The means reading of the gérondif is what you reach for whenever you want to answer the question how?. Not when?, not why?, not under what condition? — but specifically, by what method? or through what action?. On apprend en pratiquant — one learns by practicing. Tu maigris en faisant du sport — you lose weight by exercising. Elle a réussi en travaillant dur — she succeeded by working hard. The gérondif here is doing the same job as English by + V-ing, and the mapping is so direct that English speakers usually grasp this reading faster than the others. The work, then, is in seeing where the means reading is appropriate, distinguishing it from simultaneity, and learning the slightly more abstract domains where it operates — proverbs, instructions, life-lessons.
The core: by doing X
The means reading of the gérondif specifies the method by which the main-clause action is achieved or the result is obtained.
On apprend en pratiquant.
One learns by practicing.
Tu maigris en faisant du sport.
You lose weight by exercising.
Elle a réussi en travaillant dur.
She succeeded by working hard.
On lutte contre l'obésité en mangeant équilibré.
You fight obesity by eating a balanced diet.
Il s'est cassé la jambe en skiant.
He broke his leg skiing. (skiing both temporally locates and explains the injury — simultaneity shading into means/cause)
In each of these, the gérondif clause specifies how — the action that produces, causes, or enables the main-clause situation. The relation between the gérondif and the main clause is essentially instrumental: the gérondif is the instrument; the main clause is the result.
A useful diagnostic: if you can paraphrase the sentence with par + le fait de or grâce au fait de (by means of, thanks to the fact of), or with comment? — en faisant X (how? — by doing X), the gérondif is being read as means.
The English mapping
The means reading of the gérondif maps cleanly onto English by + V-ing:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| en pratiquant | by practicing |
| en travaillant | by working |
| en mangeant équilibré | by eating a balanced diet |
| en lisant beaucoup | by reading a lot |
| en faisant du sport | by exercising |
| en parlant calmement | by speaking calmly |
This is one of the rare French constructions where the English translation comes for free. Where English uses by + V-ing, French uses en + V-ant. The trap is that by + V-ing is just one of several English constructions that map onto the gérondif (the others are while + V-ing and conditional if + clause), so seeing English by doesn't tell you which gérondif you have — you need the rest of the sentence.
En appuyant sur ce bouton, vous activerez l'alarme.
By pressing this button, you'll activate the alarm.
On peut résoudre la plupart des conflits en discutant calmement.
Most conflicts can be resolved by talking calmly.
Tu progresseras plus vite en révisant tous les jours.
You'll make faster progress by reviewing every day.
Means vs. simultaneity — the same form, different readings
The gérondif form en + V-ant is identical for both the simultaneity reading (while doing X) and the means reading (by doing X). Context determines which is salient.
| Sentence | Simultaneity reading | Means reading |
|---|---|---|
| Il chante en travaillant. | While [he] works, he sings. (his work doesn't cause his singing) | (no means reading — singing isn't a method of working) |
| On apprend en pratiquant. | (no clean simultaneity reading — learning isn't strictly co-temporal with practicing) | One learns by practicing. (practice is the method) |
| Elle réfléchit en marchant. | She thinks while walking. (simultaneity dominant) | (means reading possible — walking helps thinking — but secondary) |
| Il s'est blessé en skiant. | He hurt himself while skiing. (simultaneity dominant — when did it happen? while skiing) | (means/cause secondary — skiing was both the time and the cause) |
The two readings are not mutually exclusive. Il s'est blessé en skiant both locates the injury in time (he was skiing when it happened) and explains it (skiing was the cause). Elle a réussi en travaillant dur both says she succeeded over a period that overlapped with hard work and that her hard work was the means of success. French does not force you to choose; the gérondif handles both at once.
What pushes a sentence toward the means reading specifically:
- Result-focused main clauses: verbs of achievement, change of state, success/failure, learning, becoming. Apprendre, réussir, gagner, devenir, progresser, maigrir, grossir.
- General/proverbial framing: on, present-tense generalizations, life advice.
- The implicit question being answered: comment? (how?) — the gérondif gives the method.
What pushes a sentence toward the simultaneity reading:
- Durative or atelic main verbs: actions without inherent endpoints. Chanter, parler, marcher, lire, écouter.
- Specific time anchors in the main clause.
- The implicit question being answered: quand? (when?) — the gérondif gives the temporal frame.
