The gerund in French : complete course

Non-Personal Verb Forms in French: Understanding the Gerund

What Is a Non-Personal Verb Form?

In French grammar, some verb forms do not change according to the subject (I, you, he, she…). These are called non-personal verb forms (formes non personnelles du verbe). They include the infinitive, the past participle, and the gerund. This article focuses on one of the most useful: the gerund (le gérondif).

The gerund is a verb form used to describe an action that happens at the same time as another action. It is always built with the word en + a present participle.

Simple Examples to Get Started

• Elle chante en cuisinant. — She sings while cooking.
• Il apprend le français en regardant des films. — He learns French by watching movies.
• Tu maigris en marchant chaque jour. — You lose weight by walking every day.

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The Key Elements of the Gerund in French

1. How to Form the Gerund

The French gerund is always made of two parts:

• en (a preposition — it never changes)
• The present participle of the verb (verb stem + -ant)

Infinitive	Present Participle	Gerund
parler (to speak)	parlant	en parlant
finir (to finish)	finissant	en finissant
prendre (to take)	prenant	en prenant
lire (to read)	lisant	en lisant
faire (to do/make)	faisant	en faisant

⚠️ Three verbs have an irregular present participle:

• être → étant → en étant
• avoir → ayant → en ayant
• savoir → sachant → en sachant

2. The Three Main Uses of the Gerund

A. Simultaneous Actions (while doing something)

The gerund shows that two actions happen at the same time, performed by the same subject.

• Elle lit en buvant son café. — She reads while drinking her coffee.
• Il travaille en écoutant de la musique. — He works while listening to music.

B. How or By What Means (by doing something)

The gerund can explain how something is achieved.

• Tu progresseras en pratiquant chaque jour. — You will improve by practicing every day.
• On apprend en faisant des erreurs. — We learn by making mistakes.

C. Condition (if/when doing something)

The gerund can also express a condition or a cause.

• En travaillant dur, tu réussiras. — If you work hard, you will succeed.
• En partant tôt, ils éviteront les embouteillages. — By leaving early, they will avoid traffic jams.

3. An Important Rule: The Same Subject

⚠️ In French, both actions must share the same subject. You cannot use the gerund when two different people are involved.

• ✅ Je chante en dansant. (I sing while I dance.) — same subject: “I”
• ❌ Je chante en dansant Marie. — This does NOT mean “I sing while Marie dances.”

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Why Non-Personal Verb Forms and the Gerund Matter in French

Non-personal verb forms like the gerund are very common in everyday French. Here is why they are important:

• They help you link two ideas in one sentence without repeating the subject.
• They make your French sound more natural and fluent.
• The gerund is short and efficient — it replaces longer expressions like “pendant que je…” (while I…).
• It is used in both spoken and written French, making it very practical to learn.
• Understanding it also helps you read and understand French texts more easily.

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Comparison with Other Languages

The concept of the gerund exists in many languages, but it works differently depending on the language.

Feature	French	Spanish	English
Gerund form	en + -ant (en parlant)	-ando / -iendo (hablando)	-ing (speaking)
Preposition used	Always en	No preposition needed	No preposition (or “by/while”)
Same subject required?	Yes	Usually yes	Usually yes
Example	en mangeant (while eating)	comiendo (eating/while eating)	while eating / by eating
Also used as a noun?	No (use infinitive instead)	Sometimes	Yes (“Eating is fun.”)

📌 Note for English speakers: In English, “eating” can be a noun (“Eating is good”), a verb in a continuous tense (“I am eating”), or part of a gerund phrase (“by eating”). In French, the infinitive is used as a noun (Manger, c’est bien), and the gerund (en mangeant) only expresses simultaneous or related actions.

📌 Note for Spanish speakers: The Spanish gerund (gerundio) and the French gerund are very similar in concept. However, in French you always need en before the form, while in Spanish it is optional.

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Complete Example

Read this short paragraph. Notice how the gerund is used naturally:

Marie apprend le français en regardant des séries françaises. En répétant les phrases à voix haute, elle améliore sa prononciation. Elle prend des notes en écoutant les dialogues. En travaillant ainsi chaque jour, elle progresse rapidement.

Translation:

Marie learns French by watching French series. By repeating sentences out loud, she improves her pronunciation. She takes notes while listening to the dialogues. By working like this every day, she makes rapid progress.

Let’s break it down:

Gerund used	Function	Meaning
en regardant	Means / How	by watching
en répétant	Means / How	by repeating
en écoutant	Simultaneous action	while listening
en travaillant	Condition	by/if working

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Key Takeaways

• ✅ The gerund (le gérondif) is formed with en + present participle (verb stem + -ant).
• ✅ It is a non-personal verb form: it never changes for person or number.
• ✅ It expresses simultaneous actions, a means, or a condition.
• ✅ Both actions must have the same subject.
• ✅ Only three verbs have irregular forms

être, avoir, and savoir.

✅ Use the gerund to sound more natural and fluent in French.

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Sources

• Grevisse, M., & Goosse, A. (2011). Le Bon Usage (15th ed.). De Boeck Duculot. — The reference grammar of the French language, covering all non-personal verb forms including the gerund in detail.
• Riegel, M., Pellat, J.-C., & Rioul, R. (2018). Grammaire méthodique du français (6th ed.). Presses Universitaires de France. — A comprehensive academic grammar that clearly distinguishes the gerund from the present participle and explains its syntactic functions.
• Council of Europe. (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment — Companion Volume. Council of Europe Publishing. — The official CEFR document defining the linguistic competences expected at each level, including B1, used as the pedagogical reference for this article.