How To Form The Progressive Tense In Spanish or Gerunds In The Spanish Language

This lesson covers how to form the progressive tense in Spanish or how to form gerunds in the Spanish language. A gerund in English is when we add an "ing" to a verb. For example, "I went dancing" or "I am reading."

In Spanish, the Gerund is used in many of the same instances it is used in English, but sometimes in Spanish we used the infinitive of a verb instead. For example "I love dancing/ Amo bailar." As you can see in this example, in English we use the Gerund (dancing) but in Spanish we use the infinitive (bailar).

Let's look at some more examples of when we have to use Gerund in Spanish.

When we are speaking about an action in process:

"Los empleados est?n trabajando en la oficina en este momento". (The employees are working in the office in this moment)
"Me estaba duchando cuando se cort? el agua". (I was taking a shower when the water stopped.)
It is also possible to use it in the Preterite tense. In this case, the gerund put emphasis on the action.
"Ayer estuve limpiando la casa todo el d?a". (Yesterday I was cleaning the house all day.)
We use gerunds when we are speaking about manner or mood.
"Juan pas? el examen estudiando mucho". (Juan passed the exam by studying hard)
"Voy a la escuela caminando todos los d?as". (I walk to school every day)

Also, we use gerund with conditions:

"Haciendo ejercicio, bajar?s de peso". (Doing exercise, you will lose weight)
"Ahorrando dinero, podremos ir a Europa". (Saving money, we will go to Europe)
With simultaneous Actions:
"Estudio tomando mate" (I study while drinking mate)
"Ellas trabajan escuchando la radio". (They work listening the radio)

We can also use it to speak about Time Duration (with "Llevar"):

"Llevo d?as pensando en ese problema" (I have been thinking for days about that problem)
"Anita lleva 5 meses comiendo verduras". (Anita has been eating vegetables for 5 months)

As you can see, the use of "Gerundio" in Spanish is similar to its use in English, but with some notable instances where it is used differently. Hopefully this exercise will help you utilize the use of gerundio in Spanish more effectively. Remember to practice whenever you can.

Some other tools that I recommend for the serious student of the Spanish language are Breaking Out of Beginner Spanish (available at Amazon.com) and the Verbarrator software which covers conjugating Spanish verbs in all of the various tenses including the progressive tense or gerunds.