Gerundio as an adjective?
Hola a todos,
I have searched the internet for some information, but all I can find is non-related answers... I have listened to songs, like "Moviendo Caderas" by Yandel and "Noche Loca" by Pasabordo and I've noticed two similar constructions they use: *gerundio + noun, which is driving me crazy. "Moviendo caderas" I understand as "moving hips", but it doesn't really work grammatically, does it? The same in "Noche Loca" when he says "bailando mamacita", I understand it as "dancing mamacita*", but I have the same problem. Can someone explain this grammatically, or is it just a colloquialism?
Muchas gracias de antemano.
2 Answers
I am going to compose two sentences for you, and insert the phrases within. I just want to illustrate both cases in the way a native speaker would understand them. One way to see it is that they are short for:
Todos están moviendo (las) caderas - moviendo caderas [Everyone's moving (their) hips] - Moving hips.
Estás bailando bien, mamacita - bailando mamacita [You're dancing nice, mamacita] - Dancing mamacita
It's of course colloquial. Both expressions have a sensual context. The same way when you sing a song in English and you shout: Here, baby! or Move it, baby! as emotional "explosions".
"Bailando" and "moviendo" here are not used as adjectives but as gerunds.
On the other hand, these expressions are also used as commands, as in English when you say to someone: "Dance, baby!" or when you say to a group, "Everyone, move!"
Those would be the two right contexts..
Gerundios are sometimes used as imperatives. According to the lyrics that I found searching the net, that is what is happening here. The title of the one song, when translated into English, is Move Your Hips. The other phrase could be Dance Mamacita. So, at least in these songs, they are not being used as adjectives. This doesn't mean that a gerundio is never used as an adjective in songs or otherwise.
Songs do not always follow proper grammatical rules. To the song writer, sound, rhythm, mood and meaning are the most important things. Proper grammar is, at best, fifth in priority and probably lower than that or practically non-existent in some styles.
Leaving songs, poetry and other artistic endeavors aside:
In all but a few situations, one cannot use a gerundio as an adjective in Spanish. Of course, in English we do it all the time.
When they are not being used in the normal progressive / continuous sense, they are generally used as adverbs, not adjectives.
There are some other exceptions. With verbs of perception or representation / demonstration, for example, a gerundio can be used to modify the direct object that is being perceived.
Within the above category, for example, as a caption below an an image, whether it be a photograph, a drawing, a painting, a poster, etc.
