Two things at once
The gérondif ties two actions of the same person into one sentence. Instead of Il marche et il chante, French says Il chante en marchant – he sings while walking.
Building the form
Starting from the nous form is what makes this easy: every stem change is already inside it. nous prenons → prenant, nous buvons → buvant, nous faisons → faisant.
From nous to gérondif
| Infinitive | nous form | Gérondif |
|---|---|---|
| finir | nous finissons | en finissant |
| prendre | nous prenons | en prenant |
| faire | nous faisons | en faisant |
| boire | nous buvons | en buvant |
| venir | nous venons | en venant |
Only three verbs have a form of their own: être → en étant, avoir → en ayant, savoir → en sachant.
Negation wraps around the form, and pronouns sit between en and the form: en ne disant rien, en le voyant, en s'habillant.
Negation and pronouns in sentences
En ne faisant pas attention, tu vas tout casser.
If you don't pay attention, you'll break everything.
En le voyant, j'ai tout de suite compris.
The moment I saw him, I understood.
The three meanings
The form never changes; context tells you which meaning applies.
Simultaneity - when?
Two actions running in parallel. English says while ...ing or just ...ing.
Elle écoute la radio en conduisant.
She listens to the radio while driving.
Ne parle pas en mangeant !
Don't talk while eating!
Manner, cause - how? through what?
The means by which something is achieved, or the action that brings something about. This is English by ...ing – and French uses en, never par.
Il a réussi en travaillant beaucoup.
He succeeded by working hard.
On apprend une langue en la parlant.
You learn a language by speaking it.
Elle a pris froid en sortant sans manteau.
She caught a cold going out without a coat.
Condition - on what terms?
The gérondif can replace a whole si clause. It usually opens the sentence, with a future in the main clause.
En partant maintenant, tu arriveras à l'heure.
If you leave now, you'll get there on time.
En cherchant bien, tu le trouveras.
If you look properly, you'll find it.
One person does both
The gérondif belongs to the subject of the main clause: the same person does both things. Before every en ...ant, ask who is doing it. If there are two people, you need a clause with pendant que, quand or comme. English is far more relaxed here – Walking down the street, a car nearly hit me passes in speech – but the French equivalent is ungrammatical, because the car was not walking.
Same subject or two subjects?
Same subject → gérondif
Je lis en mangeant.
I read while eating.
Elle a répondu en souriant.
She answered with a smile.
Two subjects → full clause
Je lis pendant qu'elle mange.
I read while she eats.
Quand il est entré, tout le monde s'est levé.
When he came in, everyone stood up.
Where the English -ing goes
English pours everything into -ing. French splits that work between several structures, and only while ...ing and by ...ing are gérondifs. After any other preposition French takes the infinitive, never -ant, and the progressive is a plain present.
One English form, several French answers
| English | French | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| while eating | en mangeant | gérondif |
| by working | en travaillant | gérondif |
| before leaving | avant de partir | preposition + infinitive |
| without saying anything | sans rien dire | sans + infinitive |
| I am eating | je mange | plain present |
Getting it right
Elle est partie sans dire au revoir.
She left without saying goodbye.
Avant de partir, ferme les fenêtres.
Before leaving, close the windows.
