Resumen

This research seeks to account for the density of use of the gerundio ‘no perifrástico’ ('non
periphrastic' gerund) and the -ing form by Spanish and English users in order to determine
their functionality as a resource for textual cohesion. The aim is to explore descriptively and
through contrast (Valenzuela, 2002) the semantic values of consequence and the link (Lenz,
1925; Nesfield, 1956; Gili Gaya, 1961; RAE, 1973; Hernández, 1984; Quirk y otros, 1989; Biber et
al., 1999; Fernández, 1999; Huddleston & Pullum, 2002; Miller, 2002; Wardhaugh, 2003; Dontcheva-
Navratilova, 2005; RAE y ASALE, 2009) in authentic texts in interaction, in order to demonstrate
its cohesive role in the textual construction (Halliday & Hasan, 1976; Hartmann, 1980;
Bolinguer; 1990; Halliday & Hasan, 1990; Holland & Lewis, 1996; De Beaugrande & Dressler, 1997;
Biber & otros, 2002; Miller, 2002; Carter & McCarthy, 2006). The samples correspond to a probabilistic
selection of texts from the written press. The analysis relies on, first, the identification
of these non-personal forms and, then, on their description considering their meanings of link
and consequence through conjunctive cohesive resources. The results showed that the users
of Spanish and English, although in different degree, use these forms as linking resources.
These forms become additive or consequence conjunctions that connect propositions bringing
meanings depending on their relationship with the independent clause or with a different
one. These hybrid forms conform a functional element that explicitly joins ideas and is, at the
same time, an element that carries meaning, but without the syntactic freedom that lexical
classes enjoy