Estar+Gerund

Question

I wanted to say "By choosing to stay..." in my essay for Spanish class, but I was wondering- Is it possible to have the "ing" word without having estar in front or is estar always needed? Thank you

Bienvenido al foro. - rac1, Dec 5, 2013

Answer 1

By choosing to stay
Al optar por quedarme/permanecer
Al decidir quedarme/permanecer
Al elegir quedarme/permanecer

I do not understand what are you exactly trying to say with estar + gerund but just to say gerund is used most of the time to modify a verb, which means any verb and not only estar

Answer 2

Gerund has different uses:

• Ayer me caí montando bicicleta
• Lloró contando su triste historia
• Hay un banco pasando la panadería (es decir que pasas la panadería y verás el banco ahí cerca)
• Ana ganó la medalla de oro corriendo hasta el final sin parar

These are just some examples to illustrate that gerund is not always used after the verb to be.

Feel free to ask any question.

I would like to know what comes after by choosing to stay... because that by I think could be translated as if, it is si (conditional) in Spanish. I am not sure = Si escojo/decido quedarme...

I think a couple of your answers perfectly address the basic question. Can the gerund be used alone. The first two are compound constructions using verbs other than estar, but the last two use the gerund alone. - gringojrf, Dec 5, 2013

The "by" is closer to "because" than to "if". ""Because I chose to stay" expresses the same idea as "by choosing to stay." - gringojrf, Dec 5, 2013

Answer 3

Continuous is only used in Spanish to indicate an action at a precise moment and not as an English gerund. For this we use infinitive, so for your phrase By choosing to stay we say, as Anormal mentioned: Por/al elegir quedarme ............. "Estar" is not necessary.