I am eating, you are drinking, the soprano is singing. In Italian, the gerund (il gerundio) is equivalent to the "-ing" verb form in English. To form the simple gerund in Italian, add -ando to the stem of -areverbs and -endo to the stem of -ereand -ireverbs. There is also another form of the gerund, the compound gerund (il gerundio composto). It is formed with the either the gerund form of either avereor essere+ past participle of the action verb (see the table below).

　　FORMING GERUNDS

　　GERUNDIO GERUNDIO COMPOSTO

　　cadendo(falling) essendo caduto/a/i/e (having fallen)

　　leggendo(reading) avendo letto (having read)

　　mangiando(eating) avendo mangiato (having eaten)

　　The imperfectstems are used to form the gerunds of verbs such as dire (dicendo), fare (facendo), porre (ponendo), and tradurre (traducendo). The reflexive verbsattach the reflexive pronounto the end of the word: lavandosi, sedendosi, divertendosi.