When not to use the gerund in Spanish

There are several instances in which we don’t use the gerund (‘-ing’) ending in Spanish like we do in English. In Spanish, the gerund endings are ‘-ando’ and ‘endo’. While in many cases the translation of the gerund remains in both languages, there are a number of situations in Spanish where we need to learn that the gerunds aren’t used. We’ll go through a few examples here for you.

The first example is when asking in real-time what you’re doing. In English, we use the gerund ‘-ing’ ending when we’re speaking about things currently happening. In Spanish, it’s more common to use the present simple tense when answering questions in the moment.

Por ejemplo / For example:

¿Qué haces?

Hago mi tarea.

What are you doing?

I’m doing my homework.

¿Con quién corres?

Corro con Marco.

Who are you running with?

I’m running with Marco.

Another example when Spanish uses the present tense verb form rather than the gerund is in the future tense for ‘going to’.

Por ejemplo:

¿Qué van a hacer mañana?

Vamos a ver una película.

What are you going to do tomorrow?

We’re going to watch a movie.

When a verb starts a sentence

When a verb starts a sentence, Spanish does not use the gerund as it does in English.

In Spanish, we use the infinitive verb form instead: -ar, -ir, -er endings.

Por ejemplo:

Comer tacos es lo mejor.

Eating tacos is the best.

Dormir antes de las 11pm es imposible.

Sleeping before 11pm is impossible.

When we are using the infinitive form of the verb

A final example of Spanish not using the gerund when it’s used in English is following the expression of ‘to like’: ‘gustar’, ‘to love (something)’: ‘encantar’, ‘to hate’: ‘odiar’. In Spanish, we use the infinitive verb form: -ar, -ir, -er endings.

¿Qué te gusta hacer los fines de semana?

A mí me gusta platicar con mis amigos en Zoom.

What do you like doing on weekends? I

like talking to my friends on Zoom.

These differences can be tricky but the more you practice them, the easier they are to remember and to recognize when others use them.

Want to practice what you’ve learned? Book a Spanish class, Na’atik’s native-speaking teachers from Mexico would love to help you!