Example
Estoy hablando con mi jefe ahora.
I'm speaking with my boss now.
Note
-AR verbs → -ando. Regular: hablar → hablando, trabajar → trabajando.
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Form and use the Spanish gerund (-ando/-iendo) for progressive tenses and other constructions. Use this page to study the core Spanish words, English meanings, part-of-speech labels, and example sentences for this topic.
Review each word with examples and usage notes where available.
Estoy hablando con mi jefe ahora.
I'm speaking with my boss now.
-AR verbs → -ando. Regular: hablar → hablando, trabajar → trabajando.
Seguía comiendo aunque estaba lleno.
He kept eating even though he was full.
-ER/-IR verbs → -iendo. Regular: comer → comiendo, beber → bebiendo.
Lleva tres años viviendo en España.
She has been living in Spain for three years.
Pasó la tarde leyendo en el parque.
He spent the afternoon reading in the park.
Verbs with double vowel: leer → leyendo, creer → creyendo, oír → oyendo. The i becomes y.
El niño lleva horas durmiendo.
The child has been sleeping for hours.
Stem-changing -IR verbs shift the stem in the gerund: dormir → durmiendo, morir → muriendo.
Está pidiendo ayuda a todos.
He is asking everyone for help.
e→i stem change: pedir → pidiendo, seguir → siguiendo, decir → diciendo.
¿Qué estás diciendo?
What are you saying?
Va yendo para el aeropuerto ya.
He's already heading to the airport.
ir → yendo (not "iendo"). Highly irregular.
Estoy estudiando para el examen.
I am studying for the exam.
Emphasises an action happening right now. Less used for future plans than in English — use "ir a + inf" for plans.
Estaba comiendo cuando llamaron.
I was eating when they called.
Imperfect of estar + gerund = the background/interrupted action in a past narrative.
Al llegar a casa, me di cuenta del error.
Upon arriving home, I realised the mistake.
"Al + infinitivo" = simultaneous or immediately sequential actions. Elegant alternative to "cuando llegué".
Salió sin decir nada.
He left without saying anything.
Spanish uses infinitive after prepositions, not gerund: "sin hablar", "antes de comer", "después de salir".
Sigue hablando aunque nadie le escucha.
He keeps talking even though nobody listens.
Habiendo terminado los deberes, salió a jugar.
Having finished the homework, she went out to play.
Perfect gerund = prior completed action. Mostly written/literary. Common in formal contexts.