My course paper is called the gerund. I have chosen this subject, because I want to know more about the gerund. There are several reasons for it: 1)1 want know more about the gerund, because it will help me in my future studying, will help me not to produce errors ; 2) Since most languages ( e. g. : Spanish, Russian, French) have infinitives, but no gerunds; 3) This will help me to increase my outlook. I think the use of the gerunds in English is problem, because use infinitive is easier, and How I wrote above the gerund is no in the Russian language. This is one of the reasons why students do mistakes.
The gerund is rendered in Russian in different ways: a)The gerund executes the functions of a subject in the sentences, but translated as a noun. b) The gerund executes the functions of a part of compound verbal predicate, but translated as infinitive. c) The gerund executes the functions of an attribute, but translated as verbal adverb. d) The gerund executes the functions of an object, but translated as a subordinate clause. It should be observed that though the active forms of the gerund may be rendered in different ways, the passive forms are nearly rendered by a clause.
Also there are the row of verbs and adjectives with prepositions, after which are used the gerund. For example after such verbs as to avoid, to dislike, to enjoy, to finish, to mind, to forgive, can’t help and some other$ we use only the gerund, but after verbs to like, to begin, to start, to continue, to try and some others we can use the gerund or infinitive. I am going to describe all this nuances in this course paper. In the same way, I want to compare the gerund with infinitive, because I often meet difficulties in this sphere.
The infinitive and the gerund sometimes have similar functions in the sentences and it is therefore necessary to define the spheres of their application. The distinction between the two verbals partly lies in their different tense and aspect characteristics. I think it is necessary to compare the two verbals, for preventing possible mistakes in this cases where they do overlap. As for me it is easier to use the infinitive than the gerund in the every day’s speech. But the gerund, I think, makes our speech more completely. I am interested in the differences between the gerund and infinitive.
And I will try to examine all the aspects, the problems and the functions of the gerund. Chapter 1. The Gerund as non- finite form of the verb. The Gerund developed from the verbal noun, which in course of time became verbalized preserving at same time its nominal characters. The Gerund is formed by adding the suffix -ing. The gerund is non- finite form of verb, as called “verbs”. Verbs are the form of the verb intermediary in many of their lexico- grammatical features between the verb and noun-processual part of speech. The mixed features of these forms are revealed in the principal spheres of the part-of- speech characterization, i. . in their meaning, structural marking, combinability, and syntactic function. The processual meaning is exposed by them in a substantive or adjectival- adverbial interpretation: they render processes as peculiar kinds of substances and properties. They are formed by special morphemic elements which do not express either grammatical time or mood. They can be combined with verbs like non- processual lexemes (performing non- verbal function in the sentence), and they can be combined with non- processual lexemes like verbs (performing verbal function in the sentence).
The verbs are part of the system of the verb,whether they do not constitute within this system a special subsystem of purely lexemic nature. This counter- approach, though, would evidently be devoid of any substantiality, since a subclass of a lexemic class, by definition, should share the essential categorical structure, as well as primary syntactic functions with other subclasses, and in case of verbs the situation is altogether different.
In fact, it is every verbs stem that by means of morphemic change takes both finite and non- finite forms, the functions of the two sets being strictly differentiated: while the finite form serve in the sentence only one syntactic function, namely, that of the finite predicate, the non- finite forms serve various syntactic functions other than that of the finite predicate. The English verbs include four forms distinctly differing one another within the general verb system: the infinitive, the present participle, the past participle and the gerund.
As natural results of its origin and development the gerund has nominal and verbal properties. The nominal characteristic of the gerund are followed: The gerund can be perform the functions of subject, predicative, object, adverbial modifier, and attribute. I will describe all of them. The Gerund is the non-finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the verb with those of the noun. The gerund serves as the verbal name of a process, but its substantive quality is more strongly pronounced than that of the infinitive.
Namely, as different from the infinitive, and similar to the noun, the gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case or its pronominal equivalents (expressing the subject of the verbal process), and it can be used with prepositions. Since the gerund is an abstract name of the process denoted by the verbal lexeme, a question might arise, why the infinitive, and not the gerund is taken as the head-form of the verbal lexeme as a whole, its accepted representative the lexicon.
As a matter of fact, the gerund cannot perform the function of the paradigmatic verbal head-form for a number of reasons. In the first place, it is more detached from the finite verb than the infinitive semantically, tending to be a far more substantival unit categorically. Then, as different from the infinitive, it does not join in the conjugation of the finite verb. Unlike the infinitive, it is a suffixal form, which makes it less generalized than the infinitive in terms of the formal properties of the verbal lexeme (although it is more abstract in the purely semantic sense).
Finally, it is less definite than the infinitive from the lexico-grammatical point of view, being subject to easy neutralizations in its opposition with the verbal noun in -ing, as well as with the present participle. Hence, the gerund is no rival of the infinitive in the paradigmatic head-form function. The general combinability of the gerund is dual, sharing some features with the verb, and some features with the noun.
The verb-type combinability of the gerund is displayed in its combining, first, with nouns expressing the object of the action; second, with modifying adverbs; third, with certain semi-functional predicator verbs, but other than modal. Of the noun-type is the combinability of the gerund, first, with finite notional verbs as the object of the action; second, with finite notional verbs as the prepositional adjunct of various functions; third, with finite notional verbs as the subject of the action; fourth, with nouns as the prepositional adjunct of various functions.
The gerund, in the corresponding positional patterns, performs the functions of all the types of notional sentence- parts, i. e. the subject, the object, the predicative, the attribute, the adverbial modifier. e. g. : Repeating your accusations over and over again doesn’t make them more convincing. (Gerund subject position) No wonder he delayed breaking the news to Uncle Jim. (Gerund direct object position) She could not give her mind to pressing wild flowers in Pauline’s botany book. (Gerund addressee object position).
Joe felt annoyed at being shied by his roommates. (Gerund prepositional object position) You know what luck is? Luck believes you’re lucky. (Gerund predicative position) Fancy the pleasant prospect listening to all the gossip they’ve in store for you! (Gerund attributive position. He could not push against the furniture without bringing the whole lot down. (Gerund adverbial of manner position) One of the specific gerund patterns is its combination with the noun in the possessive case or its possessive pronominal equivalent expressing the subject of the action.
This gerundial construction is used in cases when the subject of the gerundial process differs from the subject of the governing sentence-situation, i . e. when the gerundial sentence-part has its own, separate subject. E. g. : Poul’s being rude like that was disgusting. How can she know about the Mortons’ being connected with this unaccountable affair? Will he ever excuse our having interfered? The possessive with the gerund displays one of the distinctive categorical properties of the gerund as such, establishing it in the English lexemic system as the form of the verb with nounal characteristics.
As a matter of fact, from the point of view of the inner semantic relations, this combination is of a verbal type, while from the point of view of the formal categorial features; this combination is of a nounal type. It can be clearly demonstrated by the appropriate transformations, i . e. verb- related and noun- related re- constructions. E. g. : I can’t stand his criticizing artistic works that are beyond his competence. (T-verbal ~ He is criticizing artistic works. T-nounal ~ His criticism of artistic works. Besides combining with the possessive noun-subject, the verbal ing-form can also combine with the noun-subject in the common case or its objective pronominal equivalent. E. g. : I read in yesterday’s paper about the hostages having been released. This gerundial use as presenting very peculiar features of categorial medially will be discussed after the treatment of the participle. The formal sign of the gerund is wholly homonymous with that of the present participle: it is the suffix -ing added to it’s grammatically (categorically) leading element.
The gerund is a categorically changeable (variable, demutative) form; it distinguishes the two grammatical categories, sharing them with the finite verb and the present participle, namely, the aspective category of retrospective coordination (perfect in opposition), and the category of voice (passive in opposition. The forms of the gerund in the modern English are as follows: | Active| Passive| Indefinite| writing| being writing| Perfect| having writing| having been writing| The gerundial paradigm of the non- objective verb, correspondingly, includes two form.
E. g. : going – having gone. The perfect forms of the gerund are used, as a rule, only in semantically strong positions, laying special emphasis on the meaningful categorical content of the form. l. l The gerund as a subject. The gerund in the function of subject usually expresses permanent or recurrent actions, simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb. e. g. : Looking after one man is really enough, but two is rather an undertaking. Passing a law about equal rights doesn ‘t necessarily mean that women get them.
One of the specific gerund patterns is its combination with the noun in the possessive case or its possessive pronominal equivalent expressing the subject of the action. This gerundial construction is used in cases when the subject of the gerundial process differs from the subject of the governing sentence- situation, i. e. when the gerundial sentence part has it own, separate subject. e. g. : Paul’s being rude like that was disgusting. How can she know about the Morton’s being connected with this unaccountable affair? Will he ever excuse our having interfered?
Sentences with the gerund as subject have certain structural peculiarities. 1) We find the gerund as subject only in declarative sentences. It is never used in interrogative sentences. 2) The gerund as subject is always placed at the head in the sentence. It is never preceded by any secondary parts. 3) The gerund as subject is occasionally found in sentences beginning with “there is”, but its used is restricted to negative sentences where usually preceded by “no”. This pattern is common in spoken English. e. g. There was no arguing with her about it when she had made up her mind. Well, there is no avoid him now.
Of course, I am scared to hell. There’s no denying that. On the whole, however, the use of the gerund as subject is mainly found in literary English but even here it is not of frequent occurrence. 1. 2 The gerund as a predicative. The gerund as a predicate is usually used after The link- verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning. e. g. : The important part is helping people so that they can live normal lives / can t ask him for help. That would mean telling him everything about you and myself. For the mean of expressing the subject of the action denoted by the gerund.
The subject of the gerund may be expressed in different ways. 1) If it denotes a living being it may be expressed: (a) by a noun in the genitive or by a possessive pronoun. e. g. : His further consideration of the point was prevented by Richard’s coming back to us in an exited state. Do you mind my smoking? (b)By a noun in the common case. e. g. : I have a distinct recollection of Lady Hudson always getting the good conduct prize. Occasionally examples are found where the nominal element of the construction is expressed by a pronoun in the objective case. e. g. : I hope you will forgive me disturbing you.
There are cases when the nominal element of construction, though denoting a living being, can not be expressed by a noun in the common case, namely when it consist of two or more nouns or when it is a noun modified by an attribute in post-position. e. g. : He felt no uneasiness now in the thought of the brother and sister being alone together. Did you ever hear of a man of sense rejecting such an offer? 2) If the nominal element of the construction denotes a lifeless thing, it is expressed by a noun in the common case (such nouns, as a rule, are not used in the genitive case) or by a possessive pronoun. . g. : I said something about my clock being slow. Mary spoke of my room, and of its being ready for me. 3) The nominal element of construction can also be expressed by a pronoun which has no case distinction, such as all, this, that, both, each, something, e. g. : I insist on both of them coming in the time. Again Michael was conscious of something deep and private stirring within himself. A gerundial construction is nearly always render in Russian by a subordinate clause, generally introduced by ??, ???; ???, ???; ???, etc. e. g. : Her thoughts were interrupted at last, by the door opening gently. . 3 The gerund as predicate. The gerund as predicate is restricted to two sentence patterns: 1) interrogative sentences beginning with what about and how about and implying suggestion, e. g. : What about going to London. How about seeing what they are doing now? 2) exclamatory sentences expressing indignation, e. g. : But letting him do it! Sentences of both kinds are quite common in spoken English. The gerund is used as part of compound verbal predicate. The gerund is lexically dependent in this function- it is used after a number of verbs denoting in motion or position.
They are: to come, to go, and to go out (round, around, about), to lie, to sit around (round), to stand, to stand around (round), to disappear. e. g. : They came rushing in, laughing. They had often gone fishing in those days. They all sat around feeling very proud. He disappeared walking; there were no noise, nothing. The two verbs of the combination form a close sense unit. The first component has a weakened meaning and mainly serves as a finite verb, while the meaning of the gerund is quite prominent and determines the meaning of the whole combination. . g. : In that mood I entered the bedroom, where Sheila was lying reading, her book near the bedside lamp. Sometimes she fell into despondency and sat doing nothing at all, neither reading nor sewing for a half an hour at a time. 1. 3. 1 The gerund as a second action accompanying the action of the predicate verb. The gerund may express a second action accompanying the action expressed by the predicate verb. The subject of the sentence. The gerund in this function refers not to predicate verb alone but to the whole predicate group.
It does not form any close sense unit with the predicate verb and can be found with verbal as well as with nominal predicates. The gerund isn’t lexically dependent in this function. e. g. : They ran up the stairs brimming with excitement. You can ‘tjust sit there being talked about. As a rule, the gerund follows the predicate group. But it may also be placed at the head of the sentence or between the subject and the predicate. e. g. : Coming into my office one evening in the autumn, he said shyly: “Do something tonight? ” Watching them with bold, excited eyes, Simon discussed their characters.
In the taxi going home, Margaret, holding my hand against her cheek, said: “You made a mistake, you know. In the vast majority of sentences we find a simple gerund which expresses an action simultaneous with that of the predicate verb. Yet if both the predicate form and the gerund are expressed by terminative verbs, the action of the gerund precedes that of the predicate verb. The gerund in this case is placed before the predicate. e. g. : Turning to his hostess, he remarked:” It’s been a nice day. ” Recovering from his excitement, he became practical again.
The use of the perfect gerund, though quite possible, is not of frequent occurrence. It shows that the action of the gerund precedes that of the predicate verb. The perfect gerund is often placed before the predicate verb. e. g. : Having duly arrived in Scotland, he took a train the next day to Manchester. Francis was there before me, having come by the morning train. Norman, having looked at his watch, slapped the play- script shut and put it on his chair. As has been said, the subject of the gerund is usually the person or the thing denoted by the subject of the sentence.
Occasionally, however, we come across instances of the gerund whose subject is expressed elsewhere, for instance, by one of the secondary parts of the sentence. e. g. : Walking beside his friend, it seemed to Norman that life was not so bad after all. But back in his office, looking down at his desk, his sense of well- being left him. Hove you like hell, Bridget. And, loving you like hell, you can’t expect me to enjoy seeing you get married to a pot- bellied, pompous little peer who loses his temper when he doesn’t win at tennis. The above use of the gerund is not common.
Since usually the subject of the gerund is the same person or thing as the subject of the sentence, it is not easy to identify the subject of the gerund in the sentences of the above kind. Hence, the term dangling or unattached is applied to this ing- form in grammar. The gerund denoting a second action in the kind of sentences illustrated above is typical of literary style where its use is quite extensive, but it is hardly ever used in spoken English. However, the gerund denoting a second action is quite common in spoken English after certain predicate groups.
Here belong the verbs to spend and to waste when they are followed by the noun time or some other expressions of time, and also after to have a good time, to have difficulty, to have and some others. e. g. : She did little typing herself but spent her time correcting the work of the four girls she employed. Are you going to spend your life saying “ought”, like the rest of our moralists? She told me that she would often spend a whole morning working upon a single page He had a good time dancing at the club. They had difficulty finding his address.
In spoken English there is another sentence pattern in which the gerund denoting a second action is also quite common. The sentences pattern includes the verb to be followed by an indication of place: to be out, to be in, to be here (there), to be upstairs (downstairs), to be in the room(kitchen, garden, office, etc. ) and the like. e. g. : Mother is out shopping. Pat is downstairs talking to Father. Miss Smith was in her office typing. 1. 4 The Gerund as Object. The gerund may be used as a direct object to a verb.
It is lexically dependent in this function and found after the following verbs: to admit, to avoid, to begin, to cease, to consider, to continue, to delay, to deny, to endure, to enjoy, to escape, to finish, to forget, to give up, to go on, to hate, to intend, to keep on, to leave off, to like, to love, to mention, to mind(m negative and interrogative sentences), to neglect, to postpone, to prefer, to propose, to put off, to quite, to recall, to recollect, to regret, to remember, to resent, to resume, to risk, to start, to stop, to suggest, to try and some others. . g. : English grammar is very difficult and few writers have avoided making mistakes in it.
Mum and Dad seem to enjoy turning everything topsy-turvy. Simon took baths at eccentric hours and Kate had long since given up trying to stop him. Roger went on speaking with energy, calculation and warmth. He drank his beer and resumed reading his paper. I was in low spirit and even considered going away. In addition to the verbs mentioned in the list above, the gerund as object is used after certain modal phrases in the negative form: can’t bear, can ‘tface, can’tfancy, an’t imagine, can’t resist, can’t stand, and can’t help. e. g. : They can’t bear being humiliated. He couldn ‘tface being talked about. Later in the day she couldn’t resist calling Mrs. Spark to find out the details of the tragedy. He couldn’t help asking me: “Isn ‘t there anything else you can do for Roger? ” Besides, the gerund is also used after the set phrase to feel like, e. g. : He felt like giving up the whole affair.
I didn ‘tfeel like talking to him after what had happened The subject of the gerund in this function is the same as that of the predicate verb. The gerund may also serve as a direct object to an adjective. It is lexically dependent in this case and found only after two adjectives- busy and worth. e. g. : The foreman also was busy shouting orders and instruction. The children were busy doing all the things they had been told not to do. He thought my idea was worth trying.
It was not a witticism worth repeating. As a prepositional object to a verb, the gerund is also lexically dependent. It is found after verbs that take a prepositional object. These verbs may be divided into three groups: 1) verbs followed by only one prepositional object; 2) verbs followed by a noun- prepositional object and a prepositional object; 3) Verbs followed by two prepositional objects. 1) The verbs of the first group are closely connected with a preposition whose meaning is often weakened.
The following is the list of the most commonly used verbs: to admit to, to agree to, to aim at, to apologize for, to approve of to believe in, to bother about, to care for, to come of, to come round, to complain of, to confess to, to consist of/in, to count on, to despair of to dream of, to end in, to forget about, to feel up to, to get down to, to go back to, to grumble about, to hesitate about, to insist on, to lead to, to long for, to mean by, to persist in, to plan on, to reckon on, to refrain from, to return to, to result in/from, to save from, to succeed in, to take to, to talk of, to tell of, to threaten with, to think about, to worry about and some others. e. g. : What did she mean by boasting like that? I didn ‘t think twice about telling her: we had no secrets. It doesn ‘t seem impossible that the biologist will in the future succeed in creating life in his laboratory. Towards the end of the summer, they visited me together several times, and the Norman took to coming alone.
I must apologize for having interrupted a conference. Here also belong certain set phrases, such as: to look forward to, to make a point of, to plead guilty to, to find excuse for, to take pride in, to lose time in, to have no doubt about and others. e. g. : I took pride in making my lodgings pretty and comfortable. He was taking risks in speaking in that tone to them. I expect you are looking forward to seeing your fiance again. Special attention should be given to set phrases with the verb to be which are treated as verb equivalents. e. g. : Would you be up to playing with us this afternoon? “Would you be in favour of investigation the matter? ” Monica asked.
The subject of the action expressed by the gerund is generally the person denoted by the subject of the sentence. But occasionally we find an ing- complex. e. g. : I don’t in the least object to your playing practical jokes on others people. She complained about the porridge being lumpy. The use of ing- complex seems to be generally required by the verbs to approve of, to disapprove of, to grumble about, and some others. (We usually approve of or grumble about some others people’s actions- hence the agent of the gerund is expected to be a person or thing other than the one denoted by the subject of the sentence. ) e. g. : He could not approve of Guy’s hiding himself away.
We can’t grumble about things being dull, can we? )Verbs requiring a non- prepositional object and a prepositional object expressed by an ing- form, the most commonly occurring are: to accuse somebody of, to amuse somebody with, to ask somebody about, to charge somebody with, to coax somebody into, to give something to, to give something for, to invite somebody into, to keep somebody from, to mutter somebody about, to persuade somebody into, to remind somebody of, to resist oneself to, to save somebody from, to say something about, to stop somebody from, to suspect somebody of, to talk somebody into/ out of, to tell something about and some others. e. g. : I am prepared for anyone to accuse me of being cowardly. It had been easy to coax Margaret into inviting the Morgans to stay with us for a week. Did she suspect them of trying to cheat her? It is lack of imagination that prevents people from seeing things from any point of view but their own. Of all the prepositions there is one that acquires particular importance in this construction as it may be found with a considerable number of verbs and is, consequently, of frequent occurrence. It is the preposition for.
It generally serves to indicate the cause of the action denoted by the predicate verb. For is found after following verbs: to blame somebody, to excuse somebody, to forgive somebody, to reprimand somebody, to reproach somebody, to thank somebody, to like somebody, to love somebody, to hate somebody, to pay somebody, to scold somebody and some others. e. g. : I thought you had just been blaming me for being neutral. I’m going to reproach you for interrupting the rehears I was going to thank you for looking after him till I came. The subject of the gerund in this sentence pattern is the person denoted by the direct object. After verbs of speaking we often find an ing- complex. e. g. I told them about Gustav ‘s wanting to come with me. I said something about Jane being in love with him, but he wouldn ‘t talk about her. I muttered something about it’s being pity. 3) The number of verbs requiring two prepositional objects of which the second is the gerund is limited. The gerund is also introduced by the preposition for, as with some verbs above. e. g. : I entered the class- room and apologized the teacher for being late. I should have been vexed with you for thinking me such a fool. The gerund as a prepositional object is also found after various kind of adjectives- they may be adjectives proper, predicative adjective and adjectivized participles.
The most commonly occurring of them are: absorbed in, (un) accustomed to, afraid of, amused at, angrywith, annoyed at, ashamed of, aware of, (in)capable of, careful about/ in, careless of, certain of, clever at, (un)conscious of, content with, delighted at, different from, far from, embarrassed at, existed about, found of, fortunate in, frightened of, furious at, given to, good/better) at, grateful for, happy in/ at, interested in, irritated at, keen on, miserable at, nice about, proud of, pleased at, responsible for, right in, scared at/ of, set against, set on, sick of, skilled in/ at, slow in, sorry for, successful in/ at, sure of surprised at, thankful for, tired of, touched at, upset at, (un)usedto, worried about, wrong in, etc. e. g. : If only it were capable of doing that!
We were never very careful about taking precautions. I was fairy content with letting things go as they were. I was tired of doing much the same things every day. I felt that he was exited about showing me his new car He was unconscious of Anna standing beside him. Somehow I wasn ‘t too interested in trying to get back into that work. The gerund may serve as object to a verb in a special sentences pattern with a formal it as subject. The use of the gerund in this sentence pattern is found after a very limited number of verbs and set phrases (which are verb equivalents) but it is typical of spoken English. e. g. : He said to his wife: “It doesn ‘t matter much being liked, for this kind of life. When it comes down to getting a job with a living wage attached to it, he’s prepared to put his theories in his pocket. She was, as her colleagues said, “good on paper”, but when it came to speaking in committees she was so apprehensive that she spent sleepless hours the night before. For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted by the gerund. The gerund may be used as a direct object to an adjective in a sentences pattern with a formal it as subject. This kind of object is also lexically dependent- it regularly occurs after it is worth. e. g. : It is worth remembering that he has once been a boxer. It is worth finding it out.
Sometimes gerund is found after a number of other adjectives such as amusing, banal, comfortable, difficult, dreary, easy, great, hopeless, lovely, nice, add, pleasant, strange, tough, useless, wonderful, etc. e. g. : It was difficult getting him to do it. It won’t be easy finding our way back. There’s not much moon. But the gerund occurs after these adjectives only in spoken English, and such sentences are often emotionally colored. As a general rule, we find an infinitive here. The gerund is sometimes found in a sentences pattern with a formal it as object to the verbs to think, to find and to make. The formal it in this case is followed by an adjective. e. g. : He found it worth reminding her of her promise. He thought it very odd my leaving when I did.
The gerund as objective predicative is lexically dependent- it is used after a number of transitive verbs in the active followed by an object which is expressed by a noun or a pronoun. The following are the most frequently used verbs taking a direct object: to call, to catch, to discover, to feel, to find, to hear, to get, to imagine, to keep, to leave, to (dis)like, to notice, to picture, to see, to send, to set, to stop, to watch, to want. e. g. : I felt him looking at me now and again. When he arrived he found me reading the book. Just as I got to the end of the corridor, I heard my telephone ringing again. This construction is also found after two verbs taking a prepositional object- to listen to and to look at. e. g.
We opened the door for a moment and looked out at the windly night and listened to the trees groaning. He looked at Jane wiping her tear- wet face. Here also belong a few verbs after which the gerund is introduced by as: to accept, to consider, to explain, to guarantee, to mention, to regard, to speak of to take, to think, to treat, to understand. e. g. : You took his statement as being quite in order. He has spoken of your relatives as thought he would never accept them as being his. With all the above verbs, the object that preceded the gerund is expressed by a noun in the common case or by a personal pronoun in the objective case, and serves as subject to the action denoted by the gerund.
But there are a number of other verbs after which the object may be expressed either in the above described way or by a noun in the genitive case or a possessive pronoun. These verbs are: to appreciate, to dread, to excuse, to fancy, to forget, to forgive, to hate, to have, to imagine, to mind, to miss, to pardon, to prevent, to recall, to remember, to resent, to (mis)understand and also can’t bear, can’t help, catch sight of e. g. : Forgive my interrupting you, Mr. Passant, but with a school record like yours I’m puzzled why you don’t try for a university scholarship? I appreciate your coming to my defense. Do you recall Bray’s doing that? 1. 5. The gerund as Adverbial Modifier. The gerund can serve as an adverbial modifier to a verb.
In this case it is preceded by a conjunction or a preposition which lend it adverbial meanings, such as time, concession, condition, attending circumstance, manner, cause, and some others. The adverbial meaning of the gerund is determined by the meaning of the preceding conjunction or the preposition. The gerund is not lexically dependent here- it may be used after any verb. The gerund may be preceded by the conjunctions while, when, once, if, as though, as if, than, as well as and the correlative conjunctions as… as and not so… as. While and when lend the gerund the adverbial meaning of the time, emphasizing The idea of simuhaneousness of its action with that of the predicate verb.
While shows that both actions take place at a given moment or period of time(a); when usually serves to express recurrent actions simultaneous with the action of the predicate verb(b). e. g. : a) He continued to speak while walking down the path. The photograph showed himself, shielding his eyes against the sun while sitting on a swing. b) She picked up Butler’s heavy spectacles which she employed always when reading and put them on. Often, when boasting of his deceits, he sounded childlike and innocent. The conjunction as though and as if serve to show that the person denoted by the subject of the sentence appears to manner, in the behavior of the person that gives the impression that the action is being performed by him. e. g. : Lena gave me a very long look indeed as though seeing me for the first time.
Much of the afternoon I looked out of the window, as though thinking, but not really thinking. She stopped speaking as if waiting for him to speak. The use of the other conjunction is infrequent. e. g. : He always dropped in if passing by their house on a wet night. be performing the action indicated by the gerund: there is something in the The use of the other conjunction is infrequent. e. g. : He always dropped in if passing by their house on a wet night. Mary brought in the coffee and when she had gone he inhaled the steam of it. It was as good as drinking it. Nothing is so dangerous as being so modern. The use of the gerund in this function is found mainly in literary style and even there it is not frequent.
The gerund may be preceded by the prepositions without, by, instead, of before, after, on, in, through, from, besides, for fear of, for the sake of, and on the verge of, except for and some others. The most frequently used of them is without. It serves to show that an action which may be logically expected to accompany the action of the predicate verb does not take place. e. g. : You know some women can’t see the telephone without taking the receiver off The bus passed us without stopping. In a matter he thanked her without rising his eyes. As is seen from the above examples, the gerund is placed after the predicate verb. It is position at the beginning of the sentence or between the subject and the predicate, though possible, is unusual. e. g. : Slowly, without turning his head, he pulled himself to a half- siting position.
Roger, without turning to me, said in a curt, flat and even tone, “There may possibly be trouble. ” A synonymous construction with not preceding an ing- form doesn’t imply the idea that the action is logically expected. Like any other ing- form, it simply denotes a second action. Only in this case it is in negative form. e. g. : I returned to the drawing- room, and stood preoccupied, not noticing acquaintances about the room, with my back to the fire. We had both sat for a long time, not speaking; in the quite I knew she was not reading. The gerund preceded by not is typical of literary style, whereas the gerund preceded by without is in common use in literary as well as in spoken English.
Another frequently occurring preposition which may precede the gerund is by. In this case the action denoted by the gerund expresses a means, a method of performing the action of the predicate verb. It may also indicate the manner in which the action of the predicate verb is carried out. e. g. : You begin learning a language by listening to the new sounds. I don’t want to distress her by telling her that you have behaved like a cad. The gerund is generally placed after the predicate verb, though its front position is occasionally possible. e. g. : By keeping quite, she might save herself a lot of trouble. The gerund introduced by instead of ‘is also in common use.
It is characterized by a clear- cut meaning, owing to the preposition itself. Its position with regard to the predicate verb is not fixed. e. g. : Why do you tuck your umbrella under your left arm instead of carrying it in your hand like anything else? You positively help them instead of hindering them. He bought pictures instead of buying me the things I wanted. The use of the gerund with other prepositions is less common. The gerund following the preposition before, after and on express time relation between the action of predicate verb and that of the gerund. Before shows that the action expressed by the gerund follows that of the predicate verb. It is usually placed in post- position to the predicate verb. e. . : He waited a long while before answering. They were sitting there before going out to dinner. After indicates that the action expressed by the gerund preceded the action expressed by the predicate verb. e. g. :
After staying away eighteen years he can hardly expect us to be very anxious to see him. But after hesitating a moment or two, John knocked at the door. On expressed the same relations as after. But on emphasize the idea of an immediate succession of the two actions- the action of the predicate verb begins at the moment the action of the gerund is accomplished. It is noteworthy that we find only the gerund of terminative verbs here. . g. : On arriving at the cottage she found it locked. On getting up in the morning I found a letter on my doorstep. As is seen from the above examples, the gerund introduced by after and on is usually placed before the predicate verb. The meaning of the gerund introduced by in is not so clear- cut. It may be defined as limiting the sphere of application for the action denoted by the predicate verb or as indicating a process during which the action of the predicate verb is performed. e. g. : I’ve done something rather foolish in coming here tonight, I regret it. In defending myself against this lady, I have right to use any weapon I can find.
The place of the gerund preceded by in is not fixed. The use of the gerund introduced by others preposition is still less frequent. We find various prepositions here. e. g. : It was a lesson he had learned from having seen so many accidents. We talked in whispers for fear of disturbing the child. As for staying with your uncle for a while, I’m convinced you ’11 enjoy every minute of it. It should be noted that on the whole the above described use of the gerund is stylistically neutral- it is found literary as well as in spoken English. However, care should be taken to remember that the gerund preceded by after, before and on are not in common use.
Adverbial clauses of time are much more frequent. 1. 6. The Gerund as Attribute. The gerund in the function of attribute is found in different construction. The gerund may immediately precede its head- noun. In this case it expresses an action which is performed by the person or thing denoted by the head- noun. The gerund is always a single word in this case, not an extended phrase. This attribute is not lexically depend- it may modify any noun. e. g. : There was nothing to be seen or heard, not even a barking dog. I reached for a cigarette with trembling hands, and lit it. Singing people, arm in arm, filled the streets. This kind of attribute is not of frequent occurrence in English.
However, the gerund appears to be quite common as attributes when they used metaphorically. e. g. : They delivered their views on the burning question of the day. He watched it with despairing incredulity. It is characteristic of the gerund in this function to become adjectivized- the gerund is devoid of the idea of action in this case and it lexical meaning is often change as compared with the meaning of the corresponding verb, e. g. a charming girl means a very nice girl, a promising writer is a talented writer. e. g. : We had a very good view of all the surrounding scenery. A desolate loneliness settled on me- almost a frightening loneliness. In her ringing voice, she turned to the man and said something interesting.
Such adjectivied ing- forms are in common use in English. Another peculiar feature of the gerund in this function is it tendency to form it, in combination with its head- noun, a set phrase, e. g. the reading public, a racing man, working people, a leading politician, revolving doors, running water, a booking office, a publishing house, walking shoes. The gerund as attribute may closely follow its head- noun. It also expresses an action performed by the person or thing denoted by the head- noun. But unlike the gerund in the pre- position to the noun, it is a more or less extended group, not single word. This kind of attribute is not lexically dependent- it may modify any noun.
Yet its use is structurally dependent when it serves to modify a noun after there is (are), e. g. : There are some people coming in here now. There is a lot for work waiting of me to do. There was a man hurrying down the street in front of me. We find the structurally dependent use of the gerund coming on (in, up) when it modifies a noun which is an object to the verb to have and to have got. e. g. : I saw at once he had ah attack of malaria coming on. You ‘ve got too many things coming up to get involved in such an affair. This kind of attribute is used in literary as well as in spoken English. In all other instance the use of the gerund as attribute in post- position is free.
