NuLengua: Intermediate Level 4 - 4.3 Introduction to the Gerund or Present Participle, Uses of the Gerund and Formation of the Progressive Tense (Continuous Tense)

The gerund is a construction that has quite a few purposes. One of them is - as also in English - the construction of a part of a sentence.

Llorando me contó su vida = Crying he told me his life story.
He was crying when he told me his life story.

As we can see the gerund in English is formed by taking the verb and adding the ending ing.
eat => eating
sing => singing
cry => crying
swim => swimming

Unfortunately that doesn't always work the same way as in English.

Los hombres que trabajan. = The working men. The men who work.

In the example above you can see that the part-sentence is a description of a noun (the men), which means it has an adjectival purpose. In that kind of cases the gerundio cannot be used in Spanish. A gerund cannot be changed according to gender and number therefore they cannot be used adjectivally.

Have a look at this comparison

adverbial construction
Riendo salío por la puerta. = Laughing he left through the door.
Saludando la muchedumbre entró en la sala. = Greeting the crowd, he entered the room.

adjectival construction
El pájaro que canta encanta mi corazón. = The singing bird enchanted my heart.
La mujer que rie está nadando. = The laughing woman is swimming.

estar + gerundio forms the continuous

Now we find something very similar to the continuous forms. They are formed with the conjugated form of estar and the gerundio.

present continuous estar + gerundio
I am eating = estoy comiendo
you are singing = estás cantando
he is crying = está llorando
we are swimming = estamos nadando
you are greeting = estáis saludando
they are laughing = están riendo

¿Qué estás haciendo? Estoy trabajando. = What are you doing? I am working.

See the difference!

¿Qué buscas? Busco trabajo. = What do you look for? I look for work.

¿Qué estas buscando? Estoy buscando mi monedero. = What are you looking for? I'm looking for my wallet.

The difference is quite clear - what is somebody doing at this moment in comparison to what is he doing in general.

¿Qué están haciendo los niños? Están durmiendo. = What are the kids doing? They sleep.

As always, there is a difference depending on the ending of the infinitive verb

has the verb -ar as ending the gerundio is formed with stem + ando
has the verb -ir as ending the gerundio is formed with stem + iendo
has the verb -er as ending the gerundio is formed with stem + iendo

verb

translation

stem

ending

gerundio

pronunciation

tomar

to take

tom-

ando

tomando

Spanish Pronunciation

hablar

to speak

habl-

ando

hablando

Spanish Pronunciation

trabajar

to work

trabaj-

ando

trabajando

Spanish Pronunciation

esperar

to wait

esper-

ando

esperando

Spanish Pronunciation

comer

to eat

com-

iendo

comiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

coger

to take

cog-

iendo

cogiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

mover

to move

mov-

iendo

moviendo

Spanish Pronunciation

perder

to lose

perd-

iendo

perdiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

recibir

to receive

recib-

iendo

recibiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

salir

to leave

sal-

iendo

saliendo

Spanish Pronunciation

insistir

to insist

insist-

iendo

insistiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

Again there are some irregular verbs

verb

translation

stem

ending

gerundio

pronunciation

caer

to fall

ca-

yendo

cayendo

Spanish Pronunciation

creer

to believe

cre-

yendo

creyendo

Spanish Pronunciation

oir

to hear

o-

yendo

oyendo

Spanish Pronunciation

ser

to be

s-

iendo

siendo

Spanish Pronunciation

venir

to come

vin-

iendo

viniendo

Spanish Pronunciation

poder

to can

pud-

iendo

pudiendo

Spanish Pronunciation

The gerundio can be combined with all forms of estar:

Formation of the continuous

form of estar

subject	presente	imperfecto	indefinido	perfecto	plusquamperfecto	+ gerundio
Yo	estoy	estaba	estuve	he estado	había estado	comiendo
Tú	estás	estabas	estuviste	has estado	habías estado	comiendo
Él	está	estaba	estuvo	ha estado	había estado	comiendo
Nosotros	estamos	estábamos	estuvimos	hemos estado	habíamos estado	comiendo
Vosotros	estáis	estabais	estuvisteis	habéis estado	habíais estado	comiendo
Ellos	estan	estaban	estuvieron	han estado	habían estado	comiendo

There are different meanings with different constructions

Yo trabajaba, mientras ella estudiaba.	I worked and she studied (at this time)
Yo estaba trabajando, mientras ella estaba estudiando.	I was working and while she was studying.

The first sentence means more the general situation at some time in the past. The second sentence tells us exactly what they were doing at a point of time.

Yo comía ahí hasta que supe que en la cocina habían cucarachas. Entonces no me fué más.	I ate there (regularly) until I learned that there are cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I didn't go anymore.
Yo estuve comiendo ahí hasta que supe que en la cocina hay cucarachas. Entonces me fué inmediatamente.	I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).

