The gerund is a non-personal verb form that presents an action in progress, a simultaneous action, or an ongoing process. It does not mark person or number, and it does not itself place the action in the past, present, or future. In hablando, comiendo, or viviendo you can see the verb form, but it does not show who performs the action. Therefore the gerund normally needs another word to complete it, as happens in Auxiliary Verbs and in constructions such as Present Progressive.

Verbs ending in -ar form the gerund with the stem + -ando. Thus, hablar gives hablando, trabajar gives trabajando and estudiar gives estudiando. The stem is maintained and only the ending changes. In cantar → cantando or comprar → comprando the same pattern is preserved. This regular formation appears constantly in verbs of the first conjugation and is also used within periphrases such as those you study in Perífrasis Verbales.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
tú	trabajar
yo	hablar
él	bailar

Regular gerunds of ar-verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	hablar	hablando
tú	trabajar	trabajando
él	bailar	bailando

Scramble

Verbs ending in -er and -ir form the gerund with the stem + -iendo. Thus, comer gives comiendo, vivir gives viviendo, leer gives leyendo in its regular written form and abrir gives abriendo. In verbs like beber → bebiendo or escribir → escribiendo the change is only the final ending. The rule is the same for all second and third conjugation when the verb is regular, and it is easily recognized in verbal forms that later appear together with auxiliaries or participles, as in Participios Verbales.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
tú	vivir
él	escribir
yo	comer

Regular gerunds of -er and -ir verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	comer	comiendo
tú	vivir	viviendo
él	escribir	escribiendo

Scramble

Some very frequent verbs do not form the gerund regularly. Decir becomes diciendo, venir becomes viniendo, poder becomes pudiendo, morir becomes muriendo and dormir becomes durmiendo. In this group also appear seguir → siguiendo and ir → yendo. The change affects the root and not the ending -ando or -iendo. These forms are common from the earliest levels and appear very frequently in phrases like sigue trabajando or está durmiendo.

Verb	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
	yo	dormir
	yo	decir
	yo	venir

Common irregular gerunds

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	decir	diciendo
yo	dormir	durmiendo
yo	venir	viniendo

Scramble

Some verbs modify the spelling to preserve the correct sound before -iendo. Leer becomes leyendo, traer becomes trayendo and oír becomes oyendo. In verbs ending in -er or -ir with a strong vowel in the stem, the i of -iendo does not join in the same way as in regular forms, and the spelling changes to avoid difficult combinations. Changes are also seen in verbs such as caer → cayendo and construir → construyendo. The result remains a gerund, but with spelling adapted to pronunciation.

Gerund spelling changes

Idea
In some verbs, a y is added to avoid an awkward hiatus.
In verbs with oír, the gerund’s i changes to y between vowels.
In verbs like traer, the gerund ending preserves the sound with y.

The structure estar + gerund expresses an action in progress at the moment of speaking or in a nearby period. Estoy leyendo, está cocinando and estamos esperando place the action as something that is advancing now. The verb estar is conjugated and the gerund remains invariable. This construction is the basis of the Present Progressive and often appears with Auxiliary Verbs, because estar functions as grammatical support while the gerund provides the idea of development.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	estar
tú	estar
él	estar

Periphrasis with estar and gerund

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	estar	estoy
tú	estar	estás
él	estar	está

Scramble

The gerund also appears with other verbs to express direction or duration of the process. Ir + gerundio shows gradual progress: va mejorando, van llegando. Seguir + gerundio indicates continuity: sigue estudiando, seguimos trabajando. Andar + gerundio presents a repeated action or an ongoing activity with a nuance of disorder or informality: anda diciendo, andan buscando. In all these constructions, the first verb is conjugated and the gerund keeps its form. These combinations are part of the Perífrasis Verbales.

Uses of periphrasis with gerund

Usage	Explanation
Progressive	Use ir + gerund to show an action gradually advancing over time.
Persistent continuity	Use seguir + gerund when an action continues without stopping.
Repetition in progress	Use andar + gerund to express a repeated action or with a sense of habit.

The gerund can accompany another verb to indicate how an action occurs or to show a simultaneous action. In salió corriendo, llegó sonriendo and entró hablando por teléfono, the gerund describes the way the main action is carried out. It can also express simultaneity in phrases like pasó la tarde leyendo or cruzó la calle mirando a ambos lados. Here the gerund does not form a periphrasis with a progressive value, but a direct relationship with the main verb. It is used to join two actions in a single verbal scene.

Gerund for simultaneity and mood

Usage	Explanation
Simultaneous action	Use the gerund to indicate that an action occurs at the same time as another.
How the action is performed	Use the gerund to explain how something happens.
Associated movement	Use the gerund when it accompanies another verb and provides a very visible secondary action.

The gerund does not function as a normal adjective nor as a standard noun. It is not used to name people or objects, nor to replace a noun in a fixed way. It is also not used to express an action that occurs after another: in Spanish, entró cerrando la puerta is correct if both actions occur almost at the same time, but it is not suitable to say that one action happens after the other as the main relationship. When the latter action is the central idea, another full verb is used. The gerund must remain tied to an action in progress, simultaneous or in a manner, not to a sequence of separate events.

Common mistakes with the gerund

Idea
The gerund should not function as a fixed adjective in standard language.
The gerund should not be used as a normal noun.
The gerund should not express posteriority relative to the main action.