The proverb pattern
French has a robust tradition of using the gérondif in proverbs that encapsulate life lessons. The pattern C'est en + V-ant que + main clause is the proverbial structure par excellence.
C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron.
One becomes a blacksmith by forging. (Practice makes the master.)
C'est en cherchant qu'on trouve.
It's by searching that one finds.
C'est en marchant qu'on découvre le monde.
It's by walking that one discovers the world.
C'est en prenant des risques qu'on avance.
It's by taking risks that one moves forward.
The c'est en X-ant que construction emphasizes the means clause — it is the cleft form that puts the means in focus. The plain version (on devient forgeron en forgeant) means the same thing but without the focus.
These proverbial structures are useful to memorize as templates. They give you a way of expressing life-philosophy thoughts in a register that feels both literary and conversational — French speakers use these patterns in everyday speech, not just in writing.
Instructions and how-to writing
The means gérondif is heavily used in instructional writing — manuals, recipes, technical documentation — to explain how a result is achieved.
En appuyant sur ce bouton, vous activerez l'alarme.
By pressing this button, you'll activate the alarm.
Vous pourrez ouvrir le fichier en double-cliquant dessus.
You can open the file by double-clicking on it.
On désactive la sécurité en tournant la clé à droite.
You deactivate the safety by turning the key to the right.
En faisant chauffer doucement, vous éviterez que ça brûle.
By heating gently, you'll keep it from burning.
The pattern in instructional writing is typically:
- En
- V-ant + (object/complement), + main clause with future or modal.
This is the formal-but-accessible register of user manuals, cookbook explanations, and how-to guides. Recognizing and producing it is essential for any technical or instructional French.
Life-advice and self-improvement
A second high-frequency context for the means gérondif is the genre of life advice — self-help, fitness, study tips, health guidance.
Tu te sentiras mieux en dormant huit heures par nuit.
You'll feel better by sleeping eight hours a night.
On améliore son français en regardant des films en VO.
You improve your French by watching movies in their original version.
Vous économiserez beaucoup en cuisinant chez vous.
You'll save a lot by cooking at home.
On vit plus longtemps en mangeant moins de viande.
You live longer by eating less meat.
Tu finiras par parler couramment en t'exposant à la langue tous les jours.
You'll end up speaking fluently by exposing yourself to the language every day.
These sentences typically have:
- A future, conditional, or generic present in the main clause.
- A subject of broad reference (tu, vous, on) that includes the addressee.
- A gérondif clause specifying the recommended method.
The structure has a faintly imperative force — it tells you what to do without using the imperative — which is why it is so common in advice contexts where direct commands would be too blunt.
Means vs. avec + noun
A subtle distinction worth noting: French uses avec + noun for instrumental meaning (with a tool or object), and the gérondif for process or method (by doing an action).
| Instrumental (a tool) | Method (an action) |
|---|---|
| Il l'a coupé avec un couteau. (with a knife) | Il l'a coupé en utilisant un couteau. (by using a knife — fully equivalent here) |
| Elle écrit avec un stylo. (with a pen) | Elle écrit en se servant d'un stylo. (by using a pen) |
| On le fait avec patience. (with patience) | On y arrive en étant patient. (by being patient) |
| Il l'a réparé avec ses mains. (with his hands) | Il l'a réparé en travaillant pendant des heures. (by working for hours) |
When the means is a physical tool, avec + noun is more natural. When the means is an action or process, the gérondif is the natural choice. There is overlap — avec patience and en étant patient mean the same thing — and the choice often depends on emphasis or rhythm.
Elle l'a fait avec attention.
She did it with care.
Elle l'a fait en faisant très attention.
She did it by being very careful.
Both sentences mean the same thing. Avec attention is a noun phrase; en faisant attention is a verbal one. The verbal one feels more dynamic and is often preferred when you want to emphasize the active process.
Means with abstract nouns
The means gérondif is particularly useful when the means is something that can't easily be packaged as a noun.
On peut sauver des vies en donnant son sang régulièrement.
You can save lives by giving blood regularly.
Elle a finalement convaincu ses parents en leur expliquant la situation calmement.
She finally convinced her parents by explaining the situation to them calmly.
Il a gagné la confiance de l'équipe en se montrant fiable.
He earned the team's trust by showing himself to be reliable.