We notice that the definition of the continuous form is very specific on a limited span of time. The focus is strictly on the process.

darse cuenta = to notice (exactly: to give oneself the bill) derrumbarse = to break down

As also in English when the actual process of something is in the center of attention the continuous form is used also in Spanish as you can see:

I was drinking a coke when the house broke down. = Estaba bebiendo una coca-cola, cuando la casa se derrumbó.
I was just helping him when I noticed that he can't be helped. = Le estaba ayudando, cuando me di cuenta que no se le podía ayudar.

todavía = still

Spanish Translation

seguir = continue

Spanish Translation

In English the little word 'stil'l indicates that an action is still continuing. The same purpose has the word todavía.

¿Fumas todavía? = Do you still smoke?
¿Todavía vives con él? = Do you still live with him?
¿Habláis todavía de Ramona? = Do you still talk about Ramona?
Estoy todavía en Berlín. = I am still in Berlin.
¿Está enfermo todavía? = Is he still sick?
Todavía es el presidente de la república. = He is still the president of the republic.

In Spanish, there is a second possibility to express the same. It can be directly translated with continue. even though the more usual translation would be with the continuous form (to be + gerund).

conjugated form of seguir + gerundio

¿Sigues fumando? = Do you continue smoking? (Are you still smoking?)
¿Sigues viviendo con él? = Do you continue living with him? (Are you still living with him?)
¿Seguis hablando de Ramona? = Do you continue talking about Ramona? (Are you still talking about Ramona?)

If you have a construction that would use the verb ser or estar it is left out.

¿Sigues (estando) en Berlín? = Are you still (being) in Berlin?
¿Sigue (estando) enfermo? = Is he still (being) ill?
Sigue (siendo) presidente de la república = He is still (being) the president of the republic.

Unfortunately the verb seguir is quite irregular

subject	presente	imperfecto	indefinido	perfecto	plusquamperfecto
Yo	sigo	seguía	seguí	he seguido	había seguido
Tú	sigues	seguías	seguiste	has seguido	habías seguido
Él	sigue	seguía	siguió	ha seguido	había seguido
Nosotros	seguimos	seguíamos	seguimos	hemos seguido	habíamos seguido
Vosotros	seguís	seguíais	seguisteis	habéis seguido	habíais seguido
Ellos	siguen	seguían	siguieron	han seguido	habían seguido

Spanish Pronunciation

The verb seguir as well as continuar mean to continue. If we can create constructions with seguir the same is possible with continuar:

Juan continúa estudiando el francés. Juan todavía estudia francés.	Juan still studies French. / He is still studying French.
Continúamos trabajando en el mismo bar. Todavía trabajamos en el mismo bar.	We still work in the same bar. / We are still working in the same bar.

continuar is irregular, too

subject	presente	imperfecto	indefinido	perfecto	plusquamperfecto
Yo	continúo	continuaba	continué	he continuado	había continuado
Tú	continúas	continuabas	continuaste	has continuado	habías continuado
Él	continúa	continuaba	continuó	ha continuado	había continuado
Nosotros	continuamos	continuábamos	continuamos	hemos continuado	habíamos continuado
Vosotros	continuáis	continuabais	continuasteis	habéis continuado	habíais continuado
Ellos	continúan	continuaban	continuaron	han continuado	habían continuado

Spanish Pronunciation

The verb ir with gerundio forms the expression for gradually. Some of the expressions would also be translated with to be beginning to.

ir with gerund for gradually

Se iba poniendo pesado. = Gradually he became a nuisance. / He was beginning to be a nuisance.
Se va poniendo pesado. = Gradually he becomes a nuisance. / He is beginning to be a nuisance.
El dinero se nos iba agotando. = Gradually we were running out of money. / Gradually the money was used up.

The alternative would be to say bit by bit = poco a poco

Poco a poco se nos agotaba el dinero. = Bit by bit we were running out of money. (exact translated: Bit by bit the money was used up.)

The gerundio can be used just in adverbial expressions:

Sonriendo me dijo que me odia. = Smiling she told me that she hates me.
Ladrando los perros cruzaron la calle. = Barking the dogs were running across the street.
Diciendo que me quiere mucho me dió un beso. = Telling me that she loves me she gave me a kiss. (The told me she loves me and gave me a kiss)
Hablando se emborracharon. = Talking they were getting drunk. (They were talking and getting drunk)

REMEMBER! Has the English gerund an adjectival meaning then you cannot use the Spanish gerundio, but you need to describe it with a sentence.

Sleeping men are happy.
correct: Los hombres que duermen son felices.
incorrect: Los hombres durmiendo son felices.

Barking dogs are disturbing.
correct: Perros que ladran molestan.
incorrect: Perros ladrando molestan.

The smiling woman is beautiful.
correct: La mujer que sonríe es guapa.
incorrect: La mujer sonriendo es guapa.

Actually it's quite logical because the adjective has to be in gender and number in accordance with the subject. However, gerundios are unchangeable.

In English we often use the gerund to shorten the subordinate clause of a sentence. Exactly the same can be done in Spanish.

Teniendo dinero, la vida es más fácil. = Having money live is easier.
Viviendo en el campo, no se tiene la posibilidad de ir al cine. = Living in the countryside there is no possibility to go to the movies.
Aun teniendo más dinero, no me compraría un nuevo coche. = Even having more money I wouldn't buy a new care.
Levantándonos temprano, vamos a alcanzar el tren. = Getting up early we are going to reach the train.