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Learn about the use of the Spanish gerund to say while doing something
We use the Gerundio/Spanish present participle to say while + gerund (-ing verb).
Read and listen to these examples:
As you can see in the examples above, there is a main action that is achieved:
- Aprendí mucho sobre los árabes
while a secondary action happens that uses the gerund (verb ending in -ando, -iendo):
- viajando por Andalucía.
Notice how in Spanish there is no preposition before the gerund, unlike in English (which uses while). For example:
Arreglándose para la fiesta, alguién llamó a la puerta.
Mientras arreglándose para la fiesta, alguien llamó a la puerta.
While she was getting ready for the party, someone knocked on the door.
However, we could use mientras + conjugated verb without changing the meaning:
Mientras se arreglaba para la fiesta, alguien llamó a la puerta.
Arreglándose para la fiesta, alguien llamó a la puerta.
While she was getting ready for the party, someone knocked on the door.
Although these two structures are interchangeable, mientras + conjugated verb is slightly less formal.
Here are other examples:
Estudiando en la universidad, conocí al amor de mi vida.While studying at university I met the love of my life.
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