The gerund forms

	Active	Passive
Indefinite Perfect	writing having written	being written having been written

The tense distinctions of the gerund are relative:

The Indefinite Gerund	The Perfect Gerund
denotes an action simultaneous with that of the predicate e.g. He avoided downloading unreliable information	denotes an action prior to that of the predicate e.g. He admitted having downloaded unreliable information

1. Prior action is not always expressed by a perfect gerund. in some cases we find an Indefinite gerund.

After the verbs: remember, excuse, forgive, thank.

After the prepositions: on ( upon), after, without

e.g. I don’t remember hearing the legend before.

You must excuse my not answering you before.

2. After the verbs want, need, deserve, require, be worth the gerund is used in the active form though it is passive in meaning. E.g. The room needs painting.

Ex.7. Open the brackets using the correct form of the Gerund.

1. He remembered (cross) the road, but he didn’t remember (knock down).

2. I am still hungry in spite of (eat) four sandwiches.

3. He got into the house by (climb) through the window, without (see) by anyone.

4. He woke up at 7 a.m. in spite of (work) late.

5. He complained of (give) a very small room.

6. The baby went to sleep a few minutes after (feed).

7. Mary was chosen to fill the vacancy. She was very pleased at (choose).

8. I always treat people politely and I insist on (treat) politely.

The gerund is always used after verbs followed by prepositions:
to accuse of to agree to to approve of to be afraid of to congratulate on to depend on to dream of to feel like to inform of	to insist on to look forward to to object to to persist in to prevent from to succeed in to suspect of to thank for to think of

Ex. 8. Fill in the necessary preposition.

1. He was afraid …… playing this computer game alone.

2. I’m looking forward …… receiving email message from my friend.

3. My friend succeeded …….. buying things through shopping sites.

4. He has always dreamt ……. taking part in video conference.

5. The false network address prevented him …….. visiting the site.

6. He never agreed …… their using the software.

7. He informed ………having installed a new processor.

8. The children were accused ……… having visited unallowed site.

9. I insisted …….. being sent the complete data.

10. I object …….. your downloading music at the lesson.

The functions of the gerund in the sentence. The gerund can be used in different syntactic functions

1. The gerund as a subject 2. The gerund as a predicative 3. The gerund as an object: a) direct object b) indirect object 4. The gerund as an attribute 5. The gerund as adverbial modifier

1. Smoking is not allowed here. (Курить (курение) здесь не разрешается) 2. His hobby is driving a car. (Его любимое занятие – водить ( вождение) машинную) 3. a) The car needs repairing. (Машина нуж-дается в ремонте.) b) They spoke about their traveling to the North. (Они говорили о поездке на север) 4. There are different ways of obtaining this subject. (Существуют различные способы получения этого вещества.) 5. After receiving good results they stopped experiments. ( Получив ( после того как получили) хорошие результаты, они прекратили эксперименты.

Ex. 9. Translate the following sentences from English into Russian paying attention to the functions of the gerund in these sentences.

1. Reading English technical magazines is important for an engineer.

2. He remembers having added some water to the mixture.

3. They began making an experiment in May.

4. After graduating from the Institute he worked in the Far North.

5. There are different ways of obtaining the substance.

6. They finished installing the equipment only on Saturday.

7. At the meeting they discussed different ways of improving their work.

8. The organizers of the conference were informed of his refusing to take part in it.

UNIT 2. LIVING WITH COMPUTERS

Focus: Computers: friend or foe?

Grammar focus: Gerund with prepositions.

Skills focus: Reading for specific information to know about the use of computers in peoples’ life.

Before reading:

Work in pairs. Discuss with your partner whether computers are friend or foe?