Good question! Gerunds are tricky in English when compared with Spanish (in my opinion). So to approach them, I'd suggest looking at the Spanish first: - The "participio presente" (present participle) are verbs that have that have "-ando" or "-iendo" attached to them. They are usually used either as progressive or habitual verbs ("Estoy tocanda la guitarra"), or as adjectives ("El hombre corriendo es cansado"). - In Spanish, the "gerundio" is a specific subset of the "participio presente" that acts as an adverb (for instance, "Sigue *leyendo* el libre"). English: - The term "gerund" in English signifies something different from the term "gerundio" in Spanish. - In English, a gerund is just a noun made from a verb. This is usually done by adding "-ing" onto a verb. Examples: "eat" becomes the noun "eating" "smile" becomes the noun "smiling" (note how if the verb ends in -e, you usually drop the -e before adding the "-ing") "write" becomes the noun "writing" Sentences using this construction would be as follows: "Writing is his favorite hobby." "Smiling is a good way of showing that you're a friendly person." (Note how "writing" and "smiling" are both nouns here). In Spanish, the "-ando" or "-iendo" form of verbs *cannot* act as nouns, because only the infinitive form of the noun ("oir" or "escribir") can act as nouns. I think it's a common mistake for English-speaking students of Spanish to write sentences like, "Dormiendo es mi actividad favorita" instead of "Dormir es mi actividad favoita," because they translate "dormiendo" as "sleeping" in their head. This translation ("-ando" or "-iendo" = "-ing") is a useful trick, but it doesn't work in every case.

Natalia, Tu pregunta tiene que ver con "gerundio" y "participio presente". Un gerundio es un verbo utilizado como substantivo. Quiero cantar. ("cantar" es un verbo en infinitivo) Cantar es entretenido ("cantar" es el sujeto de la oración porque está conjugando al verbo "ser", eso es un gerundio) El participio presente de los verbos en español es el verbo con la terminación "ando" o "endo". Cantar (verbo en infinitivo) Cantando (verbo en participio perfecto). Como puedes ver, el gerundio y el participio en español, tienen formas diferentes: cantar (verbo en infinitivo) cantando (verbo en participio presente) cantar (verbo en gerundio) El gerundio, en español, es igual al infinitivo. En inglés el gerundio es igual al participio presente. Cantar = to sing (infinitivo) Cantando = singing (participio presente) Cantar = singing (gerundio). Ahora, para diferenciar cuando un verbo en inglés terminado en "ing" es un participio presente o un gerundio es muy simple. El gerundio es un verbo usado como substantivo, por lo tanto el gerundio siempre va a conjugar un verbo. Singing is fun = cantar es divertido (singing/cantar conjuga el verbo be/ser) Crying makes me feel better = llorar me hace sentir mejor (crying/llorar conjuga al verbo "hacer") El participio presente por otra parte, siempre, necesariamente tiene que estar precedido por el verbo "be" o "estar". She is singing = ella está cantando (singing/cantando está después del verbo be/estar) We are working = nosotros estamos trabajando (working/trabajando está precedido por el verbo be/estar). Ahora, hay una clase de adjetivos que también terminan con "ing" en inglés. The singing man = el hombre que canta (literalmente "el hombre cantante") Pero distinguir este uso de "ing" es simple porque siembre va a preceder a un substantivi al cual califica porque cumple la función de un adjectivo. Espero que eso te ayude.

(continued from the previous post, which italki was rejecting because it was too long): - To make things even more complicated, in English, infinitives *can* act as nouns (much like in Spanish), but not in every circumstance. It's less common than seeing the gerund, and so I wouldn't worry about it too much if you're just starting out with gerunds, but keep in mind that it can happen. - The "present participle" is the "-ing" form of the verb that signifies a progressive verb. For instance, "He is sleeping" = "He sleeps (and continues to sleep)" - in Spanish, it's the equivalent of, "El esta dormiendo." - Many people call the "present participle" in English the "gerund," to the point that they're sometimes considered interchangeable. In terms of identifying these distinctions, I'd follow the following rules: (1) If the word is a verb with "-ing" attached to it, it's either a gerund or a present participle. (2) If the word is being used as a noun (for instance, if it's the first word in the sentence, it's a gerund. If it is being used to express a progressive verb or as an adjective, it's probably a gerund or present participle.

Here are some good websites that will help you. At the bottom of the page of the first link, make sure you click onto "Continue to Part 2" etc. http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/gerundterm.htm http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/gerund.htm http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/gerundphrase.htm