📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 2 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 1 · Le récit écrit
Le gérondif — two things at once
Module 9 of the free French course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 2 of 30: En plus the -ant form says that two things happened together. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 2.
The words
French
English
Say it
en marchant
while walking
ah(n) mahr-SHAH(n)
en regardant des films
by watching films
ah(n) ruh-gahr-dah(n) day FEELM
le gérondif
the gerund
luh zhay-roh(n)-DEEF
en sachant
knowing
ah(n) sah-SHAH(n)
le moyen
the means
luh mwah-YA(n)
simultanément
at the same time
see-mewl-tah-nay-MAH(n)
apprendre
to learn
ah-PRAH(n)DR
la manière
the manner
lah mah-NYEHR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
En plus the -ant form says that two things happened together, or that one was the means of the other. Il lisait en marchant — he read while walking. J'ai appris le français en regardant des films.
Et aussi · And also
Build it from the nous-form of the present: nous mangeons gives en mangeant, nous finissons gives en finissant. Three verbs are irregular: en étant, en ayant, en sachant. The subject must be the same for both halves.
Attention · Watch out
The gérondif is built from the NOUS-form: nous mangeons gives en mangeant. Three are irregular: en étant, en ayant, en sachant. Never en savant.
prendre, imparfait — the table
je prenais · tu prenais · il/elle prenait · nous prenions · vous preniez · ils/elles prenaient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with en marchant.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out prendre, imparfait in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.