pregando

Pregando is the present participle (gerund) of the Portuguese verb pregar. It is used to describe ongoing actions and can have two principal senses depending on context: nailing or preaching.

In carpentry and construction, pregando refers to driving or fixing objects with nails. Typical usage describes the act of attaching materials to a surface, as in “Ele está pregando uma tábua na parede” (He is nailing a board to the wall). The related noun is o prego (the nail) and the plural pregoss (pregos), used for the hardware involved in the action.

In religious and public-speaking contexts, pregando means delivering a sermon or exhortation. The related noun pregração or pregação denotes the act of preaching, and a person who prega is the pregador (the preacher). An example is “O pastor está pregando na igreja” (The pastor is preaching in the church).

Cross-linguistic notes indicate that similar forms exist in other Romance languages, notably Portuguese variants such as Galician where the verb pregar also carries both senses. In Spanish, the equivalent verb for preaching is predicar, so the exact gerund pregando is not standard in modern Spanish, though the word’s dual sense is characteristic of Portuguese.

Common related terms include prego (nail), pregação (sermon), and pregador (preacher). Understanding pregando requires attention to context, as the meaning shifts between a construction activity and a religious or rhetorical act.