The Gerund. Forms of the Gerund

1.

THE GERUND

2.

Forms of the Gerund
• The gerund developed from the verbal noun,
which in course of time became verbalized
preserving at the time its nominal character.
• The gerund is formed by adding the suffix –ing
to the stem of the verb. The gerund has tense
distinctions; the gerund of transitive verbs has
also voice distinctions.

3.

Forms of the Gerund
Objective verbs have four forms of the gerund in Modern English:
Active
Passive
Simple
speaking
being spoken
Perfect
having spoken
having been spoken
Subjective verbs have two forms of the gerund in Modern English. They
have no passive forms: standing, having stood.

4.

1. The gerund of transitive verbs can take a
direct object (writing a letter, understanding the
speech) and be modified by an adverb (writing
slowly, crying bitterly). Thus the gerund has
verbal features because it has tense and voice
forms, can take a direct object and be modified
by an adverb.

5.

2. The gerund has also nominal (noun)
features. It can be used with a preposition (by
writing; after writing; before writing). Most of its
syntactical functions strongly remind us of the
noun because the gerund can be the subject, the
object and the predicative in the sentence.
e.g.
1. Travelling and sightseeing is his hobby.
(subject)
2. I am very tired of walking. (object)
3. The duty of all progressive mankind is
fighting for peace. (predicative)

6.

Like the noun the gerund can be modified by a
possessive pronoun or a noun in the possessive
case. The relations between the noun and the
modifying pronoun or noun in the possessive
case are attributive.
e.g.
1. His reading has considerably improved.
2. Roger’s reading has considerably improved.

7.

The tense distinctions of the gerund
are as follows:
The Simple Gerund Active and Passive expresses
a simultaneous action with the finite verb.
e.g.
1. She walked on without turning her head.
2. He can swim for number of hours without
being tired.

8.

The tense distinctions of the gerund
are as follows:
• The Perfect Gerund expresses an action prior to that of
the finite verb.
e.g.
1. He was ashamed of having shown irritation.
2. They parted without having spoken to each other.
But: with the verbs remember, excuse, forgive, thank
and after the prepositions on/upon, after, without the
Perfect Gerund is seldom used.
e.g.
1. I don't remember hearing the legend before.
2. On leaving the house we hurried to the station.

9.

The gerund has voice distinctions:
e.g.
1. He liked neither reading aloud nor being read aloud to.
2. She was upset at having been treated like that.
Note: After the verbs to want, to need, to deserve, to
require and the adjective worth the gerund is used in the
active form, though it is passive in meaning.
e.g.
1. He realized that his room needed painting.
2. The child deserves praising.
3. The film was not worth watching.

10.

Subject
a) doing smth is/does/would do/means smth:
• Growing flowers is my hobby.
• Crying will do you no good.
• Talking mends no holes.
• Reading love stories made her laugh.

11.

Subject
b) with introductory ‘it’: it is/was/will be no
use/no good doing smth:
• It’s no good denying it (Отрицать не имеет
смысла).
• It’s no use telling her about it (Бесполезно ей
говорить об этом).

12.

Subject
c) with introductory ‘there’: there is/was/will be
no doing smth:
• There is no avoiding it (Этого не избежать).
• There was no going back (Назад пути уже не
было).

13.

Predicative
a) the main thing (smb’s wish, job, duty, etc.)
is/was doing smth:
• John’s hobby is collecting stamps.
• The only remedy for such a headache is going to
bed.
• Our dream was going to London.
• The main thing is getting there in time.

14.

Predicative
b) to feel like (up to) / to be for (against) doing
smth (the gerund may be also considered to be
an object):
• I don’t feel like walking (Мне не хочется идти
пешком).
• Are you for or against staying here? (Ты за или
против того, чтобы остаться здесь?)

15.

A part of a compound verbal phasal
predicate
• phasal (aspect) predicate after phasal (aspect)
verbs: to start, to begin, to commence, to go on,
to continue, to keep on, to finish, to stop, etc:
• The child went on crying.
• The boys started laughing.
• He gave up smoking. (?)

16.

A part of a compound verbal modal
predicate
• modal predicate: саn’t help, саn’t stand, can’t
bear, can’t imagine, can’t fancy, can’t resist (the
gerund may be also considered to be a direct
object):
• I саn’t stand seeing him here.
• I саn’t help admiring him

17.

Object
• direct (non-prepositional) with the verbs: to
enjoy, hate, like, love, prefer, mind (-/?), admit,
be worth, avoid, need, want, consider, delay,
postpone, deny, suggest, propose, try, etc.
• I enjoy reading English books in the original.
• I don’t mind waiting.
• The suit needs/wants pressing.

18.

Prepositional object
Verb
Prep-n
to think, complain, remind, dream, be
sure, be afraid, be fond, be proud, etc.
OF
to object, to agree, to look forward, to be
used, etc.
TO
to be engaged, be interested, etc.
IN
to insist, depend, etc.
ON
to apologize, thank, be grateful, etc.
FOR
to be good, be clever, be (dis)pleased, be
surprised, be astonished, be excited, be
puzzled, be irritated, be upset, etc.
AT
to keep, prevent, etc.
to suspect, accuse, (dis)approve, boast,
etc.
FROM
OF
Gerund
•doing
•smb’s doing
•being done
•smb’s being done

19.

Attribute
a) with the words which require an explanation of
their meaning: idea, habit, point, sign, intention,
way, chance, plan, mistake, (dis)advantage, aim, art,
attitude,
capacity,
(in)convenience,
custom,
difficulty, favor, hope, illusion, importance, method,
necessity, notion, opinion, possibility, process, risk,
sense, standard, success, talent, use, good, harm,
etc. + of doing smth:
• There’s no chance of meeting her there.
• I don’t like his habit of making people wait.

20.

Attribute
b) there is no (little) / smb sees no sense, harm,
difficulty, point, danger, chance, etc. + in doing
smth:
• There is no harm in asking her again (Ничего
не случится, если мы ее еще раз спросим).
• There is little point in refusing (Мало смысла
отказываться).

21.

Adverbial Modifier
a) of manner (by, without, in):
• You can make your dress tighter by taking in at
the waist.
• The day was spent in packing.
• Don’t leave your flat without turning off the
gas stove and switching off the light.

22.

Adverbial Modifier
b) of time (after, before, since, upon, on, in, at):
• On arriving at the picnic ground they began
looking for water.
• After coming home she usually starts looking
through the newspapers.

23.

Adverbial Modifier
c) of cause (because of, for, for fear of, owing to,
from, through):
• I couldn’t go to the picnic for being ill.
• He didn’t attend the party for fear of making a
fool of himself

24.

Adverbial Modifier
d) of concession (in spite of):
• In spite of having good weather, we couldn’t
start at once.
• In spite of being busy, he did all he could to
help her.

25.

Adverbial Modifier
e) of attendant circumstances (without):
• She passed by without taking notice of me.
• Then he left us without saying good-bye.

26.

Adverbial Modifier
f) of purpose (for):
• One side of the gallery was used for dancing.
• The knife is used for cutting roses.

27.

Adverbial Modifier
g) of condition (in case of, without, but for):
• You can’t go there without being invited.
• But for meeting her, I wouldn’t have become a
teacher.