Common mistakes
French gérondif mistakes: who is doing both actions?
Fix dangling French gérondifs by naming the actor. Four corrections cover objects, passive clauses and two different people, followed by a short quiz.
- B1
- 4 corrections
- Examples and fixes
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
In standard written French, the gérondif normally shares the main clause’s subject: En entrant, Léa a souri. Léa enters and Léa smiles. When two different people act, give the second action its own subject with quand or pendant que.
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Each correction below starts from an intended scene. The wording to fix is followed by a version that gives each action to the right actor. The key question is “Who is doing the -ant action?”
- En ouvrant la porte, une enveloppe est tombée.This attaches opening to the envelope.Give the opening a human subject.
Quand Sami a ouvert la porte, une enveloppe est tombée.When Sami opened the door, an envelope fell.
Sami opens; the envelope falls. A quand clause gives the two events separate subjects.
- En lisant le dossier, une erreur a été repérée par Léa.This makes une erreur the subject of reading.Make Léa the main subject.
En lisant le dossier, Léa a repéré une erreur.While reading the file, Léa spotted an error.
The name after par is the passive agent, rather than the grammatical subject. Switching to the active makes Léa the reader and the person who spots the error.
- En rentrant, le téléphone a sonné.This attaches returning to the telephone.Name the person who returned.
Quand je suis rentré, le téléphone a sonné.When I came home, the phone rang.
The speaker is a man in this example, hence rentré. The ringing and the return have different subjects, so a full clause keeps both events clear.
- En préparant la réunion, Sami m’a téléphoné.This says Sami was preparing the meeting.Use pendant que if I was preparing it.
Pendant que je préparais la réunion, Sami m’a téléphoné.While I was preparing the meeting, Sami phoned me.
The starting sentence is grammatical when Sami prepares and phones. For the intended scene here, I prepare and he phones: the full clause preserves those roles.
Who does the action of a French gérondif?
En traversant la place, Léa a été reconnue par un ami.
While crossing the square, Léa was recognised by a friend.
Léa crosses the square. She is also the grammatical subject of the passive main clause. That shared subject makes the attachment clear.
| Sentence | Actor of the gérondif | Main subject |
|---|---|---|
| En écoutant, Sami prend des notes. | Sami | Sami |
| En attendant, nous discutons. | nous | nous |
| En travaillant, elle a été interrompue. | elle | elle |
The main subject can undergo an action, as in the passive example, while performing the gérondif action. What matters is the subject link. With an object as the main subject, a clause beginning quand je… often gives the scene the actor it needs.