The Gerund (Modul Gerunziu) in Romanian
The Gerund (Modul Gerunziu: -ând / -ind)
Ending in -ând or -ind, the gerund denotes simultaneous actions or means ('while doing, by doing'), and attaches clitic pronouns to its end (văzându-l).
The *Gerund (Modul Gerunziu) in Romanian is an uninflected adverbial verb form functioning identically to English participles in '-ing' or Slavic present adverbial participles (deepričastiya*). It indicates an action occurring simultaneously with, or providing the circumstantial manner, cause, or condition for, the main finite verb.
Morphological Suffixation: - Verbs of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conjugations add -ând: a cânta → cântând* (singing), a vedea → văzând (seeing), a merge → mergând (walking), a face → făcând (doing). - Verbs of the 4th conjugation ending in -i add -ind: a citi → citind (reading), a vorbi → vorbind (speaking), a dormi → dormind (sleeping). - Verbs of the 4th conjugation ending in -î take -ând: a hotărî → hotărând* (deciding).
Clitic Enclisis Rule: Unlike indicative tenses where clitic pronouns precede the verb, the Gerund obligatorily encliticizes all clitic pronouns to its end using a hyphen, inserting an epenthetic -u- buffer sound: - văzând + îl → văzându-l* (seeing him) - amintindu-și (remembering) - spunându-ne* (telling us).
Negation is formed analytically with the prefix ne-: neștiind (not knowing), nevăzând (not seeing).
Examples
Mergând spre casă prin parcul liniștit, am întâlnit un vechi prieten de școală.
Walking towards home through the quiet park, I met an old school friend.
Văzându-l foarte obosit după muncă, i-am pregătit o cină caldă și gustoasă.
Seeing him very tired after work, I prepared a warm and tasty dinner for him.
Citind cu atenție acest document important, am descoperit detalii neștiute.
Reading this important document carefully, I discovered previously unknown details.
Neștiind adresa exactă a noului birou, l-am sunat pe colegul meu pentru lămuriri.
Not knowing the exact address of the new office, I called my colleague for clarifications.
Related terms
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