en libérant vs par libérer

Ann H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

en libérant vs par libérer

To translate "Coco Chanel became very popular 'by freeing' women from the corset", they used en libérant while I used par libérer because I thought en libérant would mean "while liberating" vs the "by liberating" they asked for.  Am I wrong? Thats what I thought I understood from other examples in the past.

Asked 5 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The gérondif "en libérant" can be temporal as well as causal. 

Ann H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

So are the two expressions always interchangeable? If not please explain when to use each...

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I think "par libérer" (or par + infinitive in general) can only be used after the verbs commencer, finir and their synonyms.

"Elle a commencé par libérer les femmes de l’esclavage du corset."

Apart from these cases, par is followed by a noun, not a verb.

Ann H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Merci

en libérant vs par libérer

To translate "Coco Chanel became very popular 'by freeing' women from the corset", they used en libérant while I used par libérer because I thought en libérant would mean "while liberating" vs the "by liberating" they asked for.  Am I wrong? Thats what I thought I understood from other examples in the past.

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Thinking...