The Gerund in Spanish
In this Spanish grammar lesson for beginners you will learn about the gerund, which is used to express an action in progress. In English, it is the equivalent of adding “ing” to a verb. The video is all in Spanish, so try to follow along with the explanation and the visual cues provided. A further description of the gerund is below in English
Forming the gerund in Spanish
We generally use the ‘ing’ ending in English (known as the gerund) to signify an action that is occurring now (ahora):
I am talking
I am eating
I am learning
I am listening
I am writing
In Spanish, to create this same ‘ing’ ending, we must use the conjugated form of the verb estar (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, or están) and add to it, the gerund.
To form the gerund, we replace the ending of the verb with either ‘ando‘ or an ‘iendo‘ , depending on whether it is an ar, or er/ir verb, respectively:
Estoy hablando (hablar) = I am talking
Estoy comiendo (comer) = I am eating
Estoy aprendiendo (aprender) = I am learning
Estoy escuchando (escuchar) = I am listening
Estoy escribiendo (escribir) = I am writing
For example:
Estoy cantando = I am singing
Estás comiendo = you are eating
Está saliendo = he/she is leaving
The gerund is different from the present tense, as the present tense may refer to an action happening now or a habitual action, while the gerund talks about a continuous action occurring right now:
Maria canta = Maria sings
vs
Maria está cantando = Maria is singing
Pedro come = Pedro eats
vs
Pedro está comiendo = Pedro is eating
Luisa estudia = Luisa studies
vs
Luisa está estudiando = Luisa is studying
*This video is a sample video made from our full Spanish Immersion Course – Beginner Level (A1) Grammar videos. The entire course is available at www.happyhourspanish.com.
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