What is the 'gerondif' and how do you form it?

The Gerund is also known as the Present Participle*. These are the '-ing' words; for example the infinitive 'to garden' becomes 'gardening' in present participle form.The formation:1) Take the nous form (1st person pl.) from the present conjugation, ending '-ons'.2) Take off the '-ons' ending and replace with '-ant'_{EG manger- to eat, nous mangeons - we eat, mangeant- eating}3) use this form with pronoun 'en' to express actions that take place at the same time. This is translated as 'by ...ing' or 'while ...ing'._{EG Elle bois son café en écoutant de la musique (while)}4) it can also express condition. This can be translated as 'if ...ing'_{EG en jardinant trop, tu vas être fatigué.} 5) it can express how something happens,_{EG j'ai appris à jardiner en lisant des livres. (by)}NB negation: around the present participle, but not the 'en'NB reflexive or object pronouns plus negatives: negative goes around pronoun and verb. NB Irregulars : ayant, éyant, sachant