Catalan uses continuar + gerund and seguir + gerund to say that an already established situation persists: continuem esperant, segueix plovent. It uses anar + gerund to present a process as gradual, cumulative, or advancing step by step: la cua es va fent més llarga. All three look like “verb + -ing” in English, but their Catalan meanings depend on aspectual viewpoint, not on the English progressive form.
The first verb agrees with the subject and carries tense and mood. The gerund is invariable. In the neutral standard, use the gerund directly—without a or de—and form it as explained on Forming the Gerund.
Present model
| Person | continuar parlant | seguir parlant | anar parlant |
|---|---|---|---|
| jo | continuo parlant | segueixo parlant | vaig parlant |
| tu | continues parlant | segueixes parlant | vas parlant |
| ell / ella / vostè | continua parlant | segueix parlant | va parlant |
| nosaltres | continuem parlant | seguim parlant | anem parlant |
| vosaltres / vós | continueu parlant | seguiu parlant | aneu parlant |
| ells / elles / vostès | continuen parlant | segueixen parlant | van parlant |
Stress shifts to the ending in continuem, continueu, seguim, seguiu, anem, and aneu. The Central Catalan baseline has incoative forms segueixo, segueixes, segueix, and segueixen. Other standard varieties have regional variants in these endings, but the aspectual construction itself remains the same.
Continuem buscant pis, però encara no n'hem trobat cap que ens agradi.
We're still looking for an apartment, but we haven't found one we like yet.
Segueixes treballant a la mateixa empresa?
Are you still working at the same company?
Amb cada assaig, la cançó va sonant més compacta.
With every rehearsal, the song is gradually sounding tighter.
Persistence with continuar and seguir
In their aspectual use, continuar and seguir are close synonyms. Both combine with dynamic activities and with states that remain in force. Continuar is often the most transparent neutral choice. Seguir is equally standard and especially common in conversation, instructions, and encouragement.
Malgrat les crítiques, l'ajuntament continua defensant el projecte.
Despite the criticism, the city council continues to defend the project.
No t'aturis ara: segueix caminant fins que vegis el refugi.
Don't stop now: keep walking until you see the shelter.
Després de tants anys, encara segueixo pensant que vam prendre la decisió correcta.
After so many years, I still think we made the right decision.
The third example shows that a persistent state of opinion is possible. This is not the same as the focused progressive estic pensant, which can mean that a mental process is under way. Segueixo pensant presupposes an earlier opinion and says it remains unchanged.
With encara, the continuity is made explicit: encara continua tancat “it is still closed.” The adverb can be redundant if the context already supplies a clear earlier phase, but speakers often use it naturally for emphasis.
Negating the finite verb denies persistence:
La calefacció ja no continua fent aquell soroll estrany.
The heating no longer keeps making that strange noise.
For “it still does not work,” place the temporal adverb with the negative state: encara no funciona. No continua funcionant instead says that functioning has ceased.
Gradual and cumulative anar + gerund
Aspectual anar + gerund divides an event into stages. It works naturally with improvement, deterioration, accumulation, discovery, disappearance, resolution, and tasks completed bit by bit.
Anem resolent les incidències per ordre d'urgència.
We're dealing with the incidents one by one in order of urgency.
A mesura que avança el matí, la boira es va dissipant.
As the morning goes on, the fog gradually clears.
Durant la reunió van anar apareixent problemes que ningú no havia previst.
During the meeting, problems no one had foreseen kept emerging one after another.
The past example uses van anar + gerund. Here van anar is the periphrastic past of aspectual anar: the finite past marker van is followed by infinitive anar, which in turn selects the gerund. The successive problems appeared over an interval. This chain is longer and semantically different from van aparèixer, which simply reports that they appeared.
The construction is poor with a stable property that has no stages. La casa va pertanyent a la família is not a normal way to say “the house belongs to the family.” Use pertany. If the predicate can be reinterpreted as gradual or cumulative, anar + gerund becomes natural: va coneixent els veïns means “she is gradually getting to know the neighbors.”
Not the same as movement or the periphrastic past
Lexical anar can retain its motion meaning while another action accompanies that movement:
La Berta anava cap a l'estació parlant per telèfon.
Berta was walking toward the station while talking on the phone.
Context tells us that she was physically going somewhere. In la situació va millorant, however, nothing moves through space; the situation improves by stages.
The form after va is decisive. Va + infinitive normally forms the periphrastic past: va millorar “it improved.” Va + gerund is present anar plus a gerund: va millorant “it is gradually improving.” Va anar + gerund moves that gradual process into the past: va anar millorant “it gradually improved.”
| Form | Viewpoint |
|---|---|
| la situació va millorar | completed improvement in the past |
| la situació va millorant | gradual improvement under way now |
| la situació va anar millorant | gradual development viewed as past |
Tense and mood belong to the finite verb
The imperfect presents persistence or development from inside a past interval. The future can predict continuation. A subjunctive form appears when the clause is not asserted as fact.
