meaning when used with gerundios? For example, what is the difference between "voy buscando", "ando buscando" and "estoy buscando"?

How about "me quedo leyendo" and "sigo leyendo"?

Feel free to use: seguir, continuar, quedarse, terminar, andar, venir or any other words you can think of!

Muchas gracias, como siempre!

Answer 1

Andar + gerundio es normalmente una perífrasis verbal progresiva e imperfectiva con un significado parecido al de estar + gerundio , hasta el punto de que en muchos casos se pueden intercambiar.

So, if Lazarus says this, it must be right.

But look at this:

Anda hablando de mí = Ha estado hablando de mí (en el último tiempo, recientemente)

This can have a negative connotation.

Anda viajando por África = Ha estado viajando por África (en el último tiempo)

This one not. I mean, the difference on those verb combintions is not very clear. I agree with Lazarus. Especially in your sentence, they sound very similar to me.

Gracias, Heidi! So, I am right about the "en el último tiempo" part. And it often seems to have a negative connotation. Now, how about "venir" or some of the others? Apparently, no one else is very interested...or they know already! - MLucie, Nov 21, 2011