cercando

Cercando is the present participle (gerund) of the Italian verb cercare, meaning to search or to look for. It denotes ongoing or simultaneous action and is commonly used with the auxiliary stare to form the progressive aspect, as in sto cercando, stai cercando, sta cercando, stiamo cercando, state cercando, stanno cercando.

As a gerund, cercando can introduce clauses that describe how something is done, or indicate the manner of an action. For example: Parlo cercando di non farti sentire, meaning “I am speaking while trying not to be heard.” The gerund can also appear in longer constructions that express simultaneous actions, such as camminando cercando una soluzione.

There is also a past gerund form, avendo cercato, meaning “having looked for.” This form is used to indicate that the searching occurred prior to another action in a sentence, for example: Avendo cercato tutta la notte, non trovò nulla (Having searched all night, he found nothing).

Usage notes and variant forms: cercando does not function as a noun in ordinary usage; the act of searching is more commonly expressed with la ricerca or il cercare. In modern Italian, the gerund can be used in subordinate clauses and in various periphrastic expressions to convey simultaneity or manner, but it should be distinguished from phrases such as in cerca di, which means “in search of.”

Etymology: cercare derives from Latin circare or circā, related to going about or searching. The present participle cercando follows regular Italian verbal morphology.