evitando

Evitando is the gerund form of the Spanish verb evitar, which means to avoid or to keep away from. As a non-finite verb form, evitando is used to describe an ongoing action related to avoidance or to indicate the manner in which something is done. It can appear in progressive constructions with estar, as in estoy evitando ese tema (I am avoiding that topic).

In Spanish grammar, the gerund avoiding conveys actions that occur concurrently with another verb or serve to express the means or method by which something is accomplished. Common usages include: estar evitando + [object or idea] to form a present progressive; avoiding as a participial clause to describe circumstances, such as Caminaba evitando los charcos (I walked while avoiding the puddles); and phrases like evitando problemas, which function as adverbial or adnominal modifiers. It is less typical to treat evitand o as a noun; the related noun form is evitación or evitamiento, used to mean avoidance.

Etymology traces evitar to Latin evitare, meaning to shun or to keep away from. The Spanish form avoiding is built from the verb evitar with the periphrastic or progressive sense common to gerunds in Spanish.

See also: evitar, evitarse, evitación. The term evitar is widely used across Spanish-speaking contexts in everyday language, media, and literature to describe the act of steering clear of risks, conflicts, or unwanted outcomes.