Gerundio & Estar

[DeterminadoAprender]

¿Usted utiliza "estar" con gerundio en el pretérito tensé?

Por ejemplo,
Pasé tiempo con lo ESTAMOS jugando desportes

[Rusty]

Your sentence is OK, but doesn't contain estar. I thought your question was asking about estar.
Pasé tiempo con mi hermana jugando deportes.
= I spent time with my sister playing sports.

El gerundio in Spanish has some similarities to the English gerund, but they are not always the same. Could you rephrase your question, please?

[DeterminadoAprender]

I was asking if you include "estar" when you use gerund in the past tense. Or it isn't in the past tense?

[Rusty]

The use of estar + gerundio constitutes the progressive tense.
estoy comiendo = I am eating
estaba comiendo = I was eating
estuve comiendo = I was eating
estaré comiendo = I will be eating
estaría comiendo = I would be eating
he estado comiendo = I have been eating
había estado comiendo = I had been eating

The progressive tense is one way to use the gerund. There are others, some of similar to the way they are used in English, some not. Your original sentence didn't contain a progressive tense, so you were using a gerund in one of the other ways.

I just noticed you changed your original sentence. It isn't correct, now. What are you trying to say?

[DeterminadoAprender]

It isn't part of that paragraph. It's just a sentence I randomly made up. Since I'm still learning... should I use estar with the gerund?

[Rusty]

It depends on what you want to say. The gerund, a verb with -ando or -iendo endings, is used in progressive tenses. It is also used elsewhere. In the former spot (a progressive tense), the verb estar always precedes the gerund. In the latter cases, the verb estar never precedes the gerund.

The original sentence you had, which I copied to post #2 (corrected spelling of deportes), was a great example of a gerund used to describe a previous action. You weren't using a progressive tense, so you didn't need the verb estar.
So, it depends entirely on what you want to use the gerund for.

The gerund has several uses:
1) it is the latter part of the progressive tenses, e.g., estoy comiendo (I'm eating)
2) it is the first part of some compound tenses, e.g., habiendo sido (having been)
3) it is used to describe simultaneous action, e.g., cocinamos cantando (we cook (while) singing)
4) it is used to describe previous action, e.g., cociné cantando (I cooked (while) singing)
5) it is used to introduce a clause, e.g., Viene causando mucho ruido. (It is coming, causing a lot of noise.)
6) it defines a characteristic, e.g., La chica, viendo que el perro la amenazaba, se fue. (The girl, seeing that the dog was threatening her, left.)

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by DeterminadoAprender

¿Usted utiliza "estar" con gerundio en el pretérito tensé?

Por ejemplo,
Pasé tiempo con lo ESTAMOS jugando desportes

I will do some corrections.

Pasé tiempo con lo que estabamos jugando desportes.

You example does make sence, because I don't find sence, you are saying Estamos jungado deportes, this phrase without the Pase tiempo con lo, it's correct the phrase, but you need to do use the future in your verb.

I hope my example to be useful for you.

[Tomisimo]

The term gerund (gerundio) refers to the -ing, -ando, -iendo form of a verb when it is used as a noun. This rarely, if ever, happens in Spanish; the infinitive form is used instead. For example:

Walking is fun. ("walking" is a noun) = El camiar es divertido.
I enjoy singing in the choir. ("singing" is a noun) = Disfruto cantar en el coro.
The -ing, -ando, -iendo form of a verb is known as a present participle (participio presente), when it is used as a verb or in a verb construction. For example:

I am walking down the street. = Estoy caminando por la calle.
I was running beside the river. = Estuve corriendo junto al río.

[DeterminadoAprender]

Thanks everyone for clarifying this concept!

[Rusty]

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