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In French, gerunds are expressed through the gérondif, which is formed by taking the nous form of a verb in the present tense, dropping the -ons ending, and adding -ant. Then, it uses en to mean "while (doing something)".
Examples:
en parlant = "while speaking"en finissant = "while finishing"en voyant = "seeing / while seeing"Common uses include:
Je lis en écoutant la musique. ("I read while listening to music.")En allant tout droit, vous verrez la librairie. ("By going straight ahead, you will see the bookstore.")Note: The gérondif cannot be used as a noun, unlike the English gerund.
Related Topics: gérondif, present participle, adverbs