Choosing Between Infinitive and Gerund

If you learned Spanish after English, your default instinct will be wrong here. English uses the -ing form constantly — as a subject ("Smoking is bad"), after prepositions ("before leaving"), as a noun ("no parking") — and every one of those situations uses the infinitive in Spanish, not the gerund. This page gives you a decision tree that makes the right choice automatic.

The quick answer

Default to the infinitive. Use the gerund only in four specific cases: progressive tenses, the seguir/ir/andar/llevar family of continuing-action verbs, adverbial "while doing X" clauses, and a handful of specific collocations. Everywhere else, use the infinitive — especially after prepositions and as the subject of a sentence.

Decision tree

Step 1 — Is the verb right after a preposition?

Then use the infinitive, always. There are no exceptions. This is the single rule that trips up English speakers most, because English uses -ing after prepositions ("after eating," "without talking," "instead of going").

The rule applies to every preposition: a, de, en, con, por, para, sin, antes de, después de, en vez de, a pesar de. None of them take a gerund.

Step 2 — Is the verb the subject of the sentence?

Then use the infinitive. In English, we naturally say "Smoking is bad" — subject in -ing form. Spanish uses the infinitive, sometimes introduced by el to make it feel more nominal.

The same is true when the verb is acting as a noun object: Me gusta bailar = "I like dancing." Even though English uses -ing here, Spanish uses the infinitive.

Step 3 — Is the verb acting as a noun, especially after an article?

Same answer: infinitive. You can put el in front of an infinitive to make it feel like a noun phrase.

See infinitive as noun for the full rule.

Step 4 — Is the verb after a modal or common "auxiliary" verb?

Verbs like querer, poder, deber, necesitar, saber, preferir, pensar, esperar, decidir all take the infinitive — just like English uses the bare verb ("I want to go," "I can swim").

Step 5 — Is the verb part of a construction like empezar a, terminar de, dejar de, tener que, hay que, acabar de?

All of these take the infinitive, because they're structurally verb + preposition + verb (or verb + que + verb). The preposition/connector forces an infinitive by Step 1's rule.

See after verbs for the full list.

Step 6 — Is the action in progress right now (or at the reference time)?

Then, and only then, use the gerund with estar. This is the present progressive and its past-tense variants.

See present progressive formation for the mechanics. Note: Spanish uses the progressive less than English — for habitual actions ("I work downtown"), Spanish prefers the plain present (Trabajo en el centro).

Step 7 — Is the action continuous/ongoing, with seguir, ir, andar, or llevar?

These verbs create special continuing-action constructions with the gerund:

• seguir + gerund = to keep on doing: Sigue lloviendo.
• ir + gerund = to gradually do: Va mejorando.
• andar + gerund = to go around doing: Anda buscando trabajo.
• llevar + time + gerund = to have been doing for X: Llevo dos horas esperando.

See gerund with other verbs for the details.

Step 8 — Is the verb acting as an adverb ("while doing X")?

When you want to describe how or while something happens, use the gerund — this is the closest Spanish gets to the English "by doing X" or "while doing X."

But notice: if you use a preposition ("while doing" = "during doing"), you flip back to Step 1 and use the infinitive: al caer = "on falling." The rule is simple — a preposition always beats the gerund.

Step 9 — Default

If none of the gerund cases above applied, use the infinitive.

Examples — walking through the tree

1. "Before going to bed, I brush my teeth." Preposition antes de → infinitive.

2. "Reading is my favorite hobby." Verb as subject → infinitive.

3. "I'm cooking dinner." Action in progress → gerund with estar.

4. "She keeps calling me." Continuing action → seguir + gerund.

5. "Thank you for coming." Preposition por → infinitive.

6. "I got this job by speaking two languages." Means ("by doing X") → gerund.

7. "I can't stop thinking about her." dejar de takes infinitive (Step 5).

8. "Smoking is prohibited." Verb as subject → infinitive.

9. "I spent the afternoon reading." Could go either way — pasar la tarde + gerund is the idiom.

10. "After eating, we went for a walk." Preposition después de → infinitive.

Quick reference table

Common traps for English speakers

• "Before going" → antes de ir, never antes de yendo.
• "I like reading" → Me gusta leer, never me gusta leyendo.
• "No smoking" → No fumar (or Se prohíbe fumar), never No fumando.
• "Thank you for coming" → Gracias por venir, not por viniendo.
• "Instead of worrying" → En vez de preocuparte, not en vez de preocupándote.
• "I'm good at cooking" → Soy bueno para cocinar, not para cocinando.

Takeaway

The Spanish gerund has a narrower job than the English -ing. It's for actions in progress, continuing actions with seguir/ir/andar/llevar, and adverbs of manner. Everywhere else — prepositions, subjects, noun uses, modal verbs — the infinitive is the right answer. Memorize the gerund's four jobs, and default to the infinitive for everything else. For more, see infinitive after prepositions.