The Spanish gerundio is a single, invariable form of the verb — hablando, comiendo, viviendo — that corresponds roughly to the English -ing form. But that "roughly" hides a tangle of differences that we will untangle on this page and the next two. Step one is the easy step: building the form. There is one regular rule, no exceptions for first-conjugation verbs, and a handful of patterned irregularities for second- and third-conjugation verbs (covered separately in Gerundios irregulares).
The two endings: -ando and -iendo
To form the gerund, take the infinitive, drop the -ar, -er, or -ir ending, and add the gerund ending. There are exactly two endings, divided by conjugation class.
| Infinitive ends in | Drop | Add | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ar | -ar | -ando | hablar → hablando |
| -er | -er | -iendo | comer → comiendo |
| -ir | -ir | -iendo | vivir → viviendo |
That is the entire regular system. -Er and -ir verbs share an ending — that is, unlike the present indicative where comer and vivir differ in the vosotros and nosotros forms, the gerund collapses them into one.
Estoy hablando con mi madre por teléfono.
I'm talking to my mother on the phone.
Los niños están comiendo en la cocina.
The kids are eating in the kitchen.
Llevo cinco años viviendo en este barrio.
I've been living in this neighbourhood for five years.
A sampler of regular gerunds
The regular formation handles the overwhelming majority of Spanish verbs. Get used to the pattern with a quick sample across all three conjugations.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Gerundio |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | to speak | hablando |
| estudiar | to study | estudiando |
| trabajar | to work | trabajando |
| cantar | to sing | cantando |
| jugar | to play | jugando |
| comer | to eat | comiendo |
| beber | to drink | bebiendo |
| aprender | to learn | aprendiendo |
| correr | to run | corriendo |
| vivir | to live | viviendo |
| escribir | to write | escribiendo |
| abrir | to open | abriendo |
| subir | to go up | subiendo |
Notice that stem-changers in the present indicative are regular in the gerund for -ar and -er verbs: pensar → pensando (not *pensiendo), volver → volviendo (not *vuelviendo), jugar → jugando (not *juegando). The o → ue / e → ie stem changes belong to stressed syllables, and the stress in the gerund falls on the ending, not on the stem.
Estoy pensando en cambiar de trabajo.
I'm thinking about changing jobs.
Los precios están subiendo otra vez.
Prices are going up again.
The gerundio is invariable
This is the single most important fact about the form, and the easiest one to get right once you know it.
The gerundio never changes shape. It does not agree in gender. It does not agree in number. It is exactly the same whether the subject is masculine or feminine, singular or plural, first or third person.
Marta está cantando.
Marta is singing.
Mis hijos están cantando.
My kids are singing.
Las niñas están cantando.
The girls are singing.
Same form cantando in all three cases. Compare this to the past participle, which does agree when used as an adjective (la puerta cerrada, los libros abiertos) — the gerund is fundamentally different.
This is a comfort: there is only ever one form to learn for each verb. There is no *cantanda, *cantandos, or *cantandas. If you ever feel tempted to write one, that is a sign the gerund is in the wrong role in the sentence (probably the role of an adjective, where the gerund cannot go — see Usos del gerundio).
Where the gerundio comes from in the grammar
A short historical note that helps the pattern stick. The Latin gerund had endings in -ando, -endo, -iendo; over time, Spanish merged the -endo and -iendo of second and third conjugations into a single -iendo. The result is the slightly lopsided system you see today: one ending for one conjugation, one ending for two.
This is also why some closely related languages have a slightly different look — Portuguese keeps -ando / -endo / -indo as three separate endings. Spanish unified the last two.
How the gerundio differs from the English -ing
A theme on every page of this section is going to be: do not assume the Spanish gerund matches the English -ing. They look like translations of each other, but they cover different patches of grammatical territory. Three quick points to plant the flag now.
1. English -ing can be a noun. The Spanish gerund cannot.
English uses -ing freely as a noun: Swimming is healthy, Smoking kills. Spanish uses the infinitive for the same job: Nadar es saludable, Fumar mata. The gerund cannot occupy this slot.
✅ Nadar es saludable.
Swimming is healthy.
❌ Nadando es saludable.
Incorrect — Spanish uses the infinitive for verbal nouns, not the gerund.
2. English -ing follows prepositions. The Spanish gerund does not.
English says after eating, without thinking, for studying. Spanish says después de comer, sin pensar, para estudiar — always the infinitive after a preposition, never the gerund.
✅ Salió sin despedirse.
He left without saying goodbye.
❌ Salió sin despidiéndose.
Incorrect — prepositions always take the infinitive.
3. English uses the progressive much more than Spanish does.
English freely says I am studying Spanish for an ongoing situation that is not happening at this exact second. Spanish prefers the simple present (Estudio español) for that meaning, reserving the progressive (Estoy estudiando) for actions actually in progress at the moment of speaking. We will work through this distinction in Cuándo usar el progresivo; for now, just register that estoy + gerundio should be your less frequent default, not your more frequent one.
What about reflexive and object pronouns?
When the gerund appears with a pronoun, the pronoun normally attaches to the end of the form, and a written accent appears to preserve the original stress: duchándome, contándolo, poniéndose. This is a spelling consequence of the regular formation rather than a change to the form itself.
Estoy duchándome cuando llamas.
I'm in the shower when you call.
Lo está pensando con calma.
He's thinking it over calmly.
(The second example shows the alternative placement — pronoun before the auxiliary estar — which is also fully correct. See Pronombres con el progresivo for the full picture.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Mi hermana está hablanda con su jefe.
Incorrect — the gerund is invariable, never feminine.
✅ Mi hermana está hablando con su jefe.
My sister is talking to her boss.
❌ Los niños están corriendos por el parque.
Incorrect — the gerund never takes a plural -s.
✅ Los niños están corriendo por el parque.
The kids are running around the park.
❌ Estoy pensiendo en ti.
Incorrect — pensar is regular in the gerund; the present-tense e→ie change does not apply.
✅ Estoy pensando en ti.
I'm thinking of you.
❌ Fumando es malo para la salud.
Incorrect — verbal nouns take the infinitive, not the gerund.
✅ Fumar es malo para la salud.
Smoking is bad for your health.
❌ Salí sin desayunando.
Incorrect — prepositions take the infinitive in Spanish.
✅ Salí sin desayunar.
I went out without having breakfast.
Key takeaways
- -Ar verbs form the gerundio with -ando; -er and -ir verbs both use -iendo.
- The gerundio is invariable — one form, no gender or number agreement, ever.
- Stem-changers in the present tense (pensar, volver, jugar) are regular in the gerund — the stress falls on the ending, so the stem does not change. (-Ir stem-changers behave differently; see the irregulars page.)
- The Spanish gerund is not a one-for-one translation of English -ing. It cannot be a noun, cannot follow a preposition, and is used less often in progressive constructions than English speakers expect.
Now practice Spanish
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Gerundios irregulares: pidiendo, durmiendo, leyendoA2 — The two predictable patterns of irregular gerundios in Spanish — -ir stem changes (pidiendo, durmiendo) and the spelling change of unstressed -i- between vowels (leyendo, oyendo) — with complete verb lists.
- Usos del gerundioA2 — The four real jobs of the Spanish gerundio — the progressive with estar, manner, simultaneous action, and absolute clauses — and the three jobs it cannot do, which English-speaking learners constantly try to give it.
- Gerundio vs infinitivo: errores comunesB1 — The single highest-impact decision for English-speaking learners — when an -ing form maps to the Spanish infinitive (verbal noun, after prepositions) and when it maps to the gerundio (progressive, manner). A focused contrast page with the errors and the fixes.
- Presente progresivo: estar + gerundioA2 — How to form the Spanish present progressive: estar in the present indicative plus the gerund. Includes the full vosotros conjugation and the cardinal warning that Spain uses this construction far less than English uses 'I am –ing'.