I really love spring and always look forward to its coming.

c) an indefinite, defining or negative pronoun:

He was aware of something being wrong.

He complains about everything being so different from what it used to be.

He insisted on nothing being done without consulting him.

d) demonstrative pronouns:

I object to this being published at all.

Predicative constructions are usually rendered in Russian by а subordinate clause.

She remembered her sister’s leaving the house that cold dark night. –

Она помнила, как ее сестра ушла из дома в ту холодную темную ночь.

In a sentence they can be used as subject, object, attribute, predicative and adverbial modifier in the same way as gerunds are used.

Subject – Her coming at any time she likes can drive me mad.

Object – I have never heard of Mrs. Grand being here.

Attribute – I didn’t like the idea of her meeting the train alone.

Predicative – The only problem is the police getting involved in the matter.

Adverbial Modifier – After these facts becoming open to the public we’ll discuss our next step.

Syntactic functions of the gerund

In а sentence the Gerund is often used as a part of a gerundial phrase or a gerundial construction. They can perform the following syntactic functions:

1. Subject

Reading books will do you а lot of good.

Your trying to help pleased him a lot.

It can be introduced by it or there:

It’s no use trying to persuade him.

There is no smoking here.

There is no use arguing now.

2. Predicative

This was sharing а dream, and yet it wasn’t as silly as dreaming.

His only duty was keeping the yard clean.

3. A part of а compound verbal predicate

а) as а part of а compound verbal modal predicate with the verbs or expressions having modal meaning:

She felt like telling everybody the truth about the accident.

b) as а part of а compound verbal aspect predicate with the verbs denoting the beginning, duration or cessation of the action:

She had stopped shivering too, in the last few minutes.

Note: Gerundial constructions are seldom used after these verbs. When they are used they perform the function of the direct object: She would stop his dating this girl if she could.

4. Object

а) Gerunds and / or gerundial constructions can be used as а direct object after the following verbs:

Avoid, afford (after this verb only а gerundial construction is used), appreciate, bear, consider, contemplate, defer, delay, deny, deserve, detest, discuss, dislike, encourage, endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, fancy, forbid, forget, forgive, hate, (cannot) help, imagine, involve, justify, like, loathe, love, mention, mind (in interrogative and negative sentences), miss, need, postpone, practice, prefer, prevent, prohibit, recommend, regret, remember, resent, resist, risk, save (sb), (cannot) stand, suggest, tolerate, understand, want, and the adjectives busy and worth.

I couldn’t avoid speaking to him.

Imagine standing there, mouth open.

They don’t mind paying for driving lessons.

The skirt needs pressing.

The book is worth reading.

We cannot afford your ruining our lives.

b) Gerunds can be used as а prepositional object after the following verbs:

admit to, accuse (sb) of, burst out, carry on, discourage from, excuse (sb) for, forbid sb from, forgive smb for, get round to, give up, hear of, keep from, leave off, prevent smb from, prohibit sb from, stop (sb) from, stop short of, succeed in, suspect (sb) of, take to, talk into / out of, thank (sb) for, warn (sb) against;

Don’t give up trying.

He stopped short of saying what he thought.

Some of the verbs take a direct object besides the object expressed by a gerund:

Don’t blame him for being late.

They suspected him of hiding the facts.

Cora joins me in sending greetings.

She suspects David of having read her diary.