Catalan uses motion and position verbs to choose a viewpoint on change. Anar + gerund follows a process as it advances little by little, while quedar + participle/adjective presents the state left behind by an event. A third pattern, quedar per + infinitive, marks work that remains pending. By contrast, temporal venir + gerund—used for a development accumulating up to a reference point—is not accepted in contemporary standard Catalan; it commonly reflects Spanish influence. Literal venir followed by a gerund of manner is possible. English often translates these patterns with “be,” “get,” “keep,” or a progressive, but those translations hide the Catalan viewpoint.
Anar + gerund: a process unfolding by stages
The finite form of anar agrees with the subject, while the gerund is invariable. The construction means “gradually do,” “go on doing,” or “become more and more.” It is not simply a description of what is happening at this instant.
| Person | Present model |
|---|---|
| jo | vaig entenent |
| tu | vas entenent |
| ell / ella / vostè | va entenent |
| nosaltres | anem entenent |
| vosaltres | aneu entenent |
| ells / elles / vostès | van entenent |
Al principi em perdia, però ara ja vaig entenent com funciona el programa.
At first I was lost, but now I'm gradually understanding how the program works.
A mesura que retiren la bastida, va apareixent la façana restaurada.
As they remove the scaffolding, the restored façade is gradually coming into view.
No anem avançant tan de pressa com havíem previst.
We aren't making progress as quickly as we had planned.
The plural anem and aneu show clearly that anar, not the gerund, carries person and number. The construction can move into other tenses: anava millorant views gradual improvement from inside the past, while anirà guanyant experiència projects a staged development into the future.
Durant la rehabilitació, anava recuperant la mobilitat a poc a poc.
During rehabilitation, she was gradually regaining mobility.
Amb projectes més complexos, anireu adquirint criteri propi.
With more complex projects, you will gradually develop your own judgment.
Do not confuse three different forms with anar
Catalan places three superficially similar constructions side by side:
| Form | Viewpoint | Example |
|---|---|---|
| anar + gerund | gradual development | va millorant |
| anar a + infinitive | movement with a purpose; limited prospective uses | va a buscar pa |
| va + infinitive | periphrastic past | va arribar ahir |
Stress and context separate them in speech, and the complement separates them in writing. Va aprenent contains a gerund and means gradual learning; va aprendre is a completed past event. The preposition a belongs to anar a buscar, not to the gradual construction. The wider contrast is covered under present anar and the periphrastic past.
La Júlia va aprendre a conduir l'estiu passat, i ara va guanyant confiança.
Júlia learned to drive last summer, and now she's gradually gaining confidence.
Venir + gerund: motion, not accumulated duration
Standard Catalan does not use venir + gerund as a temporal periphrasis for an activity or tendency extending up to “now” or another reference point. Choose the construction that expresses the intended meaning: fa... que or des de fa for duration, anar + gerund for gradual development, and a simple tense when neither extra viewpoint is needed.
Fa anys que els especialistes ho adverteixen.
Specialists have been warning about it for years.
Darrerament, els lloguers han anat pujant més que els salaris.
Lately, rents have gradually risen more than wages.
La comissió treballava en la proposta des del gener.
The committee had been working on the proposal since January.
The surface sequence venir + gerund is nevertheless correct when venir keeps its literal motion meaning and the gerund says how somebody comes. In El missatger ve parlant per telèfon, the courier is actually moving toward the reference point while speaking; this is not an auxiliary construction encoding accumulated duration.
El missatger ve parlant per telèfon cada matí.
The courier comes along speaking on the phone every morning.
Mood still depends on the surrounding clause: Dubto que ho hagin anat aplicant de manera coherent uses the subjunctive because the speaker questions the proposition. The gradual viewpoint comes from anar + gerund; the higher clause determines assertion status.
Quedar + participle or adjective: the resulting state
With quedar, attention moves beyond the event to the condition that results from it. The participle behaves like an adjective and agrees in gender and number with the grammatical subject.
| Subject | Result |
|---|---|
| el despatx | ha quedat buit |
| la sala | ha quedat buida |
| els despatxos | han quedat buits |
| les sales | han quedat buides |
Després de la votació, la proposta va quedar aprovada per una àmplia majoria.
After the vote, the proposal stood approved by a large majority.
Amb la finestra oberta tota la nit, les habitacions han quedat glaçades.
With the window open all night, the rooms have ended up freezing cold.
No ens va quedar clar qui havia d'enviar la versió definitiva.
It wasn't clear to us who had to send the final version.
Unlike ser + participle, which presents a passive event, quedar + participle profiles the new state. La porta va ser bloquejada a les nou tells us about an act; la porta va quedar bloquejada fins al migdia tells us what state persisted. See ser or estar plus participle for the event–state distinction.
