How to use the Gerund

What are these people doing? Stanno mangiando e la ragazza sta correndo. Do you know this verb tense? ‘Sta correndo’ is called gerund.  

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Today we talk about the gerund. The gerund in Italian is formed by adding ‘-ando’ to the root of verbs that end in ‘-are’, ‘-endo’ for verbs that end in ‘-ere’, and ‘-ire’. So we have ‘mangiare’ – ‘mangiando’, ‘leggere’ – ‘leggendo’, ‘dormire’ – ‘dormendo’. 

The gerund is used in subordinate clauses and can have different meanings. It also indicates an action that is contemporary to that expressed in the main sentence. But what are these meanings?

The gerund can indicate the cause for which the action expressed in the main sentence occurs. Let’s make an example: ‘Conoscendo le tue idee, non ho detto niente’ (Knowing your ideas, I didn’t say anything).

 Why didn’t I say anything? Because I know what you think, because I know your ideas. So, I know your ideas and, knowing your ideas, I didn’t say anything. 

The gerund can also indicate the time or moment when an action occurs: ‘L’ho incontrato andando al lavoro’ (I met him while going to work). When did I meet him? While I was doing the action of going to work.

It can also have an instrumental meaning. What does instrumental mean? Let’s make an example: ‘Leggendo, si imparano nuove cose’ (By reading, you learn new things). How do you learn new things? By reading. Through the action of reading. Because while I perform the action of reading, I learn new things. 

It also indicates the manner in which an action is carried out: ‘Uscirono correndo’ (They left running). In what manner did they leave? Running, in a hurry.

Finally, the gerund sometimes replaces il periodo ipotetico: ‘Comprando qualche pianta, la casa diventa più bella’ (By buying some plants, the house becomes more beautiful). With this sentence, I mean that if some plants were bought, the house would become more beautiful. 

Lastly, the gerund connects two actions that occur at the same time: ‘Mi salutò sorridendo’ (He greeted me while smiling). What does it mean? He greeted me and at the same time, in the same moment, smiled.

The gerund in Italian is also used especially with the verb ‘stare’. The construction ‘stare’ plus gerund, also called the progressive form, corresponds to the English ‘to be doing something’. The progressive form gives an idea of the duration of an action observed at the moment of its unfolding, indicating an action that occurs at this precise moment. 

The verb ‘stare’ is conjugated while the gerund remains unchanged. For example: ‘Io ora sto parlando mentre tu stai guardando e ascoltando questo video’ (I am now speaking while you are watching and listening to this video). ‘La ragazza sta correndo’ (The girl is running). ‘Queste persone stanno mangiando’ (These people are eating).

The gerund can also be used in the past, if the action occurred in the past and for a certain period of time. In this case, it’s function is similar to the one of the imperfect tense. ‘Cosa facevi?’ ‘Stavo cucinando’ (What were you doing? I was cooking). Or: ‘Cosa facevi?’ ‘Cucinavo’ (What were you doing? I was cooking). 

However, when describing a situation in the past where two actions occurred at the same time, one continuously and one punctually, the imperfect tense is not used, ‘stare’ plus gerund is used instead. ‘Ieri stavo cucinando quando mi hai telefonato’ (Yesterday I was cooking when you called me). The action of calling came at a precise moment while another action, that of cooking, lasted for a certain time.

However, be careful, ‘stavo cucinando’ is not a past gerund, which instead is ‘avendo cucinato’. How is the past gerund formed? It is formed with the gerund of the verb ‘essere’ or ‘avere’ plus the past participle of the main verb. 

For example: ‘Avendo studiato, è stato promosso’ (Having studied, he was promoted). 

As you can guess from this sentence, the past gerund is used in a subordinate clause and indicates the cause of the action that occurred in the main sentence. ‘Avendo studiato, è stato promosso’ is equivalent to saying that he was promoted because he studied. 

‘Avendo vissuto in Inghilterra, conosco bene l’inglese’ (Having lived in England, I know English well), which is equivalent to saying I know English well because I lived in England. 

The past gerund is not very used because the preference is to use an explicit sentence, such as ‘conosco bene l’inglese perché ho vissuto in Inghilterra’ (I know English well because I lived in England).