【英文版西语语法】Present Participles in Spanish

  Quick Answer

Present participles in Spanish are verb forms used to express continuous or ongoing actions. Spanish present participles end in -ndo, which is the equivalent of the English ending -ing.

Check out the present participles in the examples below.

 

Él estaba leyendo.

He was reading.

 

Sigo pensando en ti.

I keep thinking about you.

 

A Note on the Term Gerund

In Spanish, the verb form that ends in -ndo is called the gerundio . It is used in compound verb forms, such as Estoy nadando. (I'm swimming.), as well as adverbially, as in Salió corriendo. (literally, He left running.)

In English, a gerund is the noun form of a verb, such as swimming in the sentence Swimming is fun. (Es divertido nadar.). In Spanish, this form is translated using an infinitive verb, such as nadar.

The term used for the -ing form used in compound verbs in English is the present participle.

How to Form Regular Spanish Gerundios

 

To form the gerundio of regular verbs, most of the time you just dro the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add -ando to the stem of -ar verbs and -iendo to the stem of -er and -ir verbs. Check out the table below to see how to form gerundios.

 

Verb Type Infinitive Example Stem Example Gerundio Example

-ar verb

hablar

 

habl-

hablando

 

-er verb

tener

 

ten-

teniendo

 

-ir verb

vivir

 

viv-

viviendo

 

Stem? I thought we were talking about verbs, not plants.

 

In Spanish grammar lingo, a stem is the verb form you're left with if you take the -ar, -er or -ir away from the end of an infinitive.

 

Example: The stem of hablar is habl-.

Gerundios that March to a Different Beat

 

There are also several types of gerundios that don't follow the above rules. Let's learn about them now!

 

1. -yendo

 

If the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in a vowel, -iendo becomes -yendo. Check out the examples below.

 

Verb Type Infinitive Example Stem Example Gerundio Example

-er verb

atraer

 

atra-

atrayendo

 

-er verb

caer

 

ca-

cayendo

 

-er verb

contraer

 

contra-

contrayendo

 

-er verb

creer

 

cre-

creyendo

 

-er verb

leer

 

le-

leyendo

 

-er verb

traer

 

tra-

trayendo

 

-ir verb

construir

 

constru-

construyendo

 

-ir verb

contribuir

 

contribu-

contribuyendo

 

-ir verb

excluir

 

exclu-

excluyendo

 

-ir verb

destruir

 

destru-

destruyendo

 

-ir verb

huir

 

hu-

huyendo

 

-ir verb

incluir

 

inclu-

incluyendo

 

-ir verb

influir

 

influ-

influyendo

 

-ir verb

oír

 

o-

oyendo

 

Pro tip: whenever an unstressed i appears between two vowels, the spelling always changes to a y.

2. Irregular ir

 

Ir  (to go) is an irregular verb, and does not follow the pattern above. For pronunciation reasons, the gerundio of ir is yendo .

 

3. -endo

 

If the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in -ll or -ñ, -iendo becomes -endo.

 

Verb Type Infinitive Example Stem Example Gerundio Example

-er verb

tañer

 

tañ-

tañendo

 

-ir verb

bullir

 

bull-

bullendo

 

-ir verb

engullir

 

engull- engullendo @

-ir verb

mullir

 

mull-

mullendo

 

-ir verb

gruñir

 

gruñ-

gruñendo

 

-ir verb

reñir

 

reñ-

riñendo

 

-ir verb

teñir

 

teñ-

teñendo

 

4. Stem-Changing Present Participles

 

There are also some verbs that need a stem change before adding the gerundio ending to maintain pronunciation:

 

Any -ir verb that has a stem change in the third person preterite (e>i, or o>u) will have the same stem change in the gerundio. The -er verb poder  also maintains its preterite stem change in the gerundio.

Stem Change Infinitive Example Third Person Preterite Form Gerundio Example

e>i

advertir

 

advirtió

 

advirtiendo

 

e>i

competir

 

compitió

 

compitiendo

 

e>i

conseguir

 

consiguió

 

consiguiendo

 

e>i

consentir

 

consintió

 

consintiendo

 

e>i

convertir

 

convirtió

 

convirtiendo

 

e>i

decir

 

dijo

 

diciendo

 

e>i

hervir

 

hirvió

 

hirviendo

 

e>i

mentir

 

mintió

 

mintiendo

 

e>i

pedir

 

pidió

 

pidiendo

 

e>i

reñir

 

riñó

 

riñendo

 

e>i

repetir

 

repitió

 

repitiendo

 

e>i

seguir

 

siguió

 

siguiendo

 

e>i

servir

 

sirvió

 

sirviendo

 

e>i

sugerir

 

sugirió

 

sugiriendo

 

e>i

venir

 

vino

 

viniendo

 

o>u

dormir

 

durmió

 

durmiendo

 

o>u

morir

 

murió

 

muriendo