Gerund

Question 1

Gerund

Answer 1

Gerund vs infinitive

1. Infinitive- (When “ing” in English follows another verb use infinitive)
   a. Hai finito di mangiare? Have you finished (for the purpose of) eating?
   b. puo essere difficile can be difficult
   c. Auitami a friggare le patatine- help me fry the potatoes
   d. Sei molto bravo a parlare francese
   Ma e meglio non mangiare troppo cibi friggi but it’s better not to eat too much fried food
   e. Non mettere troppa pasta nel mio piatto (negative imperative- singular) Don’t put too much pasta
   f. non so cucinare; non so neanche riconoscere- I can’t even recognize
   g. indovinare guess (indovina chi guess who) come ha fatto a indovinare- how did you guess
   h. Si prega di non disturbare.-“Please do not disturb.”
   i. Fare la spesa ; Vado a fare la spesa I’m off to buy some groceries
   j. Qualcosa da infinitve-qualcosa da usare something to use, something to be used, something which can be used
   k. grazie per aver pensato < pensare- thank you for thinking, thank you for having thought
2. Gerund
   a. Ando (are). Endo (ere ire)
   b. Sto lavarando I am working
   t. Stavo lavando i piatti - I was washing the dishes
   u. Sto stai sta stiamo state stanno
   v. Stavo stavi stava stavamo stavate stavano
   a. Stava facendo- he was doing
   b. Avendo having ; Andando going ; Putting away -mettendo via ; Facendo doing
   c. Il concerto sta iniziando. (literally) “The concert is starting.”
   d. Sta piovendo it is raining

Gerund (if when)

g. Gerund + noun (direct object) may substitute for the subordinate clause in all kinds of hypothetical periods, provided that the subject of both sentences is the same. Since the gerund is an infinitive mode, it is not related to any person; therefore, we infer the subject of both sentences solely from the one expressed in the main clause.
h. We can infer the type of the “if” clause we are dealing with exclusively from the tense of the main clause, since the impersonal gerund mode does not give us any clue about it.
i. Useful when we don’t recall the subjunctive conjugation of the subordinate clause verb. Subject of both sentences has to be the same.

j. Type 1
i. Avendo tempo, potremmo andare da Antonio. If we have (having) time we could go to Antonio’s (Similar to Se ho tempo )
k. Type 2
i. Se ascoltasse il mio consiglio, riparerebbe la macchina.-“If he paid heed/listened to my advice, he’d repair the car.”
ii. Ascoltando il mio consiglio, riparerebbe la macchina- (literally “Paying heed/Listening to my advice, he’d repair the car.”
l. Type 3
i. Se avessero comprato gli strumenti giusti, avrebbero dipinto il muro.-“If they’d bought the right tools, they’d have painted the wall.”
ii. Comprando (or avendo comprato) gli strumenti giusti, avrebbero dipinto il muro. (literally) “Buying (or “having bought”) the right tools, they’d have painted the wall.”
iii. In type III “if” clauses, we may use the past gerund, though both the present and the past gerund are perfectly acceptable (the past gerund is deemed to be slightly more formal).

Question 2

Screaming for (the purpose of) joy

Answer 2

urlando di gioia

Question 3

Involving

Answer 3

coinvolgendo

Question 4

I’m not getting involved

Answer 4

non mi sto facendo coinvolgere

Question 5

The family is enjoying a holiday meal

Answer 5

La famiglia si sta godendo un pasto in un giorno festivo.

Question 6

having spoken”

Answer 6

parlare > avendo parlato “

Question 7

Having gone

Answer 7

andare > essendo andato/a/i/e

Question 8

I listen to the podcast while (I’m) walking.

Answer 8

Ascolto il podcast, camminando.
(Same subject) or

ascolto il podcast mentre cammino.

If not same subject
Mark ascolta il podcast, mentre Francesca cammina.
Mark is listening to the podcast, while Francesca is walking.

Question 9

I passed the exam (by) studying day and night.

Answer 9

2. To explain how something is done:
   Ho superato l’esame, studiando giorno e notte.

Question 10

If I could, I would do it.

Answer 10

To make hypothesis (as an alternative to se): Potendo, lo farei.

Alternatively, it could be said: se potessi, lo farei “if I could, I would do it”.

Question 11

If I had been able to, I would have done it.

Answer 11

To make hypotheses in the past (as an alternative to se “if” + pluperfect subjunctive):
Avendo potuto, lo avrei fatto.(having been able to do it, I would have done it)

As before, an alterative to this would be: se avessi potuto, lo avrei fatto.

Question 12

Having missed the train /since he missed the train, he stayed at ours for the night.

Answer 12

To indicate the cause or the reason for something (as an alternative to poiché, visto che, dato che):
Avendo perso il treno, si è fermato a dormire da noi.
The same idea could have been conveyed in the following way: visto che ha perso/
visto che aveva perso il treno, si è fermato a dormire da noi.

Question 13

Paolo went out, even though he had a temperature.

Answer 13

To express concession preceded by pure/pur (as an alternative to conjunctions like sebbene and nonostante):
Paolo è uscito, pur avendo la febbre.
Nonostante

Question 14

People are going about (go) saying that Giovanni doesn’t live here anymore.

Answer 14

To describe actions in progress which started at an unspecified time and are still ongoing using andare + gerund:
You will not come across many examples of this structure but it’s certainly good to be aware of its existence and recognise it in case you hear it or read it somewhere.

La gente va dicendo che Giovanni non abita più qui.

Question 15

I am putting the sheets (paper) in a container for the purpose of recycling paper

Answer 15

sto mettendo i fogli in un contenitore apposta per il riciclaggio (ri ci claggio) della carta.

Question 16

having had more than a negative experience, (because I had more than one negative experience)

Answer 16

avendo avuto più di un’esperienza negativa

Question 17

how we are managing, how we are handling, how we are dealing with

Answer 17

come stiamo gestendo
(Gestire)

Question 18

As (having or since/given that) I understood the problem, I managed to find a good solution.

Answer 18

Avendo capito (or: visto che ho capito, poiché ho capito, dato che ho capito) il
problema, sono riuscito/a a trovare una buona soluzione.

Question 19

Not knowing what to do, Patrizio decided to phone the police.

Answer 19

Non sapendo cosa fare, Patrizio ha deciso (or: decise) di chiamare la polizia (or: di
telefonare alla polizia).

Question 20

Although they are very rich, her parents never help anyone.

Answer 20

Pur essendo molto ricchi (or: sebbene siano, nonostante siano), i suoi genitori non
aiutano mai nessuno.

Question 21

Although we read the book (or: despite reading the book), we didn’t understand (or:we haven’t understood) the film well.

Answer 21

Pur avendo letto il libro, non abbiamo capito bene il film.

Question 22

He is collecting (gathering)

Answer 22

Sta raccogliendo

Question 23

The woman is printing a document

Answer 23

La donna sta stampando un documento.

Question 24

They are watching a comedy and laughing.

Answer 24

Stanno guardando una commedia e ridendo.

Question 25

I am planning to start production here

Answer 25

Sto progettando (pianificando) di avviare una produzione qui

Question 26

Blowing on it

Answer 26

Sbuffandoci sopra (Sbuffare)

Question 27

finding themselves

Answer 27

trovandosi < trovarsi

Question 28

Gerund uses

Answer 28

Andando in palestra, ho incontrato While going to the gym etc Parlando troppo al telefono, Alice ha perso il treno By talking too much etc Potendo, viaggerei di piu If I could, I would travel more