Учебное пособие 1583

once. 3. Thank you that you reminded me. 4. Nick suggested that we should dine at a restaurant to celebrate this little event. 5. He doesn‘t like when you interfere. 6. He prevents when I help him. 7.

Nobody knew that they had agreed to take part in the expedition. 8. I insist that everything should be said in plain words so that there can‘t be any misunderstanding. 9. She dislikes when the children prompt one another and always gets very angry. 10. He wrote he would stay in Paris another week and did not explain why he was obliged to do so. 11. I can‘t recollect that they ever invited me to stay a weekend with them. 12. He was afraid that the news might cause excitement among the girls. 13. She disliked that he was so stubborn and would never listen to her reasons. 14. Nell denies that he is a bore. 15. I prefer that we should make use of taperecording before we read the text. 16. Nobody objects that Peter lives with us. 17. We decided that we should join them in Glasgow.

Exercise 14. Complete the following, using the Gerund.

1. We couldn‘t even dream of … . 2. Everybody wished he stopped … . 3. He is sure to boast of … . 4. You can‘t act without … . 5. Are English people fond of … ? 6. I hardly remember … . 7. We don‘t often have the chance of … . 8. My children are not used to … . 9. Is there any use in … ? 10. He didn‘t care for … . 11. We all look forward to … . 12. Everybody disliked the idea of … . 13. He has given up … . 14. What kept you from … ? 15. Is it worth while … ? 16. The boy kept on … . 17. What prevented her from … ? 18. The audience enjoyed … . 19. What do you mean by … ?

THE GERUND AND THE VERBAL NOUN COMPARED

The gerund has developed from the verbal noun; now these two forms co-exist in the language and should not be confused.

The main points of difference between the gerund and the verbal noun in ing are the following:

(1) The gerund expresses an action in progress and may be

associated with the doer of the action as part of a predicative construction.

The verbal noun, like any other noun, expresses a substance rather than an action; therefore it cannot be associated with the noun denoting the doer of the action.

(2) The gerund and the verbal noun are different grammati-

cally:

(a) the verbal noun may be used with an article, which is impossible with the gerund.

I was very tired from all the questioning. The making of the English language was a long process. A clapping of hands told that the waltz had ended.

(b) the verbal noun has both singular and plural forms while the gerund, like any other verbal, lacks the category of number.

She was watching the comings and goings in the house. Our likings are regulated by our circumstances.

(c) the gerund of a transitive verb takes a direct object.

He was against giving me an interview.

The verbal noun may be followed by an of-phrase introducing a noun attribute.

The writing of letters was a dull thing.

(d) the gerund, like any other verb, can be modified by an adverb.

The child was tired of sitting still.

The verbal noun, like any other noun, can be modified by an adjective.

What you need is a good beating.

Exercise 15. Point out gerunds and verbal nouns. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. Oh, Robert, dearest, don‘t leave us! I‘ve so loved being with you. 2. He may have noticed my goings out and comings in. 3.

There‘s no going back now. 4. Remember at school one was always kept waiting for a beating. 5. Now and again came the clear hammering of the woodpecker or the joyless call of a crow. 6. She tried to speak lightly, but there was a lump in her throat and a tightening at her heart. 7. Upon reading this letter Shelton had once more a sense of being exploited. 8. ―Oh,‖ she cried when they were out of hearing. ―I wish he would go.‖ 9. She went quickly past him and out of the room without looking back. 10. He looked at us with a kind cheerful cunning. 11. Well, what are your plans, Dixon? – I was thinking of going in for school teaching. 12. She arose, but before she had time to get out of the room a loud rapping began upon the front door. 13. He began tidying the cabin, putting away his clothes and straightening the bed. 14. I have only a candle to see by, so I trust you will excuse my bad writing. 15. He reached his rooms at midnight so exhausted that, without waiting to light up, he dropped into a chair. 16. He said he was looking forward to meeting you again. 17. And the worst of it is that I shall go on doing exactly I was going to do in the first place. 18. There was the splashing of big drops on large leaves and a faint stirring and shaking in the bush. 19. She began talking to the girl behind the bar. 20. Her father took no notice of her comings and goings.

NOTES ON RENDERING THE GERUND IN RUSSIAN

There is no verbal form in Russian similar to the English gerund. To render its meaning we can use nouns, other verbals or clauses. As for gerundial complexes, they are nearly always rendered by clauses.

The choice of the right variant is determined by the lexical

meaning of the gerund, its form and function and also the situation in which it is used.

Here are a few examples.

7.After having been То, что он был иностранец, само

The fact that certain verbs in English can be followed either by gerund or by infinitive creates additional difficulties for translation.

It is believed that the difference between these two forms is of aspective nature, the gerund representing an action in progress and the infinitive representing an action as a fact. Besides, the gerund is believed to denote a general action, the infinitive — a concrete one.

Let us analyse the following examples.

After supper Sir Pitt Crawley began to smoke his pipe (закурил трубку), and producing a huge mass of papers began

reading them and putting them in order (начал читать и приводить их в порядок).

The difference between the gerund and the infinitive here reminds us of the difference between the continuous and noncontinuous aspect forms: the ing-form denotes the action in progress, while the infinitive merely states the fact. Or:

He started to say something but caught himself. Он было заговорил, но затем одернул себя.— Не began speaking with confidence. Он начал говорить, и в его голосе слы-

шалась уверенность.

In the following two examples the gerund expresses an action in a general sense, while the infinitive has a more concrete meaning.

She does not like trifling with serious things (когда серьез-

ное превращают в фарс).— She does not like to trifle with serious things (превращать в фарс серьезные вещи).

Exercise 16. State the form and the function of the Gerund. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. Arguing over trifles is a waste of time. 2. Do you mind my putting down your address and telephone number? 3. She enjoyed giving parties. 4. She was very proud of being admired. 5. I shall never forget seeing the Swiss Alps for the first time. 6. I remember meeting him before the war. 7. I don‘t remember ever having seen him. 8. He had never liked being a military man and devoted the rest of his life to growing flowers. 9. He had a way of talking with women. 10. Before going on an expedition we had to test the equipment. 11. We‘ve gone too far, there‘s no backing out. 12. There‘ll be some sweating to check it up. 13. Being alone in your country is worse than being alone anywhere else. 14. His being

absent-minded was noticed by everybody. 15. There is no danger of it happening again. 16. It was a silly thing, his telling them the truth. 17. Is it worth while your trying to convince him of being wrong. 18. She never did a thing without consulting her solicitor. 19. He was reprimanded for breaking the rules of the game. 20. Can I rely on you setting matters right? 21. We must consider whether it is worth while accepting this proposal. 22. He was wakened by someone knocking at the door. 23. There came the sound of the door closing, then being locked. 24. Nora hated her husband always throwing his things about. 25. Nora, I can‘t bear it lying on my back and doing nothing. 26. He succeeded in taking first place in the speed skating contest. 27. He was charged with murdering Mrs Ann Baker, a widow of 45. 28. He was in jail for having killed a man in a fight. 29. Father didn‘t approve of my having rejected the offer.

30.He insisted on repeating the experiment to control the results.

31.I insist on being treated with a certain consideration. 32. The delegation objected to discussing this proposal thus formulated. 33. He objected to Mr Dixon being elected Chairman of the club. 34. There are a lot of things to consider before making a final decision.

35.I prefer thinking matters over and over again rather than jumping to conclusions. 36. Century after century passed without such discoveries being made. 37. This line of thinking has proved to be very useful in designing such structures. 38. X-raying is the basic principle in revealing the structure of these atoms. 39. Protecting the personnel against radioactive radiation holds an important place in working out the scheme. 40. The problem could not be solved without necessary experiments being carried out. 41. The art of writing good prose is largely the lost one of calling things by their right names. 42. He began by explaining the situation in the North. 43. The greatest trial of patience is hearing a stammering barrister examining a stuttering witness in the presence of the judge hard of hearing. 44. Young girl: Could you tell me, Granny, how you have succeeded in preserving my grandfather‘s love and respect through all these long years of your married life? Grandmother: Well, my child, by very simple means: by doing all that pleased him and by enduring silently all that displeased me.

