When to use gerunds in Spanish?

Spanish gerunds (aka present participles) are words ending in -ando or -iendo; they are equivalent to English words ending in “-ing,” such as “running” or “cooking.” They are used to form progressive tenses, such as the Spanish present continuous, alongside the verb estar (meaning to be), or as adverbs to describe the action of the verb it accompanies. For example: Juan está subiendo al autobús (meaning Juan is getting on the bus). Or Or Ana salió corriendo (meaning Ana left running). They can also be used to indicate location, to indicate two actions happening at the same time, and with certain types of verbs.

Contrary to English “-ing” forms, gerunds in Spanish (-ando/-iendo forms) are NOT used as adjectives, as nouns, or after prepositions. For example:

Not too hard, right? Ready to keep learning? Keep on reading to find out more!

Gerunds are easy to spot as they end in either -ando (infinitives ending in -ar) or -iendo (infinitives ending in -er and -ir).

Unlike English, Spanish makes no distinction between present participles and gerunds. See more information about Spanish present participles, including stem-changing verbs and irregular verbs here.

The gerund has two main functions in Spanish: to form progressive tenses or to modify another verb. Let’s break down these uses!

• With estar to form progressive tenses

  Progressive tenses (past, present, future), formed with estar (meaning to be) and a gerund, describe actions viewed as continuous. For instance:

  Estoy mirando la televisión. = Miro la televisión.

  Translation: I’m watching TV.

  Do you want to know more about the Spanish present progressive tense? If so, check out this post!

  Another popular progressive tense is the imperfect progressive. It describes an action being in progress at some point in the past. Like its present counterpart, the simple imperfect can also indicate that the action is in progress.

  Estaba mirando la televisión. = Miraba la televisión.

  Translation: I was watching TV.

• As an adverb, describing the action of the verb it accompanies

  Gerunds can indicate manner, cause, and condition.

  • Manner

    They describe the way in which the action of the verb they go after is being performed.

    Entró a su cuarto corriendo.

    Translation: She came into her room running.

  • Cause

    The gerund can describe the reason why the action of the verb it accompanies happens. The clause that contains the gerund can go before or after the clause with the main verb:

    Siendo un hombre honrado, no permitió que mancharan su nombre. = No permitió que mancharan su nombre, siendo un hombre honrado.

    Translation: Being (=because he is) an honest man, he didn’t let them drag his name through the mud.

  • Condition

    They indicate the condition under which the action of the verb they accompany happens. The clause with the gerund can go before or after the clause with the main verb:

    Estando su hijo enfermo, no vendrá a la fiesta. = No vendrá a la fiesta, estando su hijo enfermo.

    Translation: His son being sick (=if his son is sick), he won’t come to the party.

• Two actions happening simultaneously

  We use two verbs, one being conjugated (present, imperfect, etc.) and one being a gerund to indicate two simultaneous actions:

  Caminando por el parque encontré una moneda de oro.

  Translation: While walking in the park, I found a gold coin.

• To indicate location

  Verbs of movement can be used in the gerund form to indicate location:

  –¿Dónde está la tienda?
  –Cruzando la calle. (meaning –Where is the store?
  –Across the street.)

  These gerunds are often paired with the verb estar (meaning to be) to be more specific about the location:
  

  El baño está entrando a la izquierda.

  Translation: The bathroom is after the entrance to your left.

• Purpose with verbs of communication

  We can use a gerund after a verb of communication, such as llamar (meaning to call), escribir (un mensaje, un correo, etc.) (meaning to write (a message, an email, etc.)), to indicate purpose.

  Me llamó pidiendo ayuda.

  Translation: He called me asking (=to ask) for help.

  The gerund can be substituted with a purpose clause, para + _infinitive:

  Me llamó para pedir ayuda.

  Translation: He called to ask for help.

• After verbs of seeing and hearing

  Both gerunds and infinitives can be used with verbs of seeing and hearing. When we use a gerund, the action is viewed as in progress; whereas when you use the infinitive, the action is completed.

  Oigo a los vecinos discutir.

  Translation: I hear the neighbors argue.
  Oigo a los vecinos discutiendo.

  Translation: I hear the neighbors arguing.

  In the first example, the arguing occurs, but not necessarily at the exact time of speaking. However, in the second example, the arguing is taking place at the same time of speaking.

• To qualify the object of a verb

  We can use gerunds to qualify the _{direct object} with verbs like: descubrir (meaning to discover), pillar/agarrar (meaning to catch), encontrar/hallar (meaning to find)

  Encontré a mi perro mordiendo mis zapatos.

  Translation: I found my dog chewing on my shoes.

In English “-ing” verbs are used in more contexts than in Spanish: when used as a present participle they function as adjectives, adverbs, and verbs and when used as a gerund they function as nouns. In contrast, Spanish never uses gerunds as adjectives or nouns so let’s see what is used instead.

• As an adjective

  Spanish doesn’t use gerunds as adjectives. Instead, we simply use adjectives or _{past participles}:

  Mis clases son muy aburridas.

  Translation: My classes are very boring.

  Would you like to know more ways Spanish deals with English present participles used as adjectives? Keep on reading here.

• As a noun

  Nouns in both languages can function as subjects, objects, or objects of a preposition. In English, gerunds are used as nouns in these three contexts, but in Spanish only infinitives are allowed. Let’s compare some examples:

  • As a subject

    Nadar no está permitido.

    Translation: Swimming is not allowed.

    This includes verbs like gustar (meaning to be pleasing). Recall that gustar is followed by its subject and this subject is either a noun (singular or plural) or an infinitive. In English when you like doing an activity, the verb “like” can be followed by either an infinitive or an “-ing” verb.

    She likes swimming/to swim in the morning.

    In Spanish, the infinitive is the only option:

    Le gusta nadar por las mañanas. (Le gusta nadando por las mañanas.)

    Do you need to review the verb gustar and similar verbs? Learn more about it here.

  • As an object of the verb

    In English an “-ing” verb can be used as the object of the verb (avoid, allow, suggest, consider, etc):

    I couldn’t help listening to their conversation.

    However in Spanish, an infinitive is used in this case if the subject is doing both actions:

    No pude evitar oír su conversación.

    If there are two different subjects, then Spanish uses a relative clause:

    No pude evitar que (tú) escucharas su conversación.

    Translation: I couldn’t help you listening to their conversation.

  • After a preposition

    In such cases, Spanish always uses an infinitive:

    Es capaz de hacer cálculos complicadísimos sin usar una calculadora.

    Translation: She can do extremely complicated math mentally without using a calculator.

    Check out our post on Spanish infinitives to learn more!

• English fixed expressions

  Some English expressions of the type “-ing + noun,” such as “changing room” (probador) are not translated using gerunds. Spanish has either a specific word or uses noun + de + infinitive/noun instead.

  sleeping bag → saco de dormir

  Click the link for a list with more Spanish expressions!

Spanish gerunds ending in -ando or -iendoare equivalent to English "-ing" verbs, and are used:

• to form progressive tenses with estar,

• as adverbs to describe the action of the verb it accompanies,

• to indicate location, and;

• to indicate two actions happening at the same time.

Conversely, gerunds are NOT used as:

• adjectives,

• nouns,

• after a preposition, and

• fixed English “-ing” expressions.

Ready to practice? Check this activity, it has an answer key! Happy practicing.