# FR: by + V-ing (gerund)



## Skribbles

I'm trying to say- The poet presents a visualization of the country in the third stanza *by using* the technique of personification.

Is this correct?

Le poete presente une visualisation du pays dans la troisieme strophe *par utiliser* la technique de personnification.

Merci beaucoup!

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads have been merged to create this one.


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## Monsieur Hoole

en utilisant

M.H.


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## lapaz

Salut!

How do you say in French if you use *by + gerund verb*
e.g. *by creating, by doing...*

Thanks so much.


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## Johanne

Créant or En créant
Faisant or En faisant


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## Sentance

Hello

How do I translate 'by' + verb, into French.  Something like

'You can do this by speaking to someone'

For example:

You can change this ring by speaking to...

Vous pouvez changer cette bague en parler à...
ou
Vous pouvez changer cette bague en parlant à...

Which would be correct, if either?


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## Areyou Crazy

le seconde je crois the second i think... the first doesn't look right


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## ratounette

Hello, Areyou Crazy is right, first sentence is wrong. the second is right and we can also say in this particular case "vous pouvez changer cette bague en *en* parlant à ..." . Sorry if i made mistakes in english.


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## Sentance

"vous pouvez changer cette bague en *en* parlant à ..."

does that translate as:-   "you can change this ring by speaking about it to..."

on that note, can I use 'with', instead of 'to', as in English?

"vous pouvez changer cette bague en *en* parlant avec ..."


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## CharlesJ

> does that translate as:-   "you can change this ring by speaking about it to..."


yes



> "vous pouvez changer cette bague en *en* parlant avec ..."


yes again


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## brassdragon

[...]

Also in french how do you say 'by -ing' e.g. you can reach america by crossing the ocean - in spanish they just use the present participle - how is done in french?


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## Monsieur Hoole

[...]

*en* travers*ant*


*M.H.*


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## brassdragon

I thought en + present participle was 'whilst -ing'... it doesn't really make sense saying 'you can reach america whilst crossing the sea'. but oh well, must be idiom.

[...]

Thanks for all you guys' help


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## radagasty

brassdragon said:


> I thought en + present participle was 'whilst -ing'... it doesn't really make sense saying 'you can reach america whilst crossing the sea'. but oh well, must be idiom.


 
_En_ + pres. ppl. can also indicate means rather than contemporaneity:

_C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron._

_Ouvrez la porte en appuyant sur la touche._


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## sharpy

Hi all,

I'm trying to translate the following:

Later, the hardman president-elect, who refuses to be photographed standing still, celebrated his victory by driving a lap of honour round the Arc de Triomphe.

...but would appreciate some help translating 'by driving'...

[…] a célébré sa victoire *par conduisant* un tour d’honneur autour d’Arc de Triomphe.


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## cropje_jnr

... a fêté sa victoire *en* faisant un tour d'honneur autour de *l'*Arc de Triomphe.


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## Cilquiestsuens

cropje_jnr said:


> ... a fêté sa victoire *en* faisant un tour d'honneur *en voiture* autour de *l'*Arc de Triomphe.


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## SMAW

If I want to say something like "we speak by using the mouth" would I say

(a) nous parlons par utilisant la bouche

(b) nous parlons par utiliser la bouche

(c) or are both completely wrong?

Can you even use a verb (in any form) after the preposition "par" or any preposition at all? 

Could you also say "nous parlons par l'utilisation de la bouche" or even "nous parlons en utilisant la bouche"?

Sorry for all the questions...just curious what is correct and what is not correct...

thanks


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## Maître Capello

Both _a_ and _b_ are wrong. As you suggested, you indeed can't use a verb after _par_ (except in some rare phrases). However, you also mentioned the correct answer, namely using _en_ + present participle: _en utilisant_.


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## geostan

_Par_ is only used following a verb of _beginning_ or _ending_:

Il a commencé par nous expliquer la raison de son retard.
Il a fini par accepter nos conseils.


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## Hawkslv1

Salut! 

J'écrit une mini-pièce pour la classe de fraçais d'un garçon qui a un cochon violent, et alors j'essaye de dire "you must control it (it being a pig) by hitting it with a stick!". J'ai écrit la phrase "tu dois le contrôler par/en donner des coups de bâton!", mais je ne suis pas sûr si je devrais utiliser "en" ou "par" pour dire "by" dans ce contexte et cette phrase.

Merci d'avance!


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## Maître Capello

_By hitting_ is a gerund and should be translated as such in French: _en frappant_. However, you should not forget the direct object (_it_): _en *le* frappant_.

Anyway, _by_ is translated as _par_ when used to introduce the agent of the passive voice _it is hit *by* a stick_ _↔ il est frappé *par* un bâton_.

In short:
_by + -ing _(gerund) _→ *en* -ant _(gerund)
_by + <_noun>_ → *par*_ + <noun>


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## Paris je t'aime

I was wondering, when making a list in French for example:

"Nous offrons une meilleure qualité de vie par minimiser l'impact environnemental, économiser l’énergie etc"

do the verbs, "minimiser" and "economiser" need to be conjugated in the "nous" form, or are they left in the infinitive?

Thanks... any explanation too would be appreciated!


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## atcheque

Bonjour,

none of infinitive nor "nous" but _gérondif_:
"Nous offrons une meilleure qualité de vie *en *minimis*ant* l'impact environnemental, économis*ant* l’énergie*,* etc*.*"


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## Willow.PO

Hi, 

I'm having a little trouble translating this sentence, 

The country secured the tournament by displaying their already established infrastructure.

I think I'm ok with the rest of the sentence, it's just 'by displaying' I can't get my head around.

Thanks!


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## snarkhunter

Hello,

This could be expressed in a number of ways. The first two I could think of are:
_"en s'appuyant sur"
"en jouant de"_


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## maicart

Hello,

For a language learning exercise, I want to give the following instruction:

Practice the conjugation of -ER verbs *by putting* the following sentences in the plural.

I'm not sure about "by putting". My try:

Pratiquez la conjugaison des verbes -ER *en mettant* les phrases suivantes au pluriel.

Is that right?


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## olivier68

Correct. On dit effectivement "mettre au pluriel", "mettre au futur", etc...


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## OLN

Le gérondif indique effectivement le moyen ou la manière.

[…]
Ajout : Fil entre temps fusionné avec le bon. La question posée dans le forum de grammaire portait sur le mode à utiliser, pas sur la traduction du verbe _put_.


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