The two words

Question

I was watching a video on you tube and they were at restaurant in Mexico and the sign out side where they were sitting said"no fumar " but i thought you would say no fumando but my brother say it and said the sign said not to smoke because fumar means to smoke and then of course no but my question is what is the difference between the two words fumar and fumando?

Fumando= smoking - it is the present continuous form of fumar No fumar is correct. - ian-hill, Aug 22, 2014

fumar is like the future - Sc89, Aug 22, 2014

No fumar is the infintive = to smoke - but Spanish cannot use fumando in this way. - ian-hill, Aug 22, 2014

Answer 1

One of the differences between English and Spanish is that in English we use the gerund for much more than in Spanish, and in Spanish the infinitive is used much more. In many cases where we use a gerund in English, especially as a noun, the infinitive is used in Spanish.

Here is a review of where you actually can use the gerundio in Spanish

http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/COURSES/gerund.htm

This review of commands includes a section on use of the infinitive as a command.

http://spanish.about.com/cs/verbs/a/not_imperative.htm

Infinitives as impersonal commands: The infinitive (the unconjugated verb form that ends in -ar, -er or -ir) is frequently used, especially in print and online rather than verbally, to give commands to no one person in particular. It is seen most commonly on signs and in written instructions.

:) - ian-hill, Aug 22, 2014