Gerund in Italian

The modo gerundio (gerund mood) is one of the non-finite and impersonal moods of the Italian language.

It has got two tenses:

1. Gerundio presente (present)
2. Gerundio passato (past)

Definition and usage of the Italian gerundio

The gerundio in Italian has the same meaning as the -ing form in English.
Its use is usually related to subordinate clauses and the subject is the one of the conjugated verb of the main clause.
 

Example:

• Salendo (io) sul pullman, (io) sono caduta (While I was getting on the bus, I fell)
• Andando (noi) al mare, (noi) siamo passati per la tua città (While we were going to the seaside, we drove through your city)

The gerundio can have three different functions based on the relationship with the main clause:

1. Gerundio subordinato: it changes based on the type of subordinate clause. The main ones are: causali, ipotetiche, concessive, temporali and modali
2. Gerundio appositivo: it replaces the participio presente
3. Gerundio coordinato: it corresponds to a coordinate clause. In this case the gerund action takes place during or after the action of the main clause.

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Periphrasis with the gerundio (present progressive in Italian)

The Italian gerund can also be used with the verbs stare and andare to indicate that an action is taking place in the exact moment of the utterance or that an action is gradually changing (azione progressiva):

1) stare + gerundio: 

• Non puoi parlare con Giuseppe andesso perchè sta studiando (You cannot talk to Giuseppe now because he is studying)
• Sto parlando, non interrompermi per piacere (I'm talking, don't interrupt me please)

Unlike English, in Italian this periphrasis cannot be used to indicate future actions.
Example: Cosa stai facendo? (What are you doing?) - contemporary action
Stasera vengo alle 21 (Tonight I'm coming at 9 pm.) - future action

2) andare + gerundio:

• La situazione del paese va migliorando grazie alle politiche del governo (The country's situation is improving thanks to the government's politics)
• Il riscaldamento globale va aumentando sempre di più ogni giorno (Global warming is increasing more and more every day)

Conjugation of the Italian gerund

As already said, the gerund has two tenses:

1. the present gerund is formed by adding -ando to the root of the verbs belonging to the first conjugation or -endo to the verbs belonging to the second and third conjugations.
    
2. the past gerund is a compound tense formed by the auxiliary verbs essere and avere + the past participle form of the main verb.
   Its meaning is similar to English expressions such as having done, having finished etc...

Regular verbs in the gerundio

Regular verbs form the gerundio (both present and past) as follows:

Verbs that belong to the -are conjugation

Example amare (to love)

Verbs that belong to the -ere conjugation

Example credere (to believe)

Verbs that belong to the -ire conjugation

Example dormire (to sleep)

Irregular verbs in the gerundio

There are few irregular verbs in the gerundio. Here is a table to help you to study the main ones:

Auxiliary verbs: essere/avere

Here is the conjugation for the auxiliary verbs essere and avere in the gerund mood:

Now don't forget to try our exercises on the Italian gerund!