5.5 Progressive Forms, Infinitives & Gerunds
Key Takeaways
- Spanish progressives combine estar with a gerund and exist in every tense: estaba leyendo, estará leyendo, habría estado leyendo.
- The Spanish present progressive is reserved for actions genuinely in progress; scheduled future events take the simple present or ir a.
- The infinitive, not the gerund, is the Spanish verbal noun: fumar es peligroso, antes de salir.
- Al plus infinitive expresses simultaneity or immediate sequence: al entrar, saludó a todos.
- Gerunds cannot modify nouns in Spanish; the equivalent of a boiling pot is una olla hirviendo only in fixed exceptions.
5.5 Progressive Forms, Infinitives & Gerunds
English uses -ing for four different jobs: progressive aspect, verbal noun, noun modifier, and reduced clause. Spanish splits those jobs between the gerundio (-ando/-iendo) and the infinitivo, and assigns them differently. Almost every item on this topic exploits an English speaker importing -ing where Spanish wants an infinitive.
1. Forming the Gerund
| Class | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ar | -ando | hablar -> hablando |
| -er / -ir | -iendo | comer -> comiendo, vivir -> viviendo |
Spelling change i -> y when the stem ends in a vowel: leer -> leyendo, oír -> oyendo, traer -> trayendo, caer -> cayendo, construir -> construyendo, ir -> yendo.
Stem change in -ir verbs only (e -> i, o -> u): pedir -> pidiendo, decir -> diciendo, servir -> sirviendo, venir -> viniendo, dormir -> durmiendo, morir -> muriendo, poder -> pudiendo.
Note that -ar and -er stem-changers do not change in the gerund: pensar -> pensando (not pensiendo), volver -> volviendo (not vulviendo).
2. Progressive Tenses Across the System
Estar conjugated in any tense + gerund:
| Tense | Example | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| Present | Está lloviendo. | happening right now |
| Imperfect | Estaba lloviendo cuando salimos. | in progress in the past |
| Preterite | Estuvo lloviendo toda la tarde. | bounded stretch of progress |
| Future | Estará lloviendo cuando llegues. | in progress at a future point |
| Conditional | Estaría lloviendo, supongo. | probability |
| Present perfect | Ha estado lloviendo sin parar. | progress continuing to now |
When Spanish Does Not Use the Progressive
This is the exam-relevant half of the topic.
| Context | English | Spanish |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled or planned future | "I'm leaving tomorrow." | Salgo mañana. / Voy a salir mañana. — not Estoy saliendo mañana. |
| Verbs of motion (ir, venir, volver, llegar) | "He is coming." | Viene. — the progressive is unusual |
| States (ser, estar, tener, saber, querer) | "I am wanting..." | Quiero. — no progressive |
| Wearing clothing | "She is wearing a coat." | Lleva un abrigo. |
The Spanish progressive insists on actual, ongoing, observable action. If the action is not literally unfolding at the reference moment, the simple tense is correct.
3. Alternative Progressive Auxiliaries
Estar is the default; three others add nuance and appear in Part B passages:
| Auxiliary + gerund | Nuance | Example |
|---|---|---|
| seguir / continuar | continuation | Sigue lloviendo. (It is still raining.) |
| ir | gradual progression | La situación va mejorando. (is gradually improving) |
| venir | accumulation up to now | Viene diciendo lo mismo desde hace años. |
| andar | scattered, repeated activity | Anda buscando trabajo. |
| llevar + time | duration so far | Llevo dos horas esperando. |
Note that seguir and continuar take the gerund, never an infinitive: sigue lloviendo, not sigue llover.
4. The Infinitive as Verbal Noun
Where English uses -ing as a noun, Spanish uses the infinitive.
| Function | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Fumar es peligroso. | Smoking is dangerous. |
| After a preposition | antes de salir, sin decir nada, para aprender | before leaving, without saying, in order to learn |
| After another verb | Quiero ir. / Prefiero quedarme. | I want to go. |
| With an article, as a full noun | el cantar de los pájaros | the singing of the birds |
| In signs and instructions | No fumar. / Empujar. | No smoking. Push. |
The hard rule: after a preposition, Spanish uses the infinitive, never the gerund. Después de comer, never después de comiendo. This single rule resolves a large family of items.
Perception Verbs Take Either
After ver, oír, escuchar, sentir, both are possible with a slight difference:
- Vi a los niños jugar. (saw the whole event)
- Vi a los niños jugando. (saw it in progress)
5. What the Gerund Cannot Do
- It cannot modify a noun. English "a boiling pot" is una olla que hierve or the fixed hirviendo; "running water" is agua corriente. Adjectival -ing is normally translated by a relative clause or an adjective in -ante/-ente: interesante, sorprendente, siguiente.
- It cannot follow a preposition. See above.
- It cannot be a subject. Correr es sano, never Corriendo es sano.
What the Gerund Does Do: Adverbial Clauses
The gerund expresses manner, means, cause, or simultaneity relative to the main verb:
- Salió corriendo de la sala. (manner)
- Estudiando todos los días, aprobarás. (means)
- Siendo tan tarde, decidimos volver. (cause)
6. Al + Infinitive
A compact and very common structure meaning upon or when:
- Al entrar, saludó a todos. (Upon entering / When he came in.)
- Al ver el resultado, se quedó sorprendida.
- Al no recibir respuesta, escribió de nuevo.
It replaces a full temporal clause (Cuando entró, saludó...) and is favoured in written Spanish, so it appears often in Part B and Part C prose.
7. Worked Items
Item 1. Después de ________ el informe, la directora convocó una reunión urgente. (A) leyendo (B) leer (C) leído (D) lee
Reasoning: After a preposition Spanish takes the infinitive. (B).
Item 2. ________ mucho, mejorarás tu pronunciación notablemente. (A) Practicar (B) Practicando (C) Practicado (D) Para practicar
Reasoning: The clause expresses the means by which the result is achieved, which is the gerund's adverbial job. (B).
Item 3. No te preocupes: el tren sale a las ocho, así que todavía ________ tiempo. (A) estamos teniendo (B) tenemos (C) estuvimos teniendo (D) teniendo
Reasoning: Tener is a stative verb and resists the progressive; the simple present is required. (B).
Complete the sentence: "Antes de ________ una decisión, el consejo pidió más información al equipo técnico."
Which sentence uses the Spanish progressive appropriately?
Complete the sentence: "________ la noticia, los empleados se reunieron inmediatamente en la sala de conferencias."