GERUNDIO/ GERUND

The gerund is also called the present participle; however, the gerund is NOT the equivalent to the English gerund. It may NOT be used as a noun as in English. The English gerund is normally translated into Spanish as an infinitive.

EXAMPLES

1. Saludar con un beso es habitual en la Argentina./ Greeting with a kiss is customary in Argentina.
2. Abrir los negocios los domingos es raro./ Opening the stores on Sundays is rare.

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HOW TO FORM THE GERUND

1. The gerund is formed by removing the infinitive endings, -ar, -er, and -ir and by adding -ando to -ar and -iendo to -er and -ir as follows:

Infinitive	Cancelar/ to cancel	vender/ to sell	salir/ to go out
Gerund	Cancelando/ canceling	vendiendo/ selling	saliendo/ going out

 

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2. If the -er or -ir verb stem ends in a vowel, add -yendo instead of -iendo to form the gerund as follows:

Infinitive	Gerund
oír/ to hear	oyendo/ listening
caer/ to fall	cayendo/ falling

LESSONS: Invoicing I & Invoicing Ia.

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VERBOS IRREGULARES / Irregular Verbs

There are many irregular verbs, but we are going to list only the following:

Infinitive	Gerund
decir/ to tell	diciendo
dormir/ to sleep	durmiendo
pedir/ to request	pidiendo
venir/ to come	viniendo
ir/ to go	yendo
poder/ to be able	pudiendo
sentir/ to feel	sintiendo
mentir/ to lie	mintiendo
preferir/ to prefer	prefiriendo
servir/ to serve	sirviendo
repetir/ to repeat	repitiendo
seguir/ to continue	siguiendo
reír/ to laugh	riendo

LESSONS: Invoicing II & Invoicing IIa.

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WHEN TO USE THE GERUND:

1. The gerund is used in the present progressive.

EXAMPLES

• Estoy estudiando./ I am studying.
• Ana está durmiendo./ Ana is sleeping.

LESSONS: Invoicing III & Invoicing IIIa.

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2. The gerund is used as an adverb to describe another verb.

EXAMPLES

• Terminamos nuestro proyecto gritando./ Screaming, we finished our project.
• Nuestro cliente nos pagó sonriendo./ Smiling, our client paid us.

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3. The gerund is used to express how something is done and also as a modifying phrase that is subordinate to another verb.

EXAMPLES

• Bajando los precios ganaremos la competencia./ By lowering the prices, we'll beat the competition.
• Abriendo más sucursales tendremos más clientes./ By opening more branches, we'll have more customers.

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NOTE: When a sentence begins with a verbal phrase and is positive, the gerund is used. However, to form the negative of a sentence beginning with a verbal phrase, the preposition sin is used instead of the word no. Also note that sin needs to be followed by an infinitive (bajar and abrir)

• Sin bajar los precios no ganaremos la competencia./ Without lowering the prices, we cannot beat the competition.
• Sin abrir más sucursales no tendremos más clientes./ Without opening more branches, we won't have more customers.

LESSONS: Invoicing IV & Invoicing IVa.

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4. To express a continuous action, the gerund is used with the verbs continuar/ to continue and seguir/ to follow.

EXAMPLES

• El acusado seguía hablando aunque el juez se lo había prohibido./ The accused kept on talking although the judge had prohibited him to do so.
• Las ganancias continuaron incrementando durante la recesión. / The profits continued to increase during the recession.

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5. To describe an action in progress, the gerund is used with the verbs andar/ to go or walk and ir/ to go.

EXAMPLES

• El reportero anda difamando mi persona./ The reporter goes around slandering my character.
• La sociedad va destruyendo el medio ambiente./ The society goes on destroying the environment.

LESSONS: Invoicing V & Invoicing Va.