Quedar-se + gerund and quedar per + infinitive
Pronominal quedar-se + gerund means remaining engaged in an activity, often after someone else leaves or after an expected transition does not occur. It expresses persistence, not gradual change.
Quan vam marxar, l'avi es va quedar parlant amb la veïna.
When we left, Grandpa stayed talking with the neighbor.
The weak pronoun belongs to quedar-se: em quedo, et quedes, es queda, ens quedem, us quedeu, es queden. Other weak pronouns may accompany the gerund: Es va quedar mirant-lo. Postverbal Catalan pronouns take hyphens, not Spanish written accents.
Quedar per + infinitive looks forward from the present state to something still undone. It is particularly useful in planning and reporting.
Encara queden tres pressupostos per revisar abans de divendres.
There are still three estimates left to review before Friday.
De la mudança només queda per embalar la vaixella.
Of the move, only the crockery remains to be packed.
Here the noun denoting pending work controls singular or plural queda/queden. The infinitive does not carry person marking.
Weak-pronoun placement
With anar + gerund, a weak pronoun selected by the gerund may generally stand before the finite verb or attach to the gerund: ho vaig entenent / vaig entenent-ho; s'hi van oposant / van oposant-s'hi. The preverbal option is often smoother, especially with clusters.
A la nova rutina, ens hi anem acostumant, però encara ens costa llevar-nos d'hora.
We're gradually getting used to the new routine, but getting up early is still hard for us.
With quedar + participle, a direct object has normally become the subject, so it is not repeated as an object clitic. In les finestres han quedat tancades, les finestres is the subject and controls both han and tancades.
Mini-dialogue
—Com va la reforma del local? —Va avançant; la instal·lació elèctrica ja ha quedat enllestida.
—How is the renovation of the premises going? —It's moving along; the electrical installation is already finished.
—I la llicència? —Encara queda per presentar un certificat, però ens hi anem acostant.
—And the permit? —One certificate still has to be submitted, but we're gradually getting there.
The first answer moves from the unfolding trajectory to one completed result. The second contrasts pending work with progress toward the goal.
Regional and register notes
Anar + gerund, resultative quedar, and quedar per + infinitive are standard throughout the Catalan-speaking territory. Specific finite forms vary according to the regional conjugation, but the constructions do not change. Temporal venir + gerund occurs in contact-influenced administrative and journalistic prose, but it is not accepted as a standard Catalan periphrasis. This restriction does not affect literal motion sequences such as ve corrent or venia cantant.
Common Mistakes
❌ La situació va a millorant cada setmana.
Incorrect — gradual anar takes a gerund directly, without a.
✅ La situació va millorant cada setmana.
The situation is gradually improving every week.
❌ Ahir va millorant el servei.
Incorrect for a completed past improvement — va plus infinitive, not gerund, forms the periphrastic past.
✅ Ahir va millorar el servei.
Yesterday the service improved.
❌ Les finestres han quedat tancat.
Incorrect — the resultative participle agrees with the feminine plural subject.
✅ Les finestres han quedat tancades.
The windows have ended up closed.
❌ Es va quedar mirant-la amb atenció, i després va despedir-se.
Incorrect Spanish-influenced verb — standard Catalan uses acomiadar-se.
✅ Es va quedar mirant-la amb atenció, i després va acomiadar-se.
He stayed looking at her attentively and then said goodbye.
❌ Vinc treballant aquí per deu anys.
Incorrect duration expression — per does not introduce an ongoing span measured up to now.
✅ Fa deu anys que treballo aquí.
I've been working here for ten years.
Key Takeaways
- Anar + gerund presents gradual, staged progress; estar + gerund normally presents an activity in progress.
- Temporal venir + gerund is a nonstandard calque; use fa... que, des de fa, anar + gerund, or a simple tense. Literal motion uses such as ve cantant are valid.
- Quedar + agreeing participle/adjective focuses on the resulting state, not the event that produced it.
- Quedar-se + gerund means remaining in an activity; quedar per + infinitive marks something still pending.
- Person, number, tense, and mood belong to the finite verb. Gerunds are invariable; resultative participles agree with the subject.
Related Topics
- Progressive Periphrases with the GerundA2 — Choose among estar, anar, continuar, and seguir plus a gerund, and avoid nonstandard aspectual venir plus gerund.
- Gerunds for Simultaneous Manner and CircumstanceA2 — Use Catalan gerund clauses for manner, means, and accompanying action while keeping their subject and punctuation clear.
- 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.
- Ser or Estar plus ParticipleB1 — Distinguish the eventive passive with ser from the resultant state with estar by tracking events, states, agreement, agents, and viewpoint.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.