Quan vam marxar, els tècnics continuaven revisant el servidor.
When we left, the technicians were still checking the server.
La demanda seguirà creixent durant els pròxims mesos.
Demand will continue to grow over the coming months.
Cal actuar abans que el problema vagi empitjorant.
We need to act before the problem gradually gets worse.
The last subjunctive does not come from anar + gerund. The prospective time clause after abans que presents a development not asserted as realized. That meaning—not a memorized association with the auxiliary—selects the mood.
Weak pronouns
Weak pronouns belonging to the gerund can normally precede the finite verb or attach to the gerund: ho continuo pensant / continuo pensant-ho; els anem revisant / anem revisant-los. Preserve all hyphens and apostrophes when attaching a cluster.
Les propostes, les anirem estudiant durant la setmana. / Anirem estudiant-les durant la setmana.
We'll examine the proposals gradually over the course of the week.
Ja li ho hem explicat dues vegades, però continua preguntant-nos-ho.
We've already explained it to him twice, but he keeps asking us about it.
Preverbal placement is often especially natural in everyday Central Catalan. Attachment remains standard and can keep a long sentence easier to parse. The pronoun-climbing guide covers larger clusters.
Mini-dialogue
—Com va la recuperació? —Vaig millorant, però encara continuo caminant amb crosses. —Doncs segueix fent els exercicis que et va donar la fisioterapeuta.
—How is your recovery going? —I'm gradually improving, but I'm still walking with crutches. —Then keep doing the exercises the physiotherapist gave you.
Here vaig millorant presents progress by stages, continuo caminant maintains an existing situation, and imperative segueix fent encourages persistence.
Register and regional perspective
All three constructions are standard and widely shared. In some contexts, seguir + gerund may be reinforced by contact with Spanish, but it is not therefore incorrect Catalan; it has an established Catalan history and standard use. What should be avoided in careful usage is copying a neighboring language mechanically when ordinary Catalan would choose a simple tense, continuar, or a duration expression. Regional finite morphology does not change the selectional contrast taught here.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding a preposition before the gerund.
❌ Continuem a buscant una solució.
Incorrect—the aspectual construction takes the gerund directly.
✅ Continuem buscant una solució.
We're continuing to look for a solution.
2. Copying an English progressive for a routine.
❌ Cada dilluns estem continuant fent la reunió a les nou.
Unnatural stacking for a regular schedule—use a simple present.
✅ Cada dilluns fem la reunió a les nou.
Every Monday we hold the meeting at nine.
3. Using anar + gerund for mere persistence.
❌ La botiga va estant tancada des de gener.
Incorrect for an unchanged state with no gradual stages.
✅ La botiga continua tancada des de gener.
The shop has remained closed since January.
4. Confusing va millorant with a past tense.
❌ Ahir la situació va millorant de cop.
Incorrect for a single completed past improvement—va plus gerund presents a process under way.
✅ Ahir la situació va millorar de cop.
Yesterday the situation suddenly improved.
5. Choosing mood without considering assertion.
❌ És evident que la demanda segueixi creixent.
Incorrect in the ordinary factual reading—és evident asserts the growth.
✅ És evident que la demanda segueix creixent.
It is evident that demand continues to grow.
Key Takeaways
Use continuar or seguir + gerund when a previously established situation persists. Use anar + gerund when stages accumulate or change unfolds gradually. Conjugate the finite verb, leave the gerund invariant, and let discourse time and assertion determine tense and mood. A Catalan progressive is an aspectual choice, not an automatic translation of English “-ing.”
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Progressive Periphrases with the GerundA2 — Choose among estar, anar, continuar, and seguir plus a gerund, and avoid nonstandard aspectual venir plus gerund.
- Forming the GerundA2 — Form regular and irregular Catalan gerunds, pronounce their stress correctly, and attach weak pronouns without adding person endings.
- Dur, Portar, and Fer for DurationB1 — Express how long an ongoing or absent situation has lasted with fa... que, des de fa, and the newer dur or portar duration constructions.
- Anar, Venir, and Quedar plus Nonfinite FormsB1 — Use anar and quedar with nonfinite forms, and avoid the nonstandard temporal calque venir plus gerund while preserving literal motion uses.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.
- Overusing Estar plus GerundA1 — Replace English-driven progressive forms with the Catalan simple present or imperfect unless an unfolding process is genuinely in focus.