Файл: The Gerund The Gerund is a nonfinite (неличная) form of the verb. It is formed by adding the suffix ing.doc
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The Gerund
The Gerund is a non-finite (неличная) form of the verb. It is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem (основа) of the verb. It has nominal and verbal characteristics.
I. Nominal characteristics:
1. It is used in the function of subject and object:
- Smoking is not allowed here. (subject)
- I remember seeing you somewhere. (object)
- I’m thinking of watching the film again. (object)
2. It can be modified by a noun in the possessive case (притяжательныйпадеж) or a possessive pronoun (местоимение):
- Excuse my interrupting you.
- I insist on John’s staying with us.
II. Verbal characteristics:
1. The Gerund of transitive (переходные) verbs can take a direct object:
- The students have made progress in learning English.
2. The Gerund can be modified by an adverb:
- She burst out crying bitterly.
- She went on walking fast.
3. The Gerund has tense and voice (залог) distinctions.
| Tense/ voice | Active | Passive |
| non-perfect | taking | being taken |
| perfect | having taken | having been taken |
4. The tense distinctions:
a) The non-perfect (Indefinite) Gerund denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the notional verb. So depending on the tense form of the notional verb it may refer to the present, past or future.
| - Students improve their pronunciation | } | |
| - John improved | by listening to recordings | |
| - You will improve | |
b) The perfect Gerund denotes an action prior to the action expressed by the notional verb.
| - I regret | } | |
| - I regretted | having said these words | |
| - I will always regret | |
BUT!
A prior action can also be expressed by a non-perfect Gerund. It occurs (происходит) after the verbs of:
- recollection (воспоминания);
- gratitude (благодарность);
- blame (вина);
- reproach (упрек);
- punishment (наказание);
- reward (поощрение)
- I will never forget taking this exam.
- I thank you for helping me.
- Excuse my not answering your letter before.
The Indefinite Gerund is preferable when we talk about prior actions when there are such prepositions as:
- on
- after
- without
- He came back after being away for ten years.
- They parted at the door without looking at each other.
- On reaching the end of the street we turned towards the river.
The Voice distinctions
| Active | Passive |
| I hate interrupting people | I hate being interrupted |
| to be used to doing some thing | |
| I’m not used to talking in such a way | I’m not used to being talked in such a way |
| on telling | |
| On telling me the news he turned away | On being told the news he turned away |
There are some verbs:
- to need
- to want
- to require
- to deserve
and the adjective “worth” which are followed by an active Gerund with a passive meaning:
- The room needs painting (Комнатунужнопокрасить)
- Thecarwantsfixing (Машине требуется ремонт)
- His hair requires cutting
- The child deserved praising
- The film is worth seeing
- Your suggestion is worth talking over (обсудить)
Functions of the Gerund in the sentence
The Gerund can perform any syntactical functions typical for a noun.
The Gerund is used:
1. As a subject (подлежащее)
- Writing letters is a waste of time
- Being late for the classes is not polite.
2. As a predicate (сказуемое):
- My hobby is looking in
3. As a part of a compound verbal predicate (составноеглагольноесказуемое):
a) with verbs denoting modality (couldn’t help – немогне)
- He couldn’t help admiring that man
- She can’t help addressing him
b) with verbs denoting the beginning, the duration or the end of an action:
| beginning | duration | end |
| - to begin | - to continue | - to give up |
| - to start | - to go on | - to finish |
| - to burst out | - to keep on | - to stop |
- You’ve started arguing again!
- On hearing the joke everybody burst out laughing
- He kept on working
- He stopped talking
- They continued swimming
- She began sobbing
4. As a direct object (прямоедополнение):
- I hate writing letters
- She enjoyed singing
- He is fond of playing chess
- I’m surprised at his being late
- Don’t you mind my smoking?
5. As an attribute (функцияопределения):
In this function it’s always preceded by prepositions:
- He had no chance of learning the truth
- Her habit of being late gets on my nerves
- I had no hope of discussing it with him
- I have a feeling of being watched
- The boy showed his skill in building model boats
- Imagine his surprise at seeing me
6. As an adverbial modifier of… (обстоятельства):
a) adverbial modifier of time
In this function it’s preceded by prepositions:
- on
- upon
- before
- after
- He waited a lot of time before answering
- On returning to the hotel he found the note in his room
b) adverbial modifier of manner.
The Gerund generally occurs with the prepositions:
- by
- without
- in
- You will achieve a lot by telling the truth
- She dressed without making a sound
- The day was spent in packing
- He earned his living by writing
c) adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances (сопутствующиеобстоятельства):
It shows that the action which is logically expected to accompany the action of the predicate verb doesn’t take place.
- They danced without speaking
- She was very talented without knowing it
- The bus passed without stopping
- He left the room without saying good bye
d) adverbial modifier of purpose (цель):
- The room can be used for dancing
e) adverbial modifier of cause (причина):
It’s introduced by the prepositions:
- for
- through
- for fear of (из-за страха)
- because of
- on account of
- owing to
- I couldn’t sleep for worrying
- We