The Spanish Gerund: Complete B1-B2 Guide with Examples

Last Updated on June 10, 2026 by I Love Spanish Club

If you’ve ever wanted to say “I am eating”, “she was sleeping”, or “they kept laughing” in Spanish — you need the gerund. The gerundio is one of the most useful verb forms at the B1-B2 level, and once you understand how it works, your Spanish will sound dramatically more natural. Let’s break it down completely.

📚 What Is the Gerund in Spanish?

The Spanish gerund (el gerundio) is the verb form equivalent to the English -ing ending — eating, sleeping, running, talking. It’s used to describe actions that are in progress, ongoing, or happening simultaneously with another action.

💡 Good news: The gerund never changes for gender or number. Unlike adjectives, it stays the same regardless of who or what you’re talking about — one less thing to memorize!

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🔧 Regular Gerunds — The Most Common Verbs

Infinitive	Gerund	English
hablar	hablando	speaking / talking
trabajar	trabajando	working
escuchar	escuchando	listening
comer	comiendo	eating
beber	bebiendo	drinking
leer	leyendo	reading
vivir	viviendo	living
escribir	escribiendo	writing
dormir	durmiendo	sleeping
correr	corriendo	running
hacer	haciendo	doing / making
salir	saliendo	leaving / going out

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⚠️ Irregular Gerunds — The Ones You Must Know

Some verbs have irregular gerunds — mostly -ir stem-changing verbs and a few common exceptions. These are high-frequency verbs so it’s worth memorizing them.

Infinitive	Gerund	English	Why irregular?
ir	yendo	going	Completely irregular
ser	siendo	being	Irregular
decir	diciendo	saying / telling	Stem change e→i
venir	viniendo	coming	Stem change e→i
pedir	pidiendo	asking for / ordering	Stem change e→i
seguir	siguiendo	following / continuing	Stem change e→i
dormir	durmiendo	sleeping	Stem change o→u
poder	pudiendo	being able to	Stem change o→u
leer	leyendo	reading	i→y between vowels

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🔵 Use 1: The Present Progressive — Estar + Gerundio

The most common use of the gerund is with the verb estar to form the present progressive — describing what is happening right now.

Estoy comiendo.	I am eating.
Está durmiendo.	He/She is sleeping.
Estamos trabajando desde casa.	We are working from home.
¿Qué estás haciendo?	What are you doing?
Están hablando por teléfono.	They are talking on the phone.

💡 Important difference from English: In Spanish, the present progressive is used only for actions happening right now — at this exact moment. For habitual actions (“I eat lunch at 2pm every day”), use the simple present: Como a las 2pm todos los días.

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🔵 Use 2: Past Progressive — Estaba + Gerundio

Combine the imperfect of estar with the gerund to describe what was happening at a specific moment in the past.

Estaba durmiendo cuando llegaste.	I was sleeping when you arrived.
Estábamos viendo una película.	We were watching a movie.
¿Qué estabas haciendo ayer a las 8?	What were you doing yesterday at 8?

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🔵 Use 3: Seguir / Continuar + Gerundio

Use seguir or continuar + gerund to express that an action is continuing or still happening — equivalent to “keep doing” or “still doing” in English.

Sigo estudiando español.	I keep studying Spanish. / I’m still studying Spanish.
Continúa lloviendo.	It keeps raining. / It’s still raining.
¿Sigues trabajando en esa empresa?	Are you still working at that company?

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🔵 Use 4: Llevar + Gerundio — How Long Something Has Been Happening

This structure is uniquely Spanish and has no direct English equivalent. It expresses how long an action has been going on.

Llevo dos horas esperando.	I have been waiting for two hours.
Lleva tres años viviendo en Colombia.	He has been living in Colombia for three years.
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas estudiando español?	How long have you been studying Spanish?
Llevamos meses planeando este viaje.	We have been planning this trip for months.

💡 This structure is used constantly in everyday Spanish — it’s one of the most natural ways to talk about duration and it immediately makes you sound more fluent.

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🔵 Use 5: Gerund as “By doing” — Expressing How

The gerund can also express how something is achieved — equivalent to “by doing” in English.

Se aprende hablando.	You learn by speaking.
Mejoré mi español viendo series.	I improved my Spanish by watching TV shows.
Practicando todos los días, progresarás rápido.	By practicing every day, you’ll progress quickly.

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💬 Real Conversation Examples

The gerund is one of those structures that feels very natural once you’ve heard it enough times in real conversations. If you want to start using llevar + gerundio and seguir + gerundio spontaneously, a conversation session with a native tutor on Italki is the fastest way to internalize them — your tutor will use these structures naturally and you’ll absorb them through real exchange.

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❌ What the Gerund Is NOT Used For in Spanish

This is where many English speakers make mistakes — because in English, the -ing form is used in many ways that Spanish handles differently.

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✏️ Practice Exercise

Complete the sentences with the correct gerund form:

1. Estoy _______ (estudiar) español desde hace un año.
2. ¿Qué estaba _______ (hacer) cuando te llamé?
3. Llevo dos horas _______ (esperar) el autobús.
4. Se aprende _______ (practicar) todos los días.
5. Sigo _______ (pensar) en tu propuesta.
6. Estaban _______ (dormir) cuando llegamos.

✅ Show Answers

1. estudiando
2. haciendo
3. esperando
4. practicando
5. pensando
6. durmiendo (irregular: o→u)

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📋 Summary — Gerund Uses at a Glance

Structure	Meaning	Example
estar + gerundio	Action in progress right now	Estoy comiendo.
estaba + gerundio	Action in progress in the past	Estaba durmiendo.
seguir + gerundio	Still doing / Keep doing	Sigo estudiando.
llevar + time + gerundio	How long something has been happening	Llevo 2 horas esperando.
gerundio alone	By doing (how something is achieved)	Se aprende hablando.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between the gerund and the infinitive in Spanish?
The gerund (-ando/-iendo) describes an action in progress. The infinitive is used as a noun, after prepositions, and after most modal verbs (quiero comer, puedo hablar). When in doubt after a preposition — always use the infinitive, never the gerund.

Can the gerund be used with verbs other than “estar”?
Yes! Beyond estar, you’ll use it with seguir (keep doing), continuar (continue doing), llevar (duration), andar (to be going around doing something), and ir (gradual progress: voy mejorando = I’m gradually improving).

Is “durmiendo” really irregular? Why doesn’t it follow the rule?
Yes — dormir is an o→ue stem-changing verb in the present tense, and that stem change carries over to the gerund as o→u: durmiendo. The same happens with morir → muriendo and poder → pudiendo. These are worth memorizing individually since they’re used so frequently. Practicing with a native speaker on Preply is one of the best ways to make irregular forms feel automatic — you’ll hear them corrected in real time until they stick.

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📚 Keep Learning

• 👉 The Spanish Subjunctive
• 👉 Preterite vs Imperfect in Spanish
• 👉 Future Tense vs Ir a + Infinitive