Hi Joan,
In a nutshell, the present participle ends in 'ant' but doesn't have an 'en' in front of it.
If it does it becomes a gérondif.
If you take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson you will find more explanation to your answer -
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/glossary/verbal/le-participe-present-et-le-gerondif
Hope this helps!
Hi Cécile, the lesson in the given link say that gerund can also be used to emphasise a link of cause and effect. The sentence below also indicate a cause and effect: since he know that there was no chance he would win, he gave everything he had. Why we don't use gerund?
Sachant qu'il n'avait aucune chance de gagner, il a donné tout ce qu'il avait.
Hi Joan,
I think there is a difference between the cause and effect examples given in the lesson and the example you give which doesn't require the 'en' of the gerund.
In the cause and effect you say that -
by doing /in doing A, you did B...
But in the last example you would just say, 'knowing that he didn't have any hope of winning, he gave all that he had'.
e.g
Connaissant sa réputation, elle ne se sentait pas bien seule avec lui = Knowing his reputation she didn't feel right alone with him
Sachant qu'ils venaient à midi, elle est partie en courses ce matin = Knowing that they were coming lunch time, she went shopping this morning
Hope this helps!
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