Quote:
Originally Posted by SPX
Speaking of gerunds, this brings up something I myself have been curious about. . .
I was reading in a grammar guide recently and they used the example:
"Me afeito" for "I am shaving."
First off, why is this not "Estoy afeitando"?
Second, why is it Me Afeito and not Yo Afeito? (Or, that is, simply Afeito.)
Signed,
Totally Confused
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I like the signature, because your question has nothing to do with gerunds.
First point:
1). I am shaving -
shaving is a
present participle, an adjective, part of the continuous verb form in English. (This is made confusing by the fact that it is called
gerundio in Spanish)
2) Shaving is tedious -
shaving is a
gerund, a noun, an abstract concept derived from the verb. It has the same form as the present participle, so often confused with it.
Second point:
English
I am shaving is really short for
I am shaving myself, unless something else is added like
I am shaving the dog.
Spanish always says whom you are shaving: Me afeito, literally,
I am shaving myself
Third point:
Spanish does not use this continuous form with the present participle as much as English does. So Spanish "Me afeito" literally
I shave myself often means English
I am shaving myself
Fourth point
The Spanish verb ending tells you who is doing it, so you don't need the personal pronoun "I". That is needed in English because the verb ending gives you no information.
Does that help?