📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 24 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 5 · Relatar y conectar
El gerundio
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 24 of 30: The gerundio says two things at once. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
comiendo
while eating
koh-MYEHN-doh
practicando
by practicing
prahk-tee-KAHN-doh
sigue trabajando
he keeps on working
SEE-geh trah-bah-HAHN-doh
la noticia
the piece of news
lah noh-TEE-syah
va mejorando
it is gradually improving
bah meh-hoh-RAHN-doh
el medio
the means
ehl MEH-dyoh
simultáneo
simultaneous
see-mool-TAH-neh-oh
habiendo terminado
having finished
ah-BYEHN-doh tehr-mee-NAH-doh
nosotros seguimos estudiando
we keep studying
noh-SOH-trohs seh-GEE-mohs ehs-too-DYAHN-doh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The gerundio says two things at once — simultaneity or means: lee comiendo (he reads while eating), se aprende practicando (you learn by practicing). It never changes its ending, and unlike English -ing it is never a noun: nadar es sano, not nadando.
Y también · And also
With seguir it says continuation (sigue trabajando), with ir a gradual change (va mejorando), with llevar duration (lleva dos años estudiando). Written Spanish also uses it for a clause: habiendo terminado, salió.
Ojo · Watch out
The gerundio is never a subject or a noun: nadar es sano, never nadando es sano. And it never describes a noun: una carta que anuncia la noticia, not una carta anunciando — that is English leaking in.
seguir, presente — the table
yo sigo · tú sigues · él/ella/usted sigue · nosotros seguimos · ustedes siguen · ellos/ellas siguen
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with comiendo.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out seguir, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.