3. Categories and functions of gerund

Gerund and the diyepryslivnyk present allomorphic verbals in English and Ukrainian respectively. As a result they can not be contrasted in any way. Gerund is a noun-like form of a verb (‘verbal nouns’). Gerunds are derived from verbs that are completely nominal. They take articles and adjectives and plural –s (a meeting/meetings; a booking/bookings).Thus, the gerund has both verbal and noun properties, the former being those of tense and voice (asking – being asked, having asked – having been asked). And the ability of taking an objective complement: I like traveling abroad, as well as the ability of being modified by an adverb: Going quickly never tires him.

Compare: 1) You are smoking too much these days. 2) There was a smoking cigarette end in the ashtray. 3) Smoking is bad for you.

She continued walking. He couldn’t bear her leaving him.

Gerunds similar to infinitives are described as non-finite forms of verb because they don’t carry grammatical information (such as tense).

Forms of gerund:

• Standard active: writing, asking. I’m interested in learning to fly. Collecting stamps is a hobby of his.

• Present Passive: being invited, being asked. I enjoyed being praised. He dislikes being interrupted. He was punished by being sent to bed without any supper. I remember being taken to Paris.

• Active perfect: having asked; having left. This can be used instead of the present form of the gerund (working, speaking) when we are referring to a past action. Compare: He was accused of deserting his ship. He was accused of having deserted his ship. He denied having told anyone. Michael recalled having seen him.

• Past passive perfect: having been asked, having been written. The safe showed no signs of having been touched.

Note! The negative gerund form is NOT + gerund: It’s nice not being at work.

Uses:

Some common verbs (including phrasal verbs) are normally followed by gerunds:

Admit (The employee admitted stealing the money.), appreciate, avoid, anticipate, burst out (laughing/crying), can’t help, (laughing), can’t stand, consider, contemplate (he contemplated resigning.), delay/ defer (I deferred writing.), deny, detest, dislike, endure, enjoy, excuse, escape, face, fancy, feel like (I don’t feel like cooking.), finish, forgive, give up/quit (smoking), imagine, involve, keep on, leave off, mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, recommend, risk, put off, resent (she resented his being such a wimp.), report, resist, start, stop, suggest, spend/waste time, tolerate, understand.

1. After prepositions: I hate the idea of getting old. The thought of failing never entered his head. I’m tired of listening to this. Have you got any stuff for cleaning silver? Is it for peeling vegetables?

2. Common expressions: I look forward to hearing from you soon. Do you object to working on Sunday? I’m not used to driving in London. It is worth reading. It’s no point in arguing. She is very good at solving problems. It’s no use/good in trying to help her. It’s no use crying over spilt milk. How about going out for a meal tonight? I get a bit fed up with reading. There are some jobs I hate, like washing the clothes. I keep telling myself that one day I’m going to read it. We usually go fishing/shopping/climbing/camping/sailing/skiing/jogging/swimming at the weekend. She had difficulty finding a job. It was a waste of time persuading him. She wasted a lot of time daydreaming. I spent hours cooking meals. She’s busy preparing her materials. I can’t help feeling sorry for him (I can’t stop myself from doing it).

3. In short prohibition: No smoking. No waiting. No fishing.

4. In sayings: Seeing is believing. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Deciding is acting.

Note! When there is a noun which has a similar meaning to a gerund, the noun is usually preferred. We are all excited about his arrival (NOT arriving).

Functions

The basic meaning of gerunds is the general idea of activity. The noun properties of the gerund find their expression in its functions in a sentence as subject, object, the predicative part, the attribute, and adverbial modifier (in particular, of manner).

They perform the functions of:

• The subject of a sentence: Travelling is his hobby. Smoking is bad for you. The bombing of civilians horrified everyone. Regular swimming is very good for him.

• The object of a sentence: I like reading. Charles admitted borrowing my car without permission. I prefer swimming to walking. He won’t stand beating.

• The complement of to be: His favourite activity is watching TV.

• Attribute: A trimmer is a machine for cutting grass and weeds. I dislike people telling me what to think. She found an opportunity of taking him away. I dislike people telling me what to think.

