I wish that I could come up with a single name for what we're going to be going over today. Some Spanish teachers call these verbs gerunds, some present participles. I prefer the latter over the former, so that's what we'll be using today. Present participles are the verbs that end in -ing, like running, swimming, walking, etc. in English. In Spanish, however, gerundios are slightly different, but they aren't difficult to master. Let's start with how to make a present participle, and then we'll talk about how to use them as it pertains to Spanish.
●To make an -ar verb a present participle, simply take the -ar ending away and add -ando in its stead.
●To make an -er or -ir verb a present participle, take the -er or -ir ending away and add -iendo in its stead.
The good news is that present participles are more consistent than past participles (though there are irregular verbs in all tenses). Yay! To conjugate ir in the present participle, you say yendo. This makes things super easy....right? But there's a catch. Actually, two catches. Here they are:
●If an -er or -ir verb stem* ends in a vowel, -iendo becomes -yendo.
●If an -er or -ir verb stem ends in "ll" or "ñ", the ending becomes -endo.
*I think I've explained this before, but in case I haven't, a stem is the verb's infinitive without the -ar, -er, or -ir ending.
Now let's talk about how to use present participles. There are three times when to use them and two times not to use them. Here they are:
When to use:
1.) As expression of a progressive action, paired with estar. (Estoy leyendo. ｜I am reading.)
2.) To express a continuous action. (Seguimos estudiando. ｜We continue studying.)
3.) To modify another verb. (Pasé el día leyendo. ｜I passed the day reading.)
When not to Use:
1.) As nouns. Present participles in English are generally translated as infinitives in Spanish. You say, "Me gusta hablar en español ｜I like to speak in Spanish", not "Me gusta hablando en español."
2.) As adjectives. In Spanish, we use the preposition de followed by the infinitive of the verb. For example:
WRONG: Compré corriendo zapatos.
RIGHT: Compré zapatos de correr. ｜I bought myself running shoes.
YOU ARE READING
Language Bites, Volume I: Spanish ✔
Non-FictionEver wanted to learn Spanish? Are you stuck on past tense preterite, are you tired of stupid teaching methods, or needed to practice your vocabulary? What about strengthening your conversational skills through interacting online with real people who...
