Lección 30
Sequence of Tenses. Gerund in Spanish
Juan y Juana
Habiendo salido de la casa Juana encontró a José.
— ¿No quieres regresar a casa? — preguntó éste.
— ¿Por qué?
— Porque quiero leerte un cuento especial para tí.
— ¿Por qué para mí?
— Porque en este cuento ella se llama Juana y él se llama Juan.
Juana le miró riendo y dijo:
— Bueno, léemelo.
Vocablos
| habiendo salido | having left | |
| especial | special | |
| llamarse | to be called/named | |
| casarse | to get married; to marry | |
| el | noviazgo | engagement; courtship |
| el | oído | hearing; ear |
| al oído | in someone’s ear | |
| aunque | although, though | |
| solo, -a | alone; on one’s own; by itself | |
| lejos | далеко | |
| la | persona | person |
| la | novedad | news |
| el | milagro | miracle |
| correr | to run; to go by | |
| luego | later; then | |
| el | correr | running; flow (of time; of river) |
| convertirse | to become, to turn into | |
| la | doncella | (formal, old-fashioned) maiden, damsel |
| fresco, -a | fresh | |
| esbelto, -a | slender, slim | |
| la | matrona | matron |
| otoñal, -a | autumnal, autumn, fall (adj.) | |
| todavía | still, yet; even | |
| la | hermosura | beauty |
| el | corazón | heart |
| el | recuerdo | memory, remembrance |
| la | esperanza | hope |
| creer | to believe; to think | |
| notar | to notice; to note | |
| preocupado, -a | worried, concerned | |
| mustio, -a | gloomy, down; withered | |
| buscar | to seek, to look for | |
| la | soledad | solitude, loneliness |
| parecer | to see, to appear, to look | |
| descubrir | to discover | |
| andar | to walk | |
| enamorado, -a | in love | |
| empezar | to start, to begin | |
| acechar | to stalk, to spy on | |
| discretamente | discreetly | |
| la | pasión | passion |
| menos | less, fewer; the least, the fewest | |
| sospechar | to suspect | |
| sorprender | to catch | |
| besar; besando | to kiss; kissing | |
| el | retrato | portrait |
| retirarse | withdraw, retire, retreat | |
| angustiado, -a | anguished, distressed | |
| resuelto, -a (a) | determined (to); resolved (to) |
Learn the expressions:
al oído
in someone’s ear
el correr de años
time goes by
el venir de hijos
the coming of children
Grammar points
1. Sequence of Tenses
Juana descubrió que Juan andaba enamorado.
Juana discovered that Juan was in love. (lit.: was walking in love)
Similarly to English, in Spanish, if the main clause of the sentence is in the past tense, the subordinate clause should also be in the past tense. The only difference that it should be the imperfect past tense.
Dijo que iba al cine.
He said that he was going to the cinema.
Learn the following sequence of tenses:
He says that he has a book.
Dice que tiene un libro.
He said that he had a book.
Decía que tenía un libro.
He said that he had a book.
Dijo que tenía un libro.
Нe has said he has a book.
На dicho que tiene* un libro.
* since it is Present Perfect in the main clause, then there is the present tense in the subordinate clause, however, some books say that the imperfect tense (tenía) is also possible here.
2. Gerundio
buscando
looking for
besando
kissing
saliendo
leaving
comiendo
eating
In Spanish, Gerundio is not Gerund, it is what we know as Present Participle. The simple form of Gerundio is formed with the following endings:
conjugation II and III — iendo
Examples:
Lo miró riendo.
She looked at him, laughing/with a laugh.
Lo sorprendió besando el retrato.
She caught him kissing the portrait.
Los vi escuchando la radio.
I saw them listening to the radio.
Pay attention that gerundio is always placed near the subject or the direct object. Compare:
Vi ayer a Juana paseando.
I saw Juana walking yesterday.
Paseando vi ayer a Juana.
I saw Juana yesterday while walking.
Some irregular verbs have irregular forms gerundio, for example:
There is also a compound form of Gerundio — gerundio compuesto. It is formed with the auxiliary verb haber in the gerundio form — habiendo — and the (past) participle of the main verb, for example:
habiendo buscado
having sought
habiendo salido
having left
3. Verbal Noun
| correr | to run | |
| el | correr | running, flow |
| venir | to come, to arrive | |
| el | venir | coming |
In Spanish, it is possible to get a verbal noun in masculine gender and singular number from the infinitive. In this case, we get the masculine singular article before the infinitive verb.
Exercises
I. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form:
Juan decía a Juana que (pensar) siempre en ella. Juana lo escuchaba contenta y pensó que (deber) contestarle algo, pero no pudo. José dijo a María que (buscar) la soledad para poder estudiar. María no estaba contenta y dijo que (querer) estar siempre con José. Carmencita miraba por la ventana y decía que (ver) su perro y a muchos chicos que (jugar) con él. De repente Carmencita gritó y dijo que uno de los chicos se (llevar) el perro.
II. Substitute the infinitive form in brackets with the appropriate form of gerundio.
Miré por la ventana y vi a Juana (hablar) con Juan. Abrí la puerta y vi a Carmen (jugar) con los chicos. Cerré el libro, miré a todas y las vi (llorar) . Al hombre que encontré (comer) en este restaurante, lo encontré después en la bodega (beber) jerez.
III. Translate into English:
José у María se casaron y tenían muchos hijos. Un día, recordando el tiempo de su noviazgo, se reían mucho. María dijo que José andaba todavía enamorado de ella. José contestó que esto no era verdad, pero se veía en sus ojos que no pensaba así, porque María era muy hermosa todavía, aunque algo gruesa (thick) ya.
IV. Translate into Spanish:
Carmen did not eat while playing with the boys in the street. Juan did not say anything looking at Juana. Everyone was looking at Jose, listening to how he was reading. Maria went out closing the door. Dad listened to the radio, drinking coffee.