• Adverbial modifier: They escaped by sliding down a rope. She was angry at Lena’s trying to lie to her. The Mouse shook its head impatiently without opening its eyes. (L. Carroll) The rain poured down without ceasing. (Maugham) On arriving at the garden entrance, she stopped to look at the view. (Galsworthy)

The gerund can also be a complex subject, complex object: His being ill is unknown to me. That was his being ill that spoiled everything. I know nothing of his being ill.

Verb + Object (or possessive) + Gerund

Some verbs can be followed by an object and gerund (‘-ing’ clause).

It’s hard to imagine him without reading “The Times”. He left them making their calculations.

Verbs in this group can take three patterns:

1. I dislike watching television.

2. I dislike him/Tom watching television.

3. I dislike his/Tom’s watching television.

The pattern 2) with an object (him/Tom) is more informal than the possessive. The presence of either an object or possessive usually introduces a different subject for the action of the gerund

(-ing form) from the subject of the main verb. In other words, the object of the verb is the subject of the ‘-ing’ clause.

Please forgive me/my asking.

Don’t you mind me/my opening the window?

They have suggested his going to the theatre. That would entail them/their buying a new set. Surely he will forgive them/their saying so. She detested him spying on her. He enjoyed watching her all the time.

But this doesn’t mean that if there is no object or possessive the doer of the –ing form is the same as that of the main verb. It depends on the meaning of the main verb. Tom advocates waiting patiently. (Tom may or may not be involved in the waiting, but other people definitely are). But if ‘Tom resents having to wait’ then Tom does the waiting.

Contrast: I can’t help doing something (I can’t stop myself). I can’t help you (to) do something. (I’m unable to assist you).

Verbs excuse, forgive, pardon, prevent are also not followed directly by the gerund but take

1. Possessive adj./ pronoun + gerund or b) Pronoun + preposition + gerund.

Forgive my/me ringing you up so early. Forgive me for ringing you up so early.

You can’t prevent his/him spending his own money. You can’t prevent him from spending his own money. I wanted to prevent him from seeing it.

With stop meaning ‘prevent’ the pronoun is more usual than the possessive adjective:

I can’t stop him writing to the papers.

Verb appreciate usually requires

1. possessive adjective/pronoun or b) passive gerund.

I appreciate your giving me so much of your time. I appreciate being given this opportunity.

The verb mind is chiefly used in the interrogative and negative. Mind can never be followed by an infinitive. Would you mind waiting a moment? I don’t mind walking.

It can be followed

1. directly by gerund, or b) noun/pronoun, or c) possessive adjective:

I don’t mind living here. I don’t mind his/him living here. He didn’t mind leaving home. He didn’t mind Ann leaving home.

Would you mind..? is one of the most usual ways of making requests. Would you mind not smoking? (Please don’t smoke). Would you mind moving your car? (Please move it).

BUT for verbs: advise, allow, permit, forbid

No object + gerund	Object + infinitive
I wouldn’t advise taking the car, there’s nowhere to park. We don’t allow/permit smoking in the lecture room. The headmaster has forbidden singing in the corridor. Passive: Smoking is not permitted.	I wouldn’t advise you to take the car. We don’t allow people to smoke. The headmistress has forbidden the children to sing in the corridor. People are not allowed to smoke.

Imagine with an object ant to: I imagined that castle to be haunted. At the same time with –ing, an object is also possible: I couldn’t imagine (her) living like that.

Gerund or Infinitive

Some verbs or adjectives can be followed by either gerund, or Infinitive.

Verbs followed by infinitives or gerunds:

(Can) afford	Dread	Neglect	(Can) stand
Attempt	Forget	Prefer	Stop
(Can) bear	Hate	Regret	Threaten
Begin	Like	Remember	Try
Choose	Love	Start

I started playing/to play the violin when I was ten. She was proud of having won/to have won the prize.

In some cases there is a difference in meaning. Often we use + -ING for an action that happens BEFORE the main (first) verb or at the same time. He denied telling lies. Thus, usually gerund refers back to the past – to the things that one did. But we normally use TO…for an action that FOLLOWS the main (first) verb. They decided to celebrate the anniversary.

