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2.15: Gerundio

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    The Italian gerund may (but doesn’t always) correspond to the -ING form of English verbs.

    The gerund has two forms: the present (or simple) gerund which is formed by replacing the -ARE ending of the infinitive of the verb with –ANDO, and the –ERE, –IRE endings with –ENDO; and the past (or compound) gerund, which is formed with avendo or essendo + participio passato.

    Infinito Gerundio presente Gerundio passato
    andare andando essendo andato/a/i/e
    leggere leggendo avendo letto
    capire capendo avendo capito
    svegliarsi svegliandosi* essendosi* svegliato/a/i/e
    bere bevendo** avendo bevuto

    *All pronouns are attached to the gerund to form one word. Reflexive pronouns must match the subject:

    Essendomi svegliata tardi, sono uscita in fretta.
Having gotten up late, I left in a hurry.

    ** Verbs that form the IMPERFETTO with the Latin stem use the same stem to form the GERUNDIO:

    bere → bevevo → bevendo
    dire → dicevo → dicendo
    fare → facevo → facendo
    tradurre → traducevo → traducendo

     

    Risorse

    Per trovare le coniugazioni di tutti i verbi, usa le risorse in APPENDIX

     

    Uso del Gerundio

    The GERUNDIO is used as follows:
    1. With the present or imperfect of stare in progressive forms, to express an action in progress. Progressive forms are used less frequently in Italian than in English, and only to indicate that the action is the process of happening.
    - Cosa stai facendo? - Sto cucinando.
- What are you doing? - I am cooking.

- Cosa stavi facendo? - Stavo cucinando.
- What were you doing? - I was cooking.
    BUT:
    - Che fai stasera? - Esco con i miei amici.
- What are you doing tonight? - I am going out with my friends.
    2. By itself, to express circumstances surrounding the action of the main verb, as the equivalent of a dependent clause that expresses time, cause, condition, means, manner. For this use, the gerund and the main verb must have the same subject.
    Potete studiare guardando la TV?
Can you study while watching TV?

Giocando col telefonino, perdi molto tempo.
By playing (if/when you play) with your cellphone, you waste a lot of time. 

Sentendomi in colpa, ho studiato invece di andare a letto.
Feeling guilty (since I felt guilty), I studied instead of going to bed. 

Essendo andata a letto tardi, sono molto stanca oggi.
Having gone (Since I went) to bed late, I am very tired today.
    Important Points to Remember 
    The Italian gerund does NOT translate the English -ING form in several cases, most notably the following:
    • When the -ing form has the function of a noun, use the infinitive or a noun in Italian.
    Smoking is bad for you.
Fumare fa male (Il fumo fa male).

Studying is necessary.
Studiare è necessario (Lo studio è necessario).
    • After another verb, use a preposition + infinitive
    He started crying.
Ha cominciato a piangere.

I haven’t finished eating.
Non ho finito di mangiare.

     

     

     

    This page titled 2.15: Gerundio is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Cinzia Blum and Lucia Gemmani (Iowa State University Digital Press) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.