15.4
Die Bildung des participe présent und des
gérondif
As you might have guess the constructions with participe présent
and participe passé as well as the form of gérondif
are more used in the written language. In spoken language the 'long' form (relative clause, temporal clause, causal clause, conditional clause or Infinitivkonstruktion) is more regularly used.
Now a few more details about the formation of participe présent: Is is formed by using the stem of the 1st person plural and adding the ending -ant.
Verb
1st person plural
participe présent
to finish
finir
=> finissons =>
finissant
to drink
boire
=> buvons =>
buvant
to receive
recevoir
=> recevons =>
recevant
to read
lire
=> lisons =>
lisant
There are some irregular forms, e.g. savoir => sachant.
Examples
Sachant
qu' il n' arriverait pas à l' heure,
il n' y est pas allé du tout.
Knowing that he would not arrive on time he did not go at all.
Le gouvernement
a mené une politique
de la monnaie légère, contribuant ainsi à l'inflation.
The government operated with a policy of easy money, contributing this way to the inflation.
The gerondif does not differ in form from the participe présent, it only has a preset preposition:
