Lombard/Gerund and gerundial complements

The reference orthography for this page of Lombard course is New Lombard orthography

Gerundial complement and gerund in Lombard

The gerund does not normally exist in Lombard except in some western and southern dialects in which it was imported from the Italian language, and in which its use is in any case limited. Contrariwise, gerundial complements are used. Gerundial complements are used when two actions occur simultaneously, and depending on the temporal overlap of the two actions and the causal relationship that may exist between two sentences or actions, there are different types of gerundial complements.

Case of no gerundial complement

If two actions take place simultaneously and are superimposed in the same time interval and without a causal relationship, there is no gerundial complement. They must be connected with conjunctions. Usually to join them you use "e intanta" which in English means "and meanwhile"

Example

He walked away laughing = He went away and meanwhile laughed =L'è andad via e intanta el rideva (dialect: MI )

Gerund

In some western dialects towards the south of Lombardy including Milanese, the use of the gerund is admitted but only to indicate a second action that cannot be separated from the first one. To be authorized to usage the gerund, the simultaneity of the actions is not enough but their inseparability is also necessary.

Example:

He walked away laughing = L’è andad via ridend (dialect: MI )

Gerund construction

I coniugation	II e III coniugation	IV coniugation
vardand(o)*	credend(o)*	finend(o)*

^* the "o" is euphonic

Gerundial complement of continous time

If an action takes place within the interval of time in which an other action takes place but does not last for the entire interval of the other, this is expressed through the gerund complement constructed by the articulated preposition "in del" (or its dialectal variants) followed by verb in the infinitive (“in del” + verb in the infinitive). It is equivalent to saying "within the time interval in which + subject + verb

Example

While seeing him he started laughing = Within the time interval in which she saw him she started laughing = In del vedéll l’ha tacad a rider (dialet: MI )

Gerundial complement of cause and fixed time

If a second action occurs at the instant in which a first occurs and is a consequence of the first and the subject of the first and second is the same, the first action can be expressed through the gerund complement constructed by the articulated preposition “al” (= a + el) followed by infinitive verb (“al” + infinitive verb). It is equivalent to saying "when + subject + verb"

Esempio:

When seeing her he started laughing = When he had sawed her he started laughing = Al vedélla l'ha tacad a rider (dialect: MI )

Attention: if the subjects of the two sentences do not coincide or there is no causal relationship between the two sentences, only the extended construction is possible

Example:

When they saw him he started laughing = Quand che l’hann vist, lù l'ha tacad a rider (dialect: MI )

Extended construction is also possible in the penultimate example, but it is better to avoid it due to the risk of misunderstandings in some cases. For example, in the case below, also in lombard, if the subjects are not specified better, it is not clear who is looking and who is being looked at, while in the construction with gerundial complement they are intended as coincident the subject is intended to be only one.

Esempio:

When he saw him he started laughing = Quand che l'ha vist l’ha tacad a rider (dialect: MI )

Gerundial complement of cause and continuos time

• In the case in which a second action takes place at the same time of a first action and is also the effect of the first one, the first action is expressed through the gerundial complement constructed by the preposition "a" followed by the infinitive verb ("a" + infinitive verb ).

Example:

Doing so there is no more life = A fà inscì a gh’è pu de vita (dialect: MI )

Negative form: the negative form is constructed by adding the adverbs of negation as described on page "Lombard/Negation".

Gerundial complement of means

Another more specific case of gerundial complement is the one in which a second action is a consequence of the first and the first is the means to arrive at the second. It is a mean complement gerundial, equivalent to the English "by + gerund". It is constructed by the preposition “cont” plus the masculine singular definite article “el” (or its dialectal variants) followed by the verb in the infinitive form or by the preposition “a” followed by the verb in the infinitive form (“cont el” + verb in the infinitive / “a” + verb in the infinitive).

Example:

A knot is made by tying two threads together = On grop l'è fad cont el ligà insema du fil / On grop l'è fad a ligà insema du fil (dialect: MI )

Negative form: The negative form of this type of complement is constructed with the preposition "senza" instead of "cont el"

Gerundial complement of means and/or cause with persistent action

• A case similar to the previous one in which we want to emphasize the persistence of the action contained in the gerund complement is constructed with the prepositional locution “a forza de” / “ a furia de” + gerund and is equivalent to the English “by dint of” + noun

Example:

By dint of work you will learn = A forza de lavorà te imparareet / A furia de lavorà te imparareet (dialect: MI )

Gerund complement applied to the direct object

Another case of gerundial complement built with "a + verb at the infinitive form” is shown in the example below. It is used in cases where the gerund can be replaced by an extended expression "while + subject + verb to be + gerund".

Example:

I saw you walking = I saw you while you were walking = T'hoo vist a caminà (dialect: MI )

In this case the preposition “a” is often omitted under the influence of the Italian language and in this case it is no longer a gerund complement but simply a verb in the infinitive (like in Italian language). In extended form without the use of the complement of the gerund the same example could also be written so:

I saw you walking = I saw you while you were walking = T’hoo vist intanta che te seret adree a caminà (dialect: MI )

Progressive construction

Another case is that of progressive construction which is discussed on the appropriate page.

to be + gerund = vesser adree a + verb in the infinitive form

Other cases of usage of the gerund in English

The table below shows the ways to translate into Lombard other uses of the gerund in English that in Lombard are not definable as a real gerund complement.

In English	In lombard
after + gerund	dopo + havé + past participle de poeu de + havé + past participle
before + gerund	prima de + verb in the infinitive form inanz de + verb in the infinitive form
since + gerund	de quand(o) che + subject + present of the verb havé + participi passad
in + gerund	de/da + verb in the infinitive form
at + gerund	de/da + verb in the infinitive form
to + gerund	“a” (or “de/da”) ? + verb in the infinitive form
after verbs (usually phrasal verbs) indicating a continued action	a + verb in the infinitive form
after verbs (usually phrasal verbs) indicating the end of an action	de + verb in the infinitive form
after verbs (usually phrasal verbs) indicating the beginning of an action	a + verb in the infinitive form

Note