Irme + present/past participle

Question

Hi all,

I'm afraid I haven't got great examples, but I have often come across this in newspapers etc.

What is the meaning of this kind of construction?

eg. me fui enredando (in a silvio rodriguez song).

I understand estar/seguir with the present participle but not irme

Answer 1

The construct "ir + gerund" represents the action during it's developement. The action is taking place at that precise moment.

Me despedí mientras iba saliendo de su casa - I said goodbye while I was leaving his/her house

íbamos cayendo cuando nos dispararon - We were falling when they shot at us

It's mostly a stylistic resource, used by writers for aestetical reasons.

In the SIlvio Rodríguez song

Pero me fui enredando en más asuntos y aparecieron cosas de este mundo:

I think it's

while I was entangled in more matters/problems things of this world started to appear

Thanks for the clear answer. Would you say that it would not be used in conversation? At least not in informal conversation? Would it be considered posh/formal? - riazahmad, Apr 13, 2012

Also, why would you use ir instead of estar. i.e. why not "me despedi mientras estaba saliendo de su casa? Intuitively, that makes more sense to me. - riazahmad, Apr 13, 2012

You may use it during conversation. For what I can remember, it´s used more as an disguised imperative in the common language: "ve levantándote" (get up!) vayan terminando la prueba (finish the test!) - comunacho, Apr 13, 2012

Answer 2

Deleted. I went brain dead for awhile.