what is the gerund verb form
is that like the -ing verb ending
3 Answers
You really need to be careful with this, the English gerund is not the same as the Spanish gerundio.
From a previous post by Lazarus....
Grammatical terminology varies from language to language, and you probably read the English version. The word "geundium" is Latin, and now it is used to describe modern languages even if none of them share the original Latin's grammatical features.
In Spanish grammar, a non finite verbal form ending in -ando or -iendo is called gerundio, and it has virtually nothing to do with the gerund in English. The gerundio in Spanish is generally regarded as a verbal form in Spanish grammars, but it also behaves like an adverb, and in rare occasions, as an adjective, but never as a noun. In other words, the gerundio is very close to the English present participle.
In Spanish there is virtually nothing like the English gerund. There are only some adjectives that were derived from verbs that behave somewhat similarly to some English gerunds.
The non-finite verbal form in Spanish that behaves like a noun is the infinitive. That's why we say "Me gusta bailar" instead of "Me gusta bailando". In English you say "I like dancing" because "dancing" is a gerund, and gerunds are nouns.
infinitivo - verb or noun
gerundio - verb or adverb - it forms progressive tenses
participio - verb or adjective (like in English)
Also, a previous post by Samdie
I would like to take this opportunity to formally protest the equation of the English "gerund" and the Spanish "gerundio". Both the conjugation pages and the dictionary entries incorrectly suggest that these term are synonymous. The Spanish "gerundio" is best translated as "present participle" in English. The English "gerund" is, basically, untranslatable in Spanish (the closest possibility being to refer to the infinitive [when used as a noun]). However, in this case (infinitive used as a noun) English grammarians (for whatever reasons) don't use the term "gerund", either. One can, of course, give an explanation of the term "gerund" in English but any such explanation would have to be couched in terms of English grammar (since there is no corresponding construction in Spanish).
I suspect that many SD users are entirely unfamiliar with the term "gerund" (British and American education systems being what they are) until they encounter the term on this site and that Spanish-speaking users may be familiar with the term "gerundio" but do not know the English equivalent.
Perhaps, SD users are incapable of understanding/learning such distinctions. Perhaps, they will be hopelessly seduced by the similarly sounding "gerund" and "gerundio" and always confuse the terms. Is it, however, the place of SD to compound this confusion by suggesting that the terms are synonymous, when they are, in fact, not?
In a nutshell, yes! Now let me welcome you to the forum and inform you that your nickname is rather ironic. I am a fan of caps also. Capital letters when required as is the rule on this forum as well as proper punctuation.