THE PARTICIPLE

FORMS

There are two participles in Modern English: Participle I (the present participle) and Participle II (the past participle).

Participle I expresses the category of relative tense and voice (the latter is proper to Participle I of transitive verbs). Participle II is unchangeable.

A prior action is usually, though not always, expressed by the perfect form of Participle I: with some verbs of sense perception and motion, such as see, hear, feel, come, arrive, enter, turn, etc.; the non-perfect form of Participle I is used even when the action is prior.

Having done the job, we decided to rest a little. But: Hearing the bell she went to open the door. Turning round the corner, he saw a policeman.

A passive action is denoted by passive forms of Participle I, both non-perfect and perfect.

Being badly wounded, he recovered slowly. Having been badly wounded so many years ago, he would now and then feel a sharp pain in his chest.

Participle II has no tense distinctions. When formed from transitive verbs it has a passive meaning: a broken cup, stolen money.

Intransitive verbs, such as exist, die, lie, etc. which are not used in the Passive Voice, have no Participles II used independently, i.e. not as part of analytical forms.

Such forms as gone, fallen, drunken, learned, retired, faded, vanished, runaway, etc., should be treated as adjectives in Modern English: the idea of action is suppressed, whereas the notion of quality is made prominent in these words: a retired officer, a learned man, a fallen idol, faded beauty, vanished civilizations.

Both participles are widely used in English as structural elements of analytical forms of the verb.

Thus Participle I is used in the formation of continuous tenses.

I am I was

I shall be reading I have been

etc.

Participle II is used in the composition of Perfect Tenses and Passive Voice.

I have (had) read, etc.

I am (was) asked, etc.

Now we shall discuss the meaning and use of both participles as independent parts of a sentence.

MEANING AND FUNCTIONS

The grammatical nature of the Participle consists in combining the characteristics of the verb with those of the adjective or the adverb.

The verbal characteristics of the Participle are expressed in its meaning and grammatical categories.

The adjectival-adverbial characteristics of Participles are represented by their syntactical functions (predicative, attribute, adverbial modifier).

Participle I and Participle II differ morphologically and their syntactical functions are not quite similar. Therefore these two kinds of Participles should be discussed separately.

PARTICIPLE I

The paradigm of Participle I shows that its grammatical forms are homonymous to those of the Gerund. The distinction between Participle I and Gerund is made on the basis of meaning and function.

Participle I expresses an action as characterizing a person or a thing (like an adjective) or as modifying another action (like an adverb).

The Gerund expresses an action in its most general sense, actually naming it, and, for this reason, looks more like a noun than an adjective or an adverb.

Both Participle I and the Gerund can be used in the functions of attributes and adverbial modifiers, the difference being that Participle I is not preceded by prepositions.

(1) As attribute Participle I can either precede a noun or follow it.

As a prepositive attribute it is normally used alone, without any modifiers or objects.

It was pleasant to look at the rising sun. The dancing people were beautifully dressed. She tried to calm the crying child.

When used in post-position, Participle I, as a rule, has one or more accompanying words.

He came up to the policeman standing at the corner. The room was full of people waiting for the doctor. I want to write a book summing up the results of my experiments. The conference taking place in Paris is devoted to radio-electronics.

N o t e that the attributive function of Participle I is proper only to its non-perfect active form. Neither perfect nor passive forms of Participle I are used in this function. Participle I as an attribute corresponds to the Russian present participle of the active voice: восходящее солнце; танцующая девушка; люди, ожидающие врача; конференция, проходящая в Париже.

The meaning of priority expressed by the Russian past participle active (конференция, проходившая в Париже) is conveyed by an attributive clause in English.

The conference that recently took place in Paris was devoted to radio-electronics.

Or compare the following two sentences:

The man making the report is a good speaker.— The man who made the report is a good speaker.

A participial construction used as a postpositive attribute is synonymous to an attributive clause, the latter being more conversational.

(2) As adverbial modifier Participle I is used to express relations of:

(a) time

Coming up to the door I found it locked. Having said all he knew the witness left the box. Having been away so long he was happy to be coming back.