esperándo - why the accent?

Question

In today's word of the day (frío) the first example given is "Me he quedado frío esperándo el autobús." the "a" is accented, but I don't understand why. I assume this is the gerund form (present participle) of esperar (to wait for, to hope, to expect). I have looked a different sources, including SpanishDict.com, for the conjugation of this verb and do not see it as it appears in the example. Also, from my understanding, this is the syllable would naturally be accented in Spanish. Can anyone help me understand this'

Answer 1

HI Shaun, welcome to the forum

This is a mistake, it should not have an accent. The verb is esperar and the "gerundio" is esperando, no accent needed. Your conclusions were quite right, well done

Answer 2

Thank you Samdie. But I have another question. Why does "esperándolo" depart from the usual pattern of pronunciation? The example with "hablar" was (I think) so as not to cause confusion but why is it necessary with the "gerund + particle" form'

Answer 3

HI Sam, just a minor correction. Ti is never written with an accent, I guess you meant "tu/tú"

Answer 4

but esperándolo is right

Sure, but that's to indicate that the stress does not fall on the antepenult (as it does in "esperando" (that being the default situation).

Hey Samdie, can you elaborate on this a little bit please as I have never really understood why certain words take an accent (tilde') and others not.
The stress normally falls on the last or next-to-last syllable of the word (as explained earlier by Lazarus at al.). Since that's the default situation, one doesn't need a written accent. Writing an accent mark serves as a reminder/indication of a departure from the usual stress patterns. Thus, "hablé" (I spoke) and "hable" (Speak! or the usual subjunctive) are pronounced differently. The second conforms to the usual pattern and needs no written accent, while the former is stressed on the final syllable and the accent is written to serve as a reminder of that fact.

There are also a small number of words (que, como, mi, ti, solo, etc.) which can be written with/without an accent. However, with these, the accent has nothing to do with stress but, rather, serves to distinguish meanings/usages (interrogative/declarative, possessive/objective or adjective/adverb).

Answer 5

but esperándolo is right

Sure, but that's to indicate that the stress does not fall on the antepenult (as it does in "enserando" (that being the default situation).

Hey Samdie, can you elaborate on this a little bit please as I have never really understood why certain words take an accent (tilde') and others not.

Answer 6

Sorry about that! The word of the day entry for "frío" has been corrected. If you ever find any more errors in the word of the day, please let me know directly so that I can correct them. We are still trying to work out a few kinks around here.

Answer 7

¿cómo es que elegiste un verbo tan oscuro como enserar, que significa 'To cover with bassweed'?

Gracia James. Eso es el mejor pregunta que he leído en este sitio. Todavía estoy riendo.

Answer 8

(as it does in "enserando")

Este, ¿cómo es que elegiste un verbo tan oscuro como enserar, que significa "To cover with bassweed"'

Answer 9

but esperándolo is right
Sure, but that's to indicate that the stress does not fall on the antepenult (as it does in "enserando" (that being the default situation).

Answer 10

but esperándolo is right

Answer 11

It is an error.