On peut beaucoup apprendre en écoutant ses aînés.
One can learn a lot by listening to one's elders.
These sentences package the means as a full action with its own object and modifiers. Avec + noun simply cannot carry this much information; the gérondif is the only natural way to express it.
Negative means: en ne ... pas
The means reading also works in the negative — by not doing X, by avoiding X. This is the same negation pattern from the formation page (en + ne + participe présent + pas), now used to specify a method of avoidance.
On ne progresse pas en n'essayant jamais.
One doesn't make progress by never trying.
Tu réussiras en ne baissant pas les bras.
You'll succeed by not giving up.
Elle a évité la dispute en ne répondant pas à la provocation.
She avoided the argument by not responding to the provocation.
On reste en bonne santé en ne fumant pas.
One stays healthy by not smoking.
In casual speech, the negative means is often paraphrased with sans + infinitive: en ne fumant pas → sans fumer; en ne disant rien → sans rien dire. Both are correct; sans + infinitive is more idiomatic in spoken register, while en ne ... pas is preferred in formal writing.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Translating English with + noun literally as avec when the meaning is process.
❌ J'ai appris le français avec étudier.
Wrong: avec doesn't take an infinitive. For 'by studying,' use the gérondif.
✅ J'ai appris le français en étudiant.
I learned French by studying.
Mistake 2: Using par + infinitive for means.
❌ On apprend par pratiquer.
Wrong: par doesn't take an infinitive in this construction. Use en + V-ant.
✅ On apprend en pratiquant.
One learns by practicing.
Mistake 3: Using a que-clause when the gérondif is appropriate.
❌ Tu maigriras parce que tu fais du sport.
Stylistically off when you mean 'by doing sport': parce que expresses cause-effect from outside, but for means/method, the gérondif is more idiomatic.
✅ Tu maigriras en faisant du sport.
You'll lose weight by exercising.
Mistake 4: Same-subject violation — the gérondif action belongs to a different subject than the main clause.
❌ Tu progresseras en m'envoyant les exercices et en les corrigeant.
Wrong if you mean 'you'll progress by sending me the exercises and I'll correct them': the gérondif's subject must be tu, so 'en les corrigeant' implies tu corrects them, contradicting the intended meaning.
✅ Tu progresseras si tu m'envoies les exercices et que je les corrige.
You'll make progress if you send me the exercises and I correct them. (different subjects — switch to si + indicative)
Mistake 5: Using the gérondif with a tool noun when avec would be more natural.
❌ Il l'a coupé en couteau.
Wrong on multiple counts: en doesn't take a noun like this, and the gérondif is for actions, not tools.
✅ Il l'a coupé avec un couteau.
He cut it with a knife.
✅ Il l'a coupé en utilisant un couteau.
He cut it by using a knife. (gérondif because utilisant is an action)
Key takeaways
- The means reading of the gérondif maps onto English by + V-ing. On apprend en pratiquant = One learns by practicing.
- The means gérondif answers the question how? — what method achieves the result.
- The same gérondif form often carries both means and simultaneity readings; context picks which is salient. Result-focused main clauses lean toward means; durative main clauses lean toward simultaneity.
- The cleft pattern C'est en + V-ant que
- main clause is the proverbial structure for life lessons. C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron.
- Instructional and advice-genre writing leans heavily on the means gérondif: en appuyant sur le bouton, en mangeant équilibré, en se reposant bien.
- For tools (physical objects used as instruments), French prefers avec
- noun. For actions or processes, the gérondif. The two overlap; pick by what you want to package as the means.
- Negative means works with en ne ... pas, but sans
- infinitive is more idiomatic in casual speech.
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- Le Gérondif: Overview of the French GerundA2 — The French gérondif — *en* + the *-ant* form of the verb — packs three jobs into one tidy construction: simultaneity ('while doing X'), means ('by doing X'), and condition ('if you do X'). It is everywhere in spoken French, and English speakers need it to break free of clumsy *pendant que* paraphrases.
- Le Gérondif: FormationA2 — The gérondif is the cleanest piece of morphology in French verbal grammar. Take the 1pl present indicative form (*nous parlons*), drop the *-ons*, add *-ant*, and prefix with *en*. Three irregulars — *étant*, *ayant*, *sachant* — and a couple of spelling adjustments are the only complications.
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