It is a loose attribute in this case and, hence, may be separated from its head- noun by a pause. In all other respects this attribute is similar to the structurally dependent one of the gerund and the gerund is generally a part of a more or less extended group. This kind of attribute is neither lexically nor structurally dependent- it can modify any noun and the noun can have different syntactic functions in the sentence. e. g. : I could hear the voices of the kids waiting for the school bell to ring. They stumbled on the snow turning to icy water. The loose character of the gerund in this function is always marked off by intonation, and it may also, sometimes, be indicated by the use of comma. e. g.
The wardrobe was empty, except for one dress, swinging on a hanger. This loose attribute is frequently used in literary style but is not typical of spoken English. The gerund in the function of attribute may be preceded by a preposition. In this case it always follows its head- noun and is generally part of an extended phrase. The gerund is lexically dependent here. It most cases the gerund preceded by the preposition of. The attribute acquires appositive meaning here, in other words, serves to explain the meaning of its head- no That is why it can modify only certain abstract nouns that admit of and sometimes even require an explanation of their meaning. The number of nouns thus used is quite considerable.
The most commonly occurring of them are: action, (dis)advantage, adventure, aim, appearance, art, attitude, business, capacity, case, chance, charge, choice, (dis)comfort, complication, conception, consequence, consideration, consolation, (in)convenience, cost, custom, danger, delight, difficulty, disappointment, disgrace, effect, emotion, enterprise, evidence, expenditure, expense, experience, fact, fascination, favour, fear, feeling, gesture, grief, guilt, habit, honor, hope, horror, humiliation, idea, ignorance, illusion, incident, impertinence, importance, impression, initiative, intention, interest, instant, issue, job, joke, joy, labor, lightness, limit, love, luck, luxury, madness, magnificent, manner, means, medium, memory, merit, method, misfortune, misery, mistake, moment, motion, movement, necessity, notion, object, opinion, opportunity, pain, pity, pleasure, point, policy, possibility, power, pretence, precaution, pride, privilege, process, prospect, proof, purpose, question, relief, reputation, result, risk, role, routine, rule, satisfaction, sensation, sense, shame, shock, sign, signal, sin, sorrow, sort, specialty, stage, standard, state, success, surprise, support, symptom, talent, task, terror, thought, trick, trouble, use, way, week, wisdom, work, and some others. e. g. : He said that he had not chance of learning the the truth. I don’t want her to make habit of being late.
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. I had the privilege of meeting your mother and dad some weeks ago. Her parents are terribly upset at the thought of her giving evidence. The gerund ay also be preceded by the prepositions or, in, at, about, and to. But they are by far less common than of. These prepositions are found after a limited number of nouns which regularly require their use. They are the following: For- cause, excuse, genius, gift, grounds, motive, passion, pretext, reason, reputation, talent; In- advantage, belief, believer, difficulty, experience, harm, hesitation, ingenuity, meaning, object, participation, pleasure, point, purpose, sense, skill, use; At- amazement, astonishment, attempt, delight, dismay, irritation, pleasure, satisfaction, shyness, surprise; e. g. : She had a real passion for reading detective stories. There was no point in going further.
He felt irritation at being disturbed. After three months I got an obsession about having a place of my own. Certainly I should have no objection to working with the man. For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted by the gerund. This gerund is not restricted to any particular style and is widely used in English. The gerund may be used as an attribute in a sentence pattern with a formal it as a subject. The gerand is lexically dependent here- it is regularly used only after it is no good and it is no use. It has appositive meaning here. e. g. : It’s no good trying to fool yourself about love. “It’s no use going on like this, ” he said.
Sometimes the gerund occurs after a number of other nouns which are as a rule, semantically pale, such as thing, business, chance, idea, problem and some others. The nouns are usually modified by an adjective which as semantically more important than the noun. e. g. : It’s been a great chance my meeting you like this. It’ll be such a surprise to her seeing you. It should be mentioned, however, that the gerund is not common after these nouns. The use of this gerund is mainly restricted in spoken English. Chapter 2. Comparing the gerund with others non- finite forms. I had written about the gerund and described the gerund in different constructions. Now I would like to tell you about other non- finite form and compare it with the gerund. The gerund and the infinitive in comparison.
The infinitive is the non-finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the verb with those of the noun, serving as the verbal name of a process. By virtue of its general process-naming function, the infinitive should be considered as the head-form of the whole paradigm of the verb. In this quality it can be likened to the nominative case of the noun in languages having a normally developed noun declension, as, for instance, Russian. It is not by chance that A. A. Shakhmatov called the infinitive the “verbal nominative”. With the English infinitive, its role of the verbal paradigmatic head-form is supported by the fact that, as has been stated before, it represents the actual derivation base for all the forms of regular verbs.
The infinitive is used in three fundamentally different types of functions: first, as a notional, self-positional syntactic part of the sentence; second, as the notional constituent of a complex verbal predicate built up around a predicator verb; third, as the notional constituent of a finite conjugation form of the verb. The first use is grammatically “free”, the second is grammatically “half-free”, and the third is grammatically “bound”. The consideration of the English verbs in their mutual comparison, supported and supplemented by comparison them with their non- verbal counterparts, puts forward some points of structure and function worthy of special notice. In this connection the infinitive-gerund correlation should first be brought under observation.
Both forms are substance-processual, and the natural question that one has to ask about them is, whether the two do not repeat each other by their informative destination and employment. This question was partly answered in the paragraph devoted to the general outline of the gerund, observations of the actual uses of the gerund and the infinitive in texts do show the clear-cut semantic difference between the forms, which consists in the gerund being, on the one hand, of, a more substantive nature than the infinitive, i. e. of, a nature nearer to the thinness-signification type; on the other hand, of, a more abstract nature in the logical sense proper.
Hence, the forms do not repeat, but complement each other, being both of them inalienable components of the English verbal system. The difference between the forms in question may be demonstrated by the following examples: Seeing and talking to people made him tired. (As characteristic of a period of his life; as a general feature of his disposition) — It made him tired to see and talk to so many people. (All at a time, on that particular occasion); Spending an afternoon in the company of that gentle soul was always a wonderful pleasure. (Repeated action, general characteristic)—To spend an afternoon on the grass-lovely, (A response utterance of enthusiastic agreement); Who does’t like singing? (In a general reference)—
Who doesn’t like to sing? In reference to be subject) Comparing examples like these, we easily notice the more dynamic, more actional character of the infinitive as well as of the whole collocations built up around it, and the less dynamic character of the corresponding gerundial collocation. Furthermore, beyond the boundaries of the verb, but within the boundaries of the same inter-class paradigmatic derivation, we find the cognate verbal noun which is devoid of processual dynamics altogether, though it denotes, from a different angle, the same referential process, situation, event. e. g. : For them to have arrived so early!
Such a surprise! -Their having arrived so early was indeed a great surprise. Their early arrival was a great surprise, really. The triple correlation, being of an indisputably systemic nature and covering, a vast proportion of the lexicon, enables us to interpret it in terms of, a special lexico- grammatical category of processual representation. The three stages of this category represent the referential processual entity of the lexemic series, respectively, as dynamic (the infinitive and its phrase), semi-dynamic (the gerund and its phrase), and static (the verbal noun and its phrase). The category of processual representation underlies the predicative differences between various situation-naming constructions in the sphere of syntactic nominalization.
Another category specifically identified within the framework of substantial verbs and relevant for syntactic analysis is the category of modal representation. This category, pointed out by L. S. Barkhudarov, marks the infinitive in contrast to the gerund, and it is revealed in the infinitive having a modal force, in particular, in its attributive uses, but also elsewhere. e. g. : This is a kind of peace to be desired by all. (A kind of peace that should be desired) Is there any hope for us to meet this great violinist in our town? (A hope that we may meet this violinist) It was arranged for the mountaineers to have a rest in tents before climbing the peak. (It was arranged so that they could have a rest in tents)
When speaking about the functional difference between lingual forms, e must bear in mind that this difference might become subject to neutralization in various systemic or contextual conditions. But however vast the corresponding field of neutralization might be, the rational basis of correlation of the forms in question still lies in their difference, not in neutralizing equivalence. Indeed, the difference is linguistically so valuable that one well- established occurrence of a differential correlation of meaningful forms outweighs by its significance dozens of their textual neutralizations. Why so? For the simple reason that language is a means of forming and exchanging ideas – that is, ideas differing from one another, not coinciding with one another.
And this simple truth should thoroughly be taken into consideration when tackling certain cases of infinitive-gerund equivalence in syntactic constructions – as, for instance, the freely alternating gerunds and infinitives with some phrasal predicators (begin, start, continue, cease, etc. ). The functional equivalence of the infinitive and the gerund in the composition of the phrasal predicate by no means can be held as testifying to their functional equivalence in other spheres of expression.
As for the preferable or exclusive use of the gerund with a set of transitive verbs (e. g. avoid, delay, deny, forgive, mind, postpone) and especially prepositional-complementive verbs and word-groups (e. g. ccuse of, agree to, dependent on, prevent from, think of, succeed in, thank for; be aware of be busy in, be indignant at, be sure of), we clearly see here the tendency of mutual differentiation and complementation of the substantive verb forms based on the demonstrated category of procession representation. In fact, it is the gerund, not the infinitive that denotes the procession referent of the lexeme not in a dynamic, but in a half-dynamic representation, which is more appropriate to be associated with a substantive-related part of the sentence. Conclusion. I have examined all of the aspects, the functions and the problems of the gerund in My course paper. In during of my working I have met some difficulties and found some interesting facts too. It will help me in my studying. Now I know more about the gerund and may use it correctly in my speech.
The Gerund developed from the verbal noun, which in course of time became verbalized preserving at same time its nominal characters. The Gerund is formed by adding the suffix -ing. The general combinability of the gerund is dual, sharing some features with the verb, and some features with the noun,-functions. The gerund, in the corresponding positional patterns, performs the functions of all the types of notional sentence- parts, i. e. the subject, the object, the predicative, the adverbial modifier. The gerund in the function of subject usually expresses permanent or recurrent actions, simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb. The gerund as a predicative is usually used after the link- verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning.
Often we may notice the gerund in predicative constructions. The gerund as predicate is restricted to two sentence patterns: 1) interrogative sentences beginning with what about and how about and implying suggestion,, 2) Exclamatory sentences expressing indignation. Sentences of both kinds are quite common in spoken English. Also the gerunds in the functions of attribute and object in different construction. The function of the attribute and object may be preceded by a preposition. Also I have compared the gerund with infinitive in my course paper. The infinitive and the gerund sometimes have similar functions in the sentence and it is therefore necessary to define the spheres of their application.
The distinction between the two verbal partly lies in their different tense and aspect characteristics. In some of the functions there are a few additional factors which affect the choice between the two verbs. The infinitive, for instance-; may acquire modal meaning which is never expressed by the gerund. The gerund, in its turn, when preceded by prepositions, can express different meanings not typical of the infinitive. In certain functions the infinitive of terminative verbs serves to express accomplished action, while the gerund shows the action in progress. There are many difficulties in using the gerund; we have to pay much attention to this phenomenon.
