A gerund is a verb form ending in -ando or -endo: parlando ‘speaking’; sorridendo ‘smiling’; finendo ‘finishing’. The gerund is most often used in Italian along with the verb stare to express a continuous action or event: sto finendo ‘I’m just finishing’; stavano ancora mangiando ‘they were still eating’. The nearest equivalent in English is the ‘-ing’ form but it is not used in exactly the same way.