	+ Gerund/ -ING	+ Infinitive
REMEMBER FORGET	It is used mostly in the phrase ‘I’ll never forget …ing’ and expressions with similar meanings. I still remember buying my first bicycle. I don’t remember my learning to walk. I’ll never forget meeting the Queen. He forgot taking the medicine. In contrast, the gerund means that he did take his medicine, indicating its past, ‘actually happened’ status.	It refers forward in time – to things that one still has/had to do at the moment of remembering/ forgetting. You must remember to fetch Mr. Lewis from the station tomorrow. I had to phone the office but I forgot to do it. I forgot to buy the soap. He forgot to take his medicine. (The infinitive means that he didn’t take his medicine, indicating its non-factual status: he forgot that he should take it).
REGRET	refers back to the past – something that one is sorry one did. I regret leaving school at 14 – it was a big mistake.	is used mostly in announcement of bad news. We regret to inform passengers that the 14.50 train for Cardiff will leave approximately 37 min late. We regret to say that we are unable to help you.
GO ON	means ‘continue doing the same thing’. She went on talking about her illness until we all went to sleep. He went on speaking for two hours. I can't go on working like this - I'm exhausted.	Go on + to-infinitive means to do the next action, which is often the next stage in a process: After introducing her proposal, she went on to explain the benefits for the company. John Smith worked in local government for five years, then went on to become a Member of Parliament. Means ‘do or say something new’, it refers to a change of activity. She stopped talking about her illness and went on to tell us about all her other problems.
TRY	Try + gerund means ‘to experiment with an action that might be a solution to your problem.’ It means ‘making an experiment or test, doing something to see what will happen. If you have problems sleeping, you could try doing some yoga before you go to bed, or you could try drinking some warm milk. 'I can't get in touch with Carl.' 'Have you tried e-mailing him?' I tried sending her flowers, writing her letters, giving her presents, but she still wouldn’t speak to me.	Try + to-infinitive means ‘to make an effort to do something.’ It may be something very difficult or even impossible: The surgeons tried to save his life but he died on the operating table. We'll try to phone at 6 o'clock, but it might be hard to find a public telephone. Elephants and mice have to try to live together in harmony. I tried to change my wheel, but my hands were too cold. I try to find work.
LEARN and TEACH	It means ‘when we are referring to lessons/subject of study. She goes to college twice a week to learn typing. Mr. Garland teaches skiing in winter and rock-climbing in summer.	It means the result of study (successfully learning a skill). She learnt to read German at school, but she learnt to speak it in Germany. I taught myself to type.
LIKE	It means ‘enjoyment’. I like playing golf. My flat-mate cooks once a week, but I actually enjoy cooking.	It means choices and habitual preferences: ‘I think it’s good or right to do it. I like to clean the kitchen as often as possible (It doesn’t mean that I enjoy it; I think it is a good thing to do). Still, I don’t eat meat every day and I very rarely cook it, so I like to buy lots of vegetables. I like to find time in the day fir things which are really important for me. I like to spend at least an hour everyday with my violin.
CONSIDER	With – ing this means ‘think about’: At one point I considered emigrating to Canada.	With an object and to this refers to an opinion: She is considered to be the finest pianist of her generation.
MEAN	Mean + gerund and impersonal subject, this refers to what is involved and expresses what the result of an action will be, or what will be necessary: If you take that job in London it will mean travelling for two hours every day. We could take the ferry to France, but that will mean spending a night in a hotel.	Mean + to-infinitive expresses an intention or a plan: Did you mean to dial this number? I mean to finish this job by the end of the week! Sorry - I didn't mean to hurt you.
STOP	Stop + gerund means to finish an action in progress: I stopped working for them because the wages were so low. Stop tickling me!	Stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt an activity in order to do something else, so the infinitive is used to express a purpose: I stopped to have lunch. (= I was working, or travelling, and I interrupted what I was doing in order to eat.) It's difficult to concentrate on what you are doing if you have to stop to answer the phone every five minutes.