Le gérondif: the Gerund in French

What is the gérondif?

The gérondif (the gerund) is a verb form preceded by en. It is used to show how two actions are related in time (whether they happen at the same time or one after the other) or in meaning (to express manner, condition or contrast). The gerund is an impersonal verb form – this means that it can’t be conjugated. There are two tenses of the gerund in French:

There are two forms of the gerund in French:

  • the gérondif présent (the present gerund), which describes an action in progress, simultaneous with the main verb
  • the gérondif passé (the past gerund), which is less common and expresses an action that happened before the main verb

The gerund helps us show the relationship between two parts of a sentence without needing conjunctions like quand, alors que, si, etc.

Learn how to form the gerund in French grammar and when to use it with our quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the online exercises below.

Contents

The gérondif présent

How to form the gérondif présent

The gérondif présent (present gerund) is formed as follows: en + present participle. To form the present participle of a verb, we take the nous form in the present tense and replace the ending -ons with -ant.

Examples:
aimer – nous aimons – en aimantloving
finir – nous finissons – en finissantfinishing
dormir – nous dormons – en dormantsleeping
vendre – nous vendons – en vendantselling

Verbs that are irregular in the present keep their irregularity in the gérondif présent.

Examples:
boire → nous buvons → en buvantdrinking
manger → nous mangeons → en mangeanteating

With pronominal verbs, the reflexive pronoun se (s’ before a vowel or h) comes after en.

Examples:
se promener → en se promenantwalking
s’habiller → en s’habillantgetting dressed

The gerund is an impersonal verb form – this means that it can’t be conjugated.

Special cases

Three verbs have an irregular present gerund:

avoir – en ayanthaving
être – en étantbeing
savoir – en sachantknowing

When to use the gérondif présent

We use the gérondif présent alongside another verb:

  • to indicate that two actions by the same subject happen at the same time
    Example:
    Max a marqué un but en jouant.Max scored a goal while playing.
  • to express a condition
    Example:
    En s’entraînant bien, son équipe gagnera aussi le prochain match.If he trains well, his team will also win the next match.
  • to express how something is done
    Example:
    Il est rentré à la maison en chantant.He came home singing.
  • to express contrast or opposition (the word tout often comes before the gérondif, which means “even” here).
    Example:
    Il a marqué un but tout en courant très peu pendant le jeu.He scored a goal even while running very little during the game.

Differences between the gérondif présent and the participe présent

The gérondif présent is very close in form to the participe présent (present participle) – they both end in -ant, but the gerund is always preceded by en. The main difference is how they are used:

  • The gérondif présent always accompanies another verb in the sentence, and both actions have the same subject. It adds background or nuance to the main verb, but is never the central verb. It’s also more common in speech and everyday language.
    Example:
    Il a progressé en travaillant.He improved by working.
    → The gerund en travaillant share the same subject as the main verb a progressé and explains how the improvement happened.
  • The present participle can stand alone and has several usages. It can act as an adjective. Additionally, it can express cause, manner or simultaneity. In such uses, the present participle is similar to the gerund, but it gives the sentence a more literary or formal tone.
    Examples:
    C’est une histoire fascinante.It’s a fascinating story.
    → The participle fascinante is used as an adjective to describe the word l’histoire.
    Voyant la pluie arriver, elle s’est abritée.Seeing the rain coming, she took shelter.
    → The participle voyant introduces a simultaneous action in a more literary tone.

The gérondif passé

How to form the gérondif passé

The gérondif passé (past gerund) is formed as follows: en + ayant/étant + past participle.

Examples:
demander → en ayant demandéhaving asked.
arriver → en étant arrivéhaving arrived
faire → en ayant faithaving done

With pronominal verbs, the subject’s reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, etc.) is placed before the auxiliary verb. The gérondif passé is always formed with étant and the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. In these cases, remember to pay close attention to the agreement rules that depend on the subject and the position of the direct object.

Examples:
se réveiller → en m’étant réveilléehaving woken up (subject: je → feminine singular)
se rendre → en nous étant rendushaving gone (subject: nous → masculine plural)

When to use avoir or être

The choice between avoir and être follows the same rules as the passé composé.

We use avoir with most verbs:

Examples:
en ayant décidéhaving decided
en ayant comprishaving understood
en ayant luhaving read

We use être:

  • with pronominal verbs
    Example:
    se lever → en s’étant levéhaving got up
  • with the following 16 verbs of movement or change of state:
    → naître/mourir, aller/venir, monter/descendre, arriver/partir, entrer/sortir, apparaître, devenir, passer, rester, retourner, tomber
    Example:
    En étant parti voyager, il s’était rendu compte de la diversité culturelle.By having travelled, he had realised the cultural diversity.
  • and their compound forms:
    → revenir, rentrer, remonter, redescendre, repartir, …
    Example:
    En étant repartis le lendemain, nous avions surpris tout le monde.By having left the next day, we had surprised everyone.

