📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 6 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 2 · Las perífrasis verbales
Ir, venir, andar + gerundio
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 6 of 30: Spanish carries aspect in a verb phrase, a perífrasis, where English adds an adverb. 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
va mejorando
it is gradually improving
bah meh-hoh-RAHN-doh
viene diciendo lo mismo
he has been saying the same thing
BYEH-neh dee-SYEHN-doh loh MEES-moh
anda buscando trabajo
he is going around looking for work
AHN-dah boos-KAHN-doh trah-BAH-hoh
la perífrasis
the verb phrase (periphrasis)
lah peh-REE-frah-sees
el gerundio
the gerund
ehl heh-ROON-dyoh
poco a poco
little by little
POH-koh ah POH-koh
el proceso
the process
ehl proh-SEH-soh
gradual
gradual
grah-DWAHL
ellos andan buscando trabajo
they are going around looking for work
EH-yohs AHN-dahn boos-KAHN-doh trah-BAH-hoh
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
Spanish carries aspect in a verb phrase — a perífrasis — where English adds an adverb. Ir + gerundio is gradual progress: va mejorando (it is getting better bit by bit). Venir + gerundio is something that has been going on: viene diciendo lo mismo desde enero.
Y también · And also
Andar + gerundio is an activity with no fixed direction, often with a shrug in it: anda buscando trabajo. Three verbs of motion, three shades of the same -ing.
Ojo · Watch out
va mejorando is gradual (bit by bit); viene diciendo reaches back in time (has been saying); anda buscando is aimless activity. The first verb changes; the gerundio never does.
andar, presente — the table
yo ando · tú andas · él/ella/usted anda · nosotros andamos · ustedes andan · ellos/ellas andan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with va mejorando.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out andar, 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.