Expirando

Expirando is the gerund form of the verb expir ar in Portuguese and of expirar in Spanish. As a participial form, it marks an ongoing or contemporary aspect of the action associated with the base verb. The meaning and common uses differ between the two languages, though they share a common Latin origin.

Etymology and meaning: Both verbs derive from Latin expirare, literally “to breathe out,” from ex- “out” and spirare “to breathe.” Over time, the sense broadened in Romance languages to include the end of validity or life, in addition to the literal act of exhaling in some contexts.

In Portuguese: Expirar primarily means to exhale or breathe out, though in everyday language the verb more often appears in the sense of something ending or becoming invalid. It is commonly used for deadlines, licenses, or documents: for example, “o prazo está expirando” (the deadline is expiring) and “o certificado expirou” (the certificate expired). The more common term for expiration of a document is caducar or vencer, depending on the context. Expirar also historically or in formal language can mean to die, as in a literary sense: “expirar a vida.” The gerund “expirando” therefore can describe an ongoing expiration, an ongoing exhalation, or, in legal or temporal contexts, something that is in the process of ending.

In Spanish: Expirar is used mainly to indicate that something has ended its validity or that someone is near death; it is less frequently used to denote the act of exhaling, for which exhalar or respirar is preferred in modern usage. The gerund “expirando” can appear in phrases like “el contrato está expirando” (the contract is expiring) or “la vida del paciente está expirando” (the patient’s life is expiring). The sense of exhaling is uncommon in contemporary Spanish.

See also: expiración, expirando, expiración de contratos, caducidad, vencer.