However, if there is a direct object after these verbs (i.e. the verb is transitive), we use the auxiliary verb avoir. In such cases, the meaning of these verbs usually changes, as can be seen in the following examples:

Verb with auxiliary être with auxiliary avoir
descendre En étant descendu rapidement.Having come down quickly.
→ être, verb of movement		 En ayant descendu les escaliers.Having come down the stairs.
→ avoir, transitive verb = action performed on les escaliers
(re)monter En étant monté dans sa chambre.Having gone up to his room.
→ être, verb of movement		 En ayant monté les valises.Having packed the suitcases.
→ avoir, transitive verb = action performed on les valises
sortir En étant sortie à 20 h.Having left at 8 pm.
→ être, verb of movement		 En ayant sorti les poubelles.Having taken out the bins.
→ avoir, transitive verb = action performed on les poubelles
(r)entrer En étant rentrés tard.Having come home late.
→ être, verb of movement		 En ayant rentré les chaises.Having put the chairs away.
→ avoir, transitive verb = action performed on les chaises
passer En étant passés par ici.Having passed through here.
→ être, verb of movement		 En ayant passé une semaine en Espagne.Having spent a week in Spain.
→ avoir, transitive verb = action performed on une semaine

When to use the gérondif passé

The gérondif passé shares the subject with the main verb. It is always used alongside another verb to:

  • express that one action happened before another, both by the same subject
    Example:
    En ayant écrit son dernier examen, il pensait avoir clôturé un chapitre.Having written his final exam, he thought he had closed a chapter.
  • express a condition in the past
    Example:
    En ayant étudié davantage, il aurait réussi son année.If he had studied more, he would have passed his year.

  • express cause

    Example:
    En ayant trop peu révisé le sujet principal, il n’a pas réussi à répondre aux questions.As he had revised the main topic insufficiently, he was unable to answer the questions.

  • express contrast/opposition (the gerund is often preceded by the word tout meaning “even though”)

    Example:
    Tout en ayant échoué, il a quand même décidé de voir le positif.Even though he failed, he still decided to look on the bright side.

Differences between the gérondif passé and the participe composé

The gérondif passé is very close in form to the participe composé (past participle) – they both follow the pattern ayant/étant + participe passé – but only the gérondif is introduced by en.

Examples:
En ayant terminé son travail, il est parti.Having finished his work, he left. → gérondif passé
Ayant terminé son travail, il est parti.Having finished his work, he left. → participe composé

The main difference is how they are used:

  • The gérondif passé always accompanies another verb in the sentence, and both actions have the same subject. It introduces an earlier action that adds nuance to the main verb (condition, cause, contrast). It’s also more common in speech or everyday language.
Example:
En ayant étudié, il a réussi.Having studied, he succeeded.
→ This example shows a cause in the past: he was successful because he studied.
  • The participe composé also shows that one action happened before another, but in a more formal or literary style. Remember, it’s never introduced by en and can have a different subject from the main verb.
Examples:
Ayant hésité avant de répondre, l’agent double risqua de griller sa couverture.Having hesitated before answering, the double agent risked blowing his cover.
→ Ayant hésité shows that the hesitation happened first, in a more literary style than the gérondif.
Les portes étant fermées, il dut attendre.As the doors were shut, he had to wait.
→ This example has two different subjects: les portes and il.

How to form the negative with the gérondif

In negative sentences with the gérondif présent the verb is enclosed by the two parts of the negation (ne…pas, ne…jamais, etc.). With the gérondif passé, it’s the auxiliary verb avoir or être that is enclosed.

Examples:
En ne partant pas en vacances cet été, tu risques de t’ennuyer.By not going on holiday this summer, you risk getting bored.
En n’ayant pas révisé, il a échoué.By not revising, he failed.

With pronominal verbs, the negation is formed in a similar way. When the verb is in the gérondif présent, the negation surrounds the reflexive pronoun and verb. With the gérondif passé, the negation surrounds the reflexive pronoun and auxiliary verb.

Examples:
En ne se dépêchant pas, Léa a raté le bus.By not hurrying, Lea missed the bus.
En ne s'étant pas réveillé à l'heure, Luc a manqué son train.By not waking up on time, Luc missed his train.

Go to our page on negation in French for more information and lots of practice exercises.

en en: when the gérondif meets the prounoun en

You may sometimes see the word en twice in a row in a sentence, as in:

Example:
En en parlant, il s’est senti mieux.By talking about it, he felt better.

This can look odd, but it’s grammatically correct. There are two different en’s: the first en is the gerund marker (it introduces the verb form: en parlant). The second en is a pronoun that replaces a complement introduced by de (for example, profiter de quelque chose → en profiter).

This is common with verbs that take a prepositional complement (parler de, profiter de, se souvenir de…) and with pronominal verbs. With pronominal verbs, the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, etc.) is added onto the second en.

Examples:
En s’en souvenant, ma sœur s‘est mise à pleurer.As she remembered this, my sister began to cry.
En s’en étant rendu compte à temps, il avait pu rectifier l’erreur.Having realised this in time, he was able to rectify the error.