Verbal Periphrasis

Explanation

Quick Answer

In Spanish, a verbal periphrasis is a verbal construction made of two verb forms, a conjugated form and an impersonal form (an infinitive, a present participle, or a past participle). Verbal periphrasis is used in the informal future, the present progressive, and the perfect tenses.

For example:

examples
Voy a comprar una camisa. I am going to buy a shirt.
Está nadando muy bien. He is swimming very well.

Below you'll find three common types of verbal periphrasis used in Spanish.

This first type of verbal periphrasis consists of a conjugated form of ir + a preposition + an infinitive.

For example:

examples
Voy a estudiar. I am going to study.

This second type of verbal periphrasis consists of a conjugated form of haber + a past participle.

For example:

examples
¿Has ido a España? Have you been to Spain?

This third type of verbal periphrasis consists of a conjugated form of estar + a present participle.

For example:

examples
Está leyendo un libro. She is reading a book.

Below you'll find a list of some common verbal periphrases. Remember that only the first verb in each periphrasis is conjugated.

Verb + Infinitive	Meaning
acabar de+ infinitive	to have just done something
acertar a+ infinitive	to manage to do something
acostumbrar a+ infinitive	to get used to doing something
alcanzar a+ infinitive	to be able to do something
cesar de+ infinitive	to cease to do something
comenzar a+ infinitive	to begin to do something
deber+ infinitive	to have to do something
dejar de+ infinitive	to stop doing something
echar(se) a+ infinitive	to burst/break into doing something
empezar a+ infinitive	to begin to do something
estar por+ infinitive	to be on the verge of doing something
estar a punto de+ infinitive	to be about to do something
haber de/que+ infinitive	to have to do something
ir a+ infinitive	to be going to do something
poder+ infinitive	to be able to do something
ponerse a+ infinitive	to start to do something
quedar por+ infinitive	to remain to do something
llegar a+ infinitive	to come to do something
romper a+ infinitive	to suddenly start doing something
soler+ infinitive	to do something usually
venir a+ infinitive	to come to do something
volver a+ infinitive	to do something again
tardar en+ infinitive	to take a long time to do something
tener que+ infinitive	to have to do something
terminar de+ infinitive	to finish doing something

Verb + Present Participle	Meaning
andar+ present participle	to be doing something
estar+ present participle	to be doing something
ir+ present participle	to be gradually doing something
llevar+ present participle	to have been doing something
seguir+ present participle	to keep doing something
venir+ present participle	to have been doing something

Verb + Past Participle	Meaning
dejar hecho+ past participle	to leave completed
haber+ past participle	to have done something
llevar puesto+ past participle	to have on
sentirse+ past participle	to feel + past participle
verse+ past participle	to see oneself as + past participle

In Spanish, the verb form that ends in -ndo is called the gerundio. It is used in compound verb forms, such as Estoy nadando. (I'm swimming.), as well as adverbially, as in Salió corriendo. (literally, He left running.)

In English, a gerund is the noun form of a verb, such as swimming in the sentence Swimming is fun. (Es divertido nadar.). In Spanish, this form is translated using an infinitive verb, such as nadar.