{"id":145266,"date":"2024-01-29T19:45:15","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T00:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/spanish-gerund\/"},"modified":"2024-11-25T16:02:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T21:02:07","slug":"spanish-gerund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/spanish-gerund\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Form and Use the Gerund in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that you can give orders, descriptions and exclamations all with the gerund in Spanish? same word in Spanish?\u00a0Most likely you already know a little about gerunds, the \u2013iendo<\/em> or \u2013ando<\/em> form of verbs (corriendo<\/em>, andando<\/em>). And if you do, you\u2019re ready to start using the gerund in Spanish in all sorts of different situations.<\/p>\n

Let’s have a look at the many ways we can use the ever-versatile gerund.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is the Gerund in Spanish?<\/h2>\n

The gerund is a verb form that expresses continuous action<\/strong> (an action that is currently happening). It’s equivalent to the “\u2013ing” form of a verb in English.<\/p>\n

It’s important to recognize that while English gerunds act as nouns, Spanish gerunds will always remain a verb.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of gerunds:<\/p>\n

Estoy cenando<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong> (I am eating dinner.)<\/p>\n

Mi abuela est\u00e1 hablando<\/strong> con su hermana.<\/em> (My grandma is talking with her sister.)<\/p>\n

Andamos buscando<\/strong> el tel\u00e9fono de Juan.<\/em>\u00a0(We’re walking around looking for Juan’s phone.)<\/p>\n

How to Form a Gerund in Spanish<\/h2>\n

Use this formula to form the gerund:<\/p>\n

infinitive verb stem + -ando <\/em>or -iendo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This table demonstrates what this looks like:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
Verb Type<\/th>Gerund Ending<\/th>Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
-ar<\/em> <\/td>-ando<\/td>Bajar \u2192 Bajando<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ar<\/em> <\/td>-iendo<\/td>Comer \u2192 Comiendo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ir<\/em> <\/td>-iendo<\/td>Abrir \u2192 Abriendo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/p>\n

As always, there are some exceptions to the normal formula!<\/p>\n

For one, verbs that end in two vowels will use \u2013yendo<\/em> <\/strong>to form the gerund:<\/p>\n

Cae<\/strong>r \u2192 cayendo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

O\u00ed<\/strong>r \u2192 oyendo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And then there are the real funky ones, the stem-changers<\/a>. These are easiest to remember if you just memorize which verbs they are, though there are some guidelines that can help:<\/p>\n