The Gerund

The gerund was originally a verbal noun in –ing after about 1250. Before that the form was –ung. The gerund is another verbid that serves as the verbal name of a process and combines verbal features with those of a noun. It is even closer to the noun due to its combinability and syntactic functions.

The functions of the gerund in the sentence are as follows

- that of a subject, e.g.: Your listening to me is very much appreciated;

-of a predicative, e.g.: The only remedy for such headache is going to bed;

- of an object, e.g.: I love reading;

-of an attribute, e.g.: He had a gift of listening;

-of an adverbial modifier, e.g.: On entering the house I said “hello”.

In these functions the gerund displays combinability with verbs, adjectives, and nouns, which is typical of the noun. Like the noun, the gerund can be preceded by a preposition: I am tired of playing that stupid game. And a noun in the genitive case or a possessive determiner: I remember his complaining (or Bill’s complaining) about the noise in the neighbor’s room.

As the gerund in the sixteenth century was felt as having strong verbal force, it began to appear with forms for voice and phase. The category of phase manifests itself in the opposition of non-perfect and perfect forms. The perfect gerund denotes an action prior to the action rendered by the finite verb: He was reminded about having lost his keys. The non-perfect gerund denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb: I like singing English songs. Sometimes it can denote an action following the action expressed by the finite verb: I am thinking of selling my car in December.

The category of voice is represented by the opposition of active and passive forms: I like reading books at night (active gerund); He tried to avoid being seen. (non-perfect passive gerund). But! After the verbs need, want, deserve, the adjective worth the active gerund expresses passive meaning:

My car needs washing; The film is worth watching.

Like the finites, the gerund can be combined with nouns and pronouns denoting the subject and the object of the action, and with modifying adverbs, e.g.: I have made good progress in understanding English; She burst out crying bitterly; Her crying irritated me.

The gerund functions as the verbal component of primary predication: The only remedy for me is going to Paris as soon as possible (part of a compound predicate). The gerund can express secondary predication when the gerund forms part of a complex member of the sentence: Mike’s coming back was a total surprise to us (part of a secondary predicate); Do you mind my smoking? (complex object). If the phrase is taken as a syntactic unit, it is very natural to call it a complex object: it stands in an object relation to the predicate verb mind and consists of two elements. If, on the other hand, the phrase my smoking is not considered to be a syntactic unit, its first element is the object, and its second element is conveniently termed the objective predicative.

Differences between primary and secondary predication. In a usual two-member sentence the predication is between the subject and the predicate. In most sentences this is the only predication they contain. However, there are also sentences which contain one more predication, which is not between the subject and the predicate of the sentence. This predication may be termed secondary predication.

In Modern English there are several ways of expressing secondary predication. One of them is what is frequently termed the complex object, as seen in the sentences, I saw him run, We heard them sing, The public watched the team play, I want you to come to-morrow, We expect you to visit us, etc. Let us take the first of these sentences for closer examination. The primary predication in this sentence is between the subject I and the predicate saw. I is the doer of the action expressed by the predicate verb. But in this sentence there is one more predication, that between him and run: the verb run expresses the action performed by him. This predication is obviously a secondary one: him is not the subject of a sentence or a clause, and run is not its predicate.

The gerundial semi-predicative constructions can be used as different notional parts of a sentence, cf.: Mike’s coming back was a total surprise to us (the subject); Do you mind my smoking? (object); I couldn’t sleep because of his snoring (adverbial modifier); The thought of him being in Paris now was frustrating (attribute).

Gerund versus Verbal Noun The verbal noun

It is known that the gerund has the same ending –ing similar to the verbal noun. Let us point out differences between the gerund and the verbal noun and give some instances in order to make cited points comprehensive. The main points of difference are as follows:

-Like all verbals the gerund has a double character — nominal and verbal. The verbal noun has only a nominal character.

The Gerund is not used with an article. The verbal noun may be used with the article:

The making of a new humanity cannot be the privilege of a handful of bureaucrats;

I want you to give my hair a good brushing.

-The Gerund has no plural form. The verbal noun may be used in the plural: Our likings are regulated by our circumstance.

-The Gerund of a transitive verb takes a direct object: He received more and more and more letters, so many that he had given up reading them.

-A verbal noun cannot take a direct object; it takes a prepositional object with the preposition of: Meanwhile Gwendolen was rallying her nerves to the reading to the paper.

-The gerund may be modified by an adverb: Drinking, even temperately, was a sin.

-The verbal noun may be modified by an adjective: He took a good scolding about cladding Sid.

Remember, that some words combine only with gerunds, while others – only with infinitives. The list of these words is given in every textbook. Be sure that you know the rules.