Gerundio - Present Participle in Spanish

The present participle in Spanish (also called "Gerundio") is a conjugated form of a verb that describes continuous actions. It is similar to the present participle in English.

As an example let us look at the verb "hablar" (to talk):

Yo estoy hablando (I am talking)

In English the present participle ends in "-ing" while in Spanish it ends in "-ndo".

How to form the regular gerundio

Regular verbs in Spanish end in "ar", "ir" and "er". This is how we form the gerundio:

ar → -ando
ir → -iendo
er → -iendo

Examples:

hablar (to talk) → hablando
vivir (to live) → viviendo
comer (to eat) → comiendo

Peculiar cases

If the verb stem ends in a vowel, which means that right before "ar", "ir" or "er" there is a vowel, we use "-yendo" instead of "iendo":

caer (to fall) → cayendo
leer (to read) → leyendo
creer (to believe) → creyendo

If the verb stem of an "ir" or "er" verb ends in "ñ" or in "ll" we drop the "i" of "-iendo", because it is already in the sound.

gruñir (to snarl) → gruñendo

Many verbs don't follow any rules:

sentir (to feel) → sintiendo
decir (to say) → diciendo
morir (to die) → muriendo
dormir (to sleep) → durmiendo
mentir (to lie) → mintiendo

How to use the Gerundio in sentences

As mentioned with the help of the gerundio we describe continuous actions in the present, past or in the future. We use the auxiliary verb "estar" in conjunction with the gerundio.

Examples:
Yo estoy hablando con mi amigo. (I am talking to my friend).
Ella estaba durmiendo en su cama cuando los visitantes llegaron. (She was sleeping in her bed, when the visitors arrived).