Spanish gerunds, infinitives, homework 2 questions! :/

Question

So its a spanish homework. The top says "Uses of the gerund and the infinitive" 5. La primera vez que lo intenté me puse nerviosa porque (tirarse/tirándose) de un punto tan elevado es (aterrorizando/aterrorizador).

1. Ahora las actividades tranquilas como (jugar/jugando) tenis me interesan muy poco!

I don't understand:/

Someone please help..this has like 8 views but no comments.. :( - rasofia, Jan 29, 2013

Hi, welcome to the forum! - rac1, Jan 29, 2013

Answer 1

It means you have decide between using the present participle 'jugando' and the infinitive 'jugar' as the noun in the sentence.

In English we can use the gerund 'playing' as a noun - that is we can use this verb form (-ing words) as the name of an action (noun) not just to describe someone doing an action.

But in Spanish the present participle (verb forms ending in '-iendo or -ando' usually translated by an English -ing word) is not an option when the verb is being used as a noun. Instead the infinitive is used.

Comer chocolate es divertido.

Eating chocolate is fun.

I hope that helps.

Thanks a bunch!! Now hopefully someone knows on that other one. Thanks so much!! :) - rasofia, Jan 29, 2013

Oh, and so it would be jugar right? - rasofia, Jan 29, 2013

right, so now why don't you try the other one and I'll tell you if you're right or wrong and more importantly 'why' so that you know for next time - after all this site is great for learning (not just for getting the right answer for your homework) jeje - - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 29, 2013

or if I'm not here I'm sure someone else will :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 29, 2013

Well, i thought it would be tirarse and aterrizador, I'm not sure though - rasofia, Jan 29, 2013

Well done, although I think you mean aterrador ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 29, 2013

I'd think that too, as the adjective 'terrifying', but wonder if she's allowed that choice. I'm sometimes confused by this two, because we in effect border on having 3 -ing forms in English - rogspax, Jan 29, 2013

The obvious present participle, the gerund, and then in the case of words like terrifying or confusing, though obviously derived from the p.p. they serve as adjectives. I don't know what we call those, or if we have a term. Now I'm curious about English - rogspax, Jan 29, 2013