The Spanish gerund is mostly regular: -ar → -ando, -er/-ir → -iendo. But a small group of high-frequency verbs has irregular gerunds that you'll meet constantly in the progressive. Two patterns cover almost all of them, and once you see the patterns, you can predict the form rather than memorise verb by verb.
This page applies those irregular gerunds inside estar + gerundio, which is where they show up most often in real speech. Master these and you'll stop saying *está dormiendo (a beginner tell) and start sounding like someone who actually listens to Spanish.
Pattern 1: -ir stem changes (e → i, o → u)
In the present indicative, pedir changes e to i (pido, pides, pide). The same stem change happens in the gerund, and it spreads to all persons because the gerund has only one form:
| Infinitive | Gerund | English |
|---|---|---|
| pedir | pidiendo | asking (for) |
| servir | sirviendo | serving |
| sentir | sintiendo | feeling |
| mentir | mintiendo | lying |
| repetir | repitiendo | repeating |
| seguir | siguiendo | following / continuing |
| conseguir | consiguiendo | obtaining |
| vestir | vistiendo | dressing |
| decir | diciendo | saying |
| venir | viniendo | coming |
| preferir | prefiriendo | preferring |
| dormir | durmiendo | sleeping |
| morir | muriendo | dying |
| poder | pudiendo | being able to |
Two sub-patterns: e → i (pedir → pidiendo) and o → u (dormir → durmiendo). They map perfectly to the same stem changes you saw in the preterite third person (pidió, durmió) and in the present subjunctive.
El niño está pidiendo agua, dásela.
The child is asking for water, give it to him.
Mis hijos están durmiendo, por favor no hagas ruido.
My kids are sleeping, please don't make noise.
¿Qué nos estás diciendo? No te entiendo.
What are you telling us? I don't understand you.
Están sirviendo la cena en el comedor principal.
They're serving dinner in the main dining room.
Estoy sintiendo un dolor raro en el pecho.
I'm feeling a strange pain in my chest.
Pattern 2: i → y between vowels
When an -er or -ir verb has a stem ending in a vowel, the -iendo ending would create an awkward sequence with three vowels in a row: *leiendo, *oiendo. Spanish solves this by turning the unstressed i into y: leyendo, oyendo.
| Infinitive | Gerund | English |
|---|---|---|
| leer | leyendo | reading |
| oír | oyendo | hearing |
| traer | trayendo | bringing |
| caer | cayendo | falling |
| creer | creyendo | believing |
| huir | huyendo | fleeing |
| construir | construyendo | building |
| destruir | destruyendo | destroying |
| incluir | incluyendo | including |
| distribuir | distribuyendo | distributing |
| contribuir | contribuyendo | contributing |
| ir | yendo | going |
The ir → yendo form is striking — the whole infinitive almost disappears and what's left is just yendo. It's an old form that survived because it solves the same vowel-clash problem (*iendo would be impossibly thin).
Estoy leyendo una novela de Almudena Grandes.
I'm reading a novel by Almudena Grandes.
¿Estás oyendo lo que te digo o paso de hablar?
Are you hearing what I'm saying or shall I stop talking?
Están construyendo un edificio enorme al lado de mi casa.
They're building a huge building next to my house.
La lluvia está cayendo con fuerza desde hace dos horas.
The rain has been falling heavily for two hours.
¿Adónde estás yendo a estas horas?
Where are you going at this hour?
Hearing the difference
A common error is mixing up oír (to hear) and oyendo with escuchar (to listen to) and escuchando. Both are common in peninsular Spanish, but they're not identical:
- oír / oyendo — the action of perceiving sound, often passive ("I'm hearing the noise but not really paying attention")
- escuchar / escuchando — actively listening with attention ("I'm listening to a podcast")
Estoy oyendo ruido en el pasillo.
I'm hearing a noise in the hallway.
Estoy escuchando un podcast sobre filosofía.
I'm listening to a podcast about philosophy.
Both gerunds are regular in their categories: oír falls into Pattern 2 (oyendo), escuchar is a regular -ar verb (escuchando).
Side-by-side: regular vs irregular gerunds
To cement the patterns, here's a side-by-side comparison of similar-looking verbs that diverge:
| Regular gerund | Irregular gerund |
|---|---|
| comiendo (comer — -er, no stem change) | durmiendo (dormir — -ir, o→u) |
| bebiendo (beber) | pidiendo (pedir — -ir, e→i) |
| escribiendo (escribir — no vowel-stem issue) | leyendo (leer — vowel stem, i→y) |
| aprendiendo (aprender) | oyendo (oír — vowel stem, i→y) |
| volviendo (volver — -er, no change) | diciendo (decir — -ir, e→i) |
Está comiendo en el restaurante de la esquina.
He's eating at the restaurant on the corner.
Está durmiendo profundamente, no le despiertes.
He's sleeping deeply, don't wake him.
The pattern stays consistent: comer is -er with no stem issue → regular comiendo. Dormir is -ir with the o→u change → irregular durmiendo. Once you internalise the categories, you can predict any new verb on sight.
Pronoun placement reminder
When you attach an object or reflexive pronoun to one of these irregular gerunds, you'll need a written accent to preserve the original stress (the same rule as with regular gerunds). The next page in this sequence — Pronombres con el progresivo — covers this in detail. Quick examples:
Estoy pidiéndoselo a mi padre.
I'm asking my father for it.
Está durmiéndose en el sofá.
He's falling asleep on the sofa.
Estamos leyéndolo ahora mismo.
We're reading it right now.
The accent on pidiéndoselo, durmiéndose, and leyéndolo is mandatory — without it, the stress would shift and you'd have a spelling error.
Common Mistakes
❌ Está dormiendo en el sofá.
Incorrect — dormir has the o→u change in the gerund: durmiendo.
✅ Está durmiendo en el sofá.
He's sleeping on the sofa.
This is the classic giveaway of a non-native speaker. Treating dormir as a regular -ir verb produces *dormiendo, which sounds clearly wrong to any Spanish speaker.
❌ Estoy leiendo una novela.
Incorrect — i must become y between vowels: leyendo.
✅ Estoy leyendo una novela.
I'm reading a novel.
The vowel cluster -eie- doesn't exist in Spanish gerund formation. The unstressed i always shifts to y in this position.
❌ Está pediendo más vino.
Incorrect — pedir has e→i in the gerund: pidiendo.
✅ Está pidiendo más vino.
He's asking for more wine.
The e→i stem change spreads to the gerund in -ir verbs. Pedir → pidiendo, not *pediendo.
❌ Estoy ir al supermercado.
Incorrect — must be the gerund yendo, not the infinitive.
✅ Estoy yendo al supermercado.
I'm on my way to the supermarket.
The gerund of ir is yendo. Don't reach for the infinitive after estar. (Note: as we covered in formation, for a planned future trip you'd usually just say voy al supermercado. Estoy yendo really means "I'm on my way right now.")
❌ Está poniendose el abrigo.
Incorrect — missing accent on the gerund when a pronoun is attached.
✅ Está poniéndose el abrigo.
He's putting on his coat.
When you attach a pronoun, the gerund needs a written accent to keep the stress on the same syllable. Poniéndose, pidiéndolo, durmiéndose — the accent is required.
Key Takeaways
- Pattern 1: -ir stem changes. Pedir → pidiendo, dormir → durmiendo, decir → diciendo. Only -ir verbs do this; -ar and -er verbs that change in the present don't change in the gerund.
- Pattern 2: i → y between vowels. Leer → leyendo, oír → oyendo, ir → yendo. Triggered whenever the stem ends in a vowel.
- Both patterns are completely productive — every new verb you meet that fits the shape will follow the rule.
- When attaching pronouns to these irregular gerunds, add the written accent to keep the original stress (pidiéndoselo, leyéndolo, durmiéndose).
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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.
- El gerundio: formaciónA2 — How to build the Spanish gerundio — hablando, comiendo, viviendo — and why it is invariable, never agreeing in gender or number, no matter how the sentence around it changes.
- 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'.
- Cuándo usar el progresivo en españolA2 — When to actually use estar + gerundio in Spanish — a much narrower window than English 'I am -ing'. Action in progress right now, not general activities, not future plans.
- Pretérito: cambio e>i en 3ª persona (-ir)B1 — The e→i stem change that surfaces only in the third-person preterite of certain -ir verbs: pidió, sintió, prefirió, sirvieron. The rest of the paradigm stays regular — yo pedí, tú pediste, but él pidió.