En faisant: does the French gérondif mean “while” or “by”?
Compare en + present participle for an accompanying action and a method. Use examples, a formation table, sentence practice and a four-question quiz.
In short
Translate en + present participle as “while” when one action accompanies another, and “by” when it explains the method. Il cuisine en écoutant la radio is “He cooks while listening to the radio”; elle ouvre le fichier en cliquant sur le lien is “she opens the file by clicking on the link”.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Does en faisant mean “while doing” or “by doing”?
en écoutantwhile listening
Focus: An activity happening alongside the main action.
cuisiner en écoutant…
Sami prépare le repas en écoutant un podcast.
Sami prepares the meal while listening to a podcast.
en cliquantby clicking
Focus: The action used to achieve the result.
ouvrir un fichier en cliquant…
Elle ouvre le fichier en cliquant sur le lien.
She opens the file by clicking on the link.
En sortant, elle a rencontré son voisin.
As she was going out, she met her neighbour.
“As” is another useful time translation. Going out provides the moment of the meeting.
Sometimes time and method overlap
Il a appris de nouveaux mots en lisant cette histoire.
He learnt new words by reading this story.
Reading supplies the words and is also the activity during which he learns them.
“By reading” highlights the method; “while reading” highlights when the learning happened. Both fit this example. Choose the English wording that brings out the connection the speaker wants to make.
How do you form the gérondif in French?
| Infinitive | Nous form | Gérondif |
|---|---|---|
| écouter | nous écoutons | en écoutant |
| faire | nous faisons | en faisant |
| lire | nous lisons | en lisant |
| cliquer | nous cliquons | en cliquant |
| sortir | nous sortons | en sortant |
Three common forms to learn separately are en étant (being), en ayant (having) and en sachant (knowing). The participle stays unchanged: elle travaille en écoutant and ils travaillent en écoutant.
What mistakes do learners make with the gérondif?
Léa cuisine en écoutant la radio.
Léa cooks while listening to the radio.
Léa does both actions.
Léa cuisine pendant que Sami écoute la radio.
Léa cooks while Sami listens to the radio.
With two different people, name the second person in a clause.
Nous apprenons des mots en lisant cette histoire.
We learn words by reading this story.
Start with nous lisons: remove -ons and add -ant to get en lisant.