13 Lesson The Spanish Gerund Using it well LightSpeed Spanish Flashcards
Living in Spain is great fun.
Vivir en España es muy divertido. (Remember the use of infinitive, not gerund, for general sentences).
I am eating with friends today.
Yo) Como con amigos hoy. (Present tense for absolutely certain future events. For future events in which you use the present continuous, we use the present simple).
Being with you is interesting. (usted)
Estar con usted es muy interesante. (General statement, not referring to a specific moment in time calls for Infinitive).
We like reading and writing.
A nosotros) Nos gusta leer y escribir. (With Gustar et al. verbs go in infinitive. Remember we’re not talking about a process in which you are immersed right now, nor you’re on it, therefore we don’t use the gerund in Spanish).
Thinking about that, I want to leave earlier.
Pensando en eso, quiero salir antes/ más temprano. (You are thiking about it right now, therefore we do use the gerund here).
Now that we are talking about Jorge…
Ahora que estamos hablando/ hablamos de Jorge… (You can choose here between the present continuous or the present simple in Spanish in this sentence since the present simple and present continuous have the same meaning in this context).
What are you doing? I’m talking on the phone.
¿Qué estás haciendo/ haces? -Estoy hablando/ hablo por teléfono. (The same applies in this sentence).
I’m an engineer. What do you do?
Yo) Soy ingeniero. ¿Qué haces (tú)?/ ¿A qué te dedicas (tú)? / ¿En qué trabajas (tú)?
He’s working on his new project.
Está trabajando/ Trabaja en su nuevo proyecto.
This is a fascinating subject.
Ésta es una asignatura fascinante./Éste es un tema fascinante. (Fascinating here is an adjective and not a verb in gerund).
Thinking about what happened, I’m sure it was a mistake.
Pensando en lo que pasó, seguro que fue un error.
He said he was waiting for his friend.
Él) Dijo que estaba esperando/ esperaba a su amigo/a. (As we do in present tense we can do the same with the past continuous and the Imperfect. They both represent the same action the same way. You can choose either tense, although choosing the present continuous makes the action sound a little longer.)
Right at that moment we were listening to something on the radio.
Justo en ese momento estábamos escuchando/ escuchábamos algo en la radio.
They were talking for an hour.
Estuvieron hablando/ Hablaron (durante/por) una hora. (Measured time calls for Preterite in either form (continuous or not) Remember that if you choose the continuous form although the time is measured (for one hour) it emphasises the action).
When I lived in Australia I used to like going out with friends and drinking beer.
Cuando (yo) vivía en Australia, me gustaba/ me solía gustar salir con amigos y beber cerveza.
