8. Forms of the Gerund

In modern English, the gerund has the following forms.

	Active	Passive
Indefinite	playing	being played
Perfect	having played	having been played

8.1. The Indefinite Gerund denotes an action simultaneous with that expressed by the finite verb; it can refer to the past, present or future.

It was nice meeting you.

Dancing is not allowed.

The Perfect gerund denotes an action prior to that of the finite verb.

Sarah remembered having visited the place before.

They deny having spoken with him.

However, the Indefinite gerund can also denote a prior action:

1. after the verbs remember, forget, excuse, forgive, thank.

Sarah remembered visiting the place before.

2. after the prepositions after, on/upon, without.

On turning the corner, I saw a most unexpected sight. (=As soon as I had turned…)

8.2. The Active Gerund is used when the subject of the action is at the same time the doer of the action expressed by the gerund.

They left without playing the match.

The Passive Gerund is used when the subject is not the doer of the action but a person or a thing the action is directed at.

Let’s not risk being caught in a traffic jam.

I’m annoyed at having been made a fool of.

The Active Gerund is used after need, want, require, deserve and the adjective worth with a passive meaning.

These windows need painting. (=need to be painted)

The cupboard wants tidying out.

The guided tour might be worth taking.

9. Functions of the Gerund

In a sentence, the gerund is used in different syntactic functions:

Subject

I think walking in the country is a lovely way to spend a day.

If the gerund follows the predicate the sentence opens with a formal subject: the introductory it or the construction there is.

It wouldn’t be much use trying to stick the pieces together again.

There was no mistaking the expression on her face.

She made up her mind – there’s no arguing with her.

Predicative

Jeremy’s hobby is inventing computer games.

What I suffer from is not being able to sleep.

Part of a compound modal or aspect predicate

I can’t help feeling depressed sometimes.

She never stopped complaining about having to walk so far.

Direct Object

I enjoy travelling.

Do you mind waiting a moment?

Imagine never having been abroad.

The gerund is used after certain verbs, such as:

admit detest justify resist resent

advise dislike mention risk

allow endure mind save

anticipate enjoy miss suggest

appreciate escape permit tolerate

avoid excuse practise deny

confess face put off imagine

delay forget recommend involve

The Gerund as a direct object is also used after the adjective worth.

The book is evidently worth reading.

Prepositional object

In this function the gerund is used after such verbs as:

admit to depend on

(dis)agree with insist on

aim at object to

apologize for pay for

(dis)approve of put up with

believe in rely on

benefit from resort to

care for succeed in

confess to think of

count on vote for

worry about

Jake is thinking of selling his motor-bike.

We believe in giving people the freedom to choose.

The gerund can also follow a verb+object+preposition.

The article accuses the government of concealing important information.

We find the gerund after such verbs as:

accuse of deter from prevent from stop from

blame for discourage from punish for thank for

charge with excuse for/from remind of use for

congratulate on forgive for tell about warn about

The gerund is used as a prepositional object after certain adjectives, such as:

afraid of capable of grateful for sorry for

amazed at content with guilty of surprised at

angry about/at dependent on happy about/with used to

annoyed about/at different from/to interested in worried about

anxious about excited about/at keen on wrong with

ashamed of famous for nervous of satisfied with

aware of fed up with pleased about/with

bad at fond of ready for

bored with good at responsible for

I’m nervous of saying the wrong thing.

My husband isn’t very good at cooking.

She’s keen on riding.

Part of a Complex Object

The Gerund can be part of a complex object when used as the verbal element of a predicative construction (see 10).

How can they justify lives being put at risk?

I hate people asking me personal questions.

Attribute

In this function the Gerund is always preceded by a preposition.

I noticed Jeff’s success in getting the price down.

There’s a small advantage in moving first.

How would you like the idea of living in a caravan?

Some other nouns can also take a preposition+gerund:

aim of/in excitement about/at possibility of

amazement at fear of problem of/in

anger about/at gratitude for prospect of

anxiety about idea of reason for

apology for job of surprise at

belief in objection to task of

danger of/in pleasure of/ in work of

effect of point of/ in worry about

Adverbial modifier

a) adverbial modifier of time

In this function, the gerund is used with the prepositions after, before, on/upon, in, at.

Please, switch off the lights before leaving.

The new drug was put on the market after being approved by the government.

b) adverbial modifier of manner with the prepositions by, in.

She succeeded in business by being completely single-minded.

c) adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances with the preposition without.

I ran all the way home without stopping.

The man left the building without being seen.

d) adverbial modifier of purpose with the preposition for.

These pages may be used for making notes on.

e) adverbial modifier of condition with the preposition without.

He has no right to come without being invited.

The boys could not leave the house without asking for permission.

f) adverbial modifier of cause with the prepositions for, for fear of, owing to.

I feel ever so much better for having taken a holiday.

g) adverbial modifier of concession with the prepositions in spite of, despite.

I still feel tired in spite of having slept eight hours.