Syntactic Complexes with Gerund.

The Gerund is impersonal form of the verb that combines in it peculiarities of noun and verb. It does not have exact form in Russian.

	Active	Passive
Indefinite (simple)	writing asking	written being asked	Простые формы (одновременность или будущее)
Perfect	written having asked	written having been asked	Перфектные формы (предшествование)

As well as infinitive, gerund has category of relative time and case, and can have direct object and be defined by adverb.

Tom likes reading such books. Том любит читать такие книги. Tom likes being read such books. Том любит, когда ему читают такие книги.

Gerund also does syntactical functions similar to noun (function of subject, second part of complex predicate, attribute, object, adverbial modifier). [Starshinova E., Практическая грамматика английского языка, 136]

According to the opinion of Kobrina (author of “An English Grammar. Morphology”), the Gerund is a non-finite form of the verb with some noun features. It is formed by adding the suffix –ing to the stem of the verb. The grammatical meaning of the gerund is that of a process. Thus to some extent it competes with noun of verbal origin, e.g. translating-translation, describing-description, arriving-arrival, receiving-reception, helping-help.

Complex parts of the sentence with gerund.

a) In combination with noun in possessive (active) case or possessive pronoun, gerund forms complex parts of the sentence that are usually translated to Russian by subordinate clause, introduced with word that.

Ann’s coming so early surprised me. То, что Анна пришла так рано, удивило меня.

We objected to her going there. Мы возражали против того, чтобы она поехала туда.

Everybody insisted on this experiment being made once more. Все настаивали на том, чтобы этот опыт был проведен еще раз.

b) Without + Gerund is translated on Russian as negative form of verbal adverb.

He left without saying goodbye. Он ушел, не попрощавшись.

You will not be able to translate this article without knowing these rules. Вы не сможете перевести эту статью, не зная этих правил.

If Russian adverbial participle is adverbial modifier of cause, then he is usually translated on English as negative form of participle.

Не закончив эту работу, он не мог уехать в субботу. Not having completed this work, he couldn’t leave on Saturday.

Infinitive

The non-finite forms of the verb (the verbals).

The verb has finite and non-finite forms, the letter being also called verbals. The verbals, unlike the finite forms of the verb do not express person, number or mood. Therefore they cannot be used as the Predicate of a sentence. Like the finite forms of the verb, the verbals have tense and voice distinctions, but their tense distinctions differ greatly from those of the finite verb.

There are three verbals in English: the participle, the gerund and the infinitive. In Russian we also have three non-finite forms of the verb, but they do not fully coincide with those in the English. The distinguishing qualities of the verbals are as follows:

1. They have a double nature, nominal and verbal. The participle combines the characteristics of a verb with those of an adjective. The gerund and the infinitive combine the characteristics of a verb with those of a noun.

2. The tense distinctions of the verbals are not absolute (like those of the finite verb), but relative; the form of a verbal does not show whether the action it denotes refers to the present, past of future; it shows only whether, the action expressed by the verbal is simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb or prior to it.

3. All the verbals can form predicative constructions, i.e. constructions consisting of two elements: a nominal (noun or pronoun) and a verbal (participle, gerund or infinitive). The verbal element stands in predicate relation to the nominal element, i.e. in a relation similar to that between the subject and the predicate of the sentence. In most cases, predicative constructions form syntactic units, serving as one part of the sentence. [present material is taken from the book “A Grammar of the English Language” by Kaushanskaya, 153-154].

E.g.: The ring rang, Watson still talking loud. Звонок прозвенел, Уотсон продолжал громко говорить. Watson still talking loud is a predicative construction with a participle: the participle talking stands in predicate relation to the noun Watson, which denotes the doer of the action expressed by the participle.

In the sentence a verbal may occur:

a) Singly, i.e. without accompanying words. She…went away smiling. (Dreiser) Она… ушла, улыбаясь. Reading is out of the question – I can’t fix my attention on books. (Collins) О чтении не может быть и речи – Я не могу сосредоточить свое внимание на книгах. To decide is to act. Решить – значит начать действовать. [present material is taken from the book “A Grammar of the English Language” by Kaushanskaya, 154]

b) In phrases, i.e. with one or several accompanying words (an object or an adverbial modifier to the verbal). These phrases form syntactic units serving as one part of the sentence. A phrase should not be confused with a predicative construction: between the elements of a phrase there is no predicate relation as it does not include a noun or pronoun denoting the doer of the action expressed by the verbal. The windows of the drawing-room opened to a balcony overlooking the garden. (Mansfield) Окна гостиной выходили на балкон, с которого виден сад. She tried to tranquillize him by reading aloud. (Gaskell) Она пыталась успокоить его тем, что читала ему вслух. Not to disquiet his sister, he had said nothing to her of the matter. (Hardy) Чтобы не встревожить сестру, он ничего не сказал ей об этом. [present material is taken from the book “A Grammar of the English Language” by Kaushanskaya, 154]

с) In predicative constructions: My mistress being dead… , I had to look out for a new place. (Ch. Brontë) Так как моя хозяйка умерла, мне пришлось искать другое место. There is no mistake about his being a genius. (Shaw) Нет никаких сомнений в том, что он – гений. She heard him unbar the door and go out into the yard. (Hardy) Она услышала, как он отодвинул засов и вышел во двор.

In English language are often used complex parts of the speech with infinitive that are usually translated on Russian as Subordinate Clause. Among these constructions can be found such parts as Complex Object (or Objective Case + Infinitive), Complex Subject (or Nominative + Infinitive), The Prepositional infinitive phrase (For + Inf / For + Obj + Inf), Infinitive in Attribute function. Closer examination will proceed in this exact order.

The Complex Object.

It is a syntactic construction which is lexically depended and found after a limited number of verbs in the Active Voice. The complex object consists of a noun in the common case or an indefinite pronoun or a personal pronoun in the objective case serving as on object in the sentence, and a predicative which may be expressed by a noun, an adjective, an adverb, an infinitive with or without participle to, an gerund and a participle.

W e expect her to come tomorrow. Мы ожидаем, что она приедет завтра.

We expect that she will come tomorrow.

Let us take for closer examination the sentence We expect her to come tomorrow. The primary predication in this case is between the subject We and the predicate expect. We is the doer of the action expressed by the predicate verb. But in this sentence there is one more predication that between her and to come : the verb to come expresses the action performed by her. This predication is obviously the secondary one: her is not the subject of a sentence or a clause and to come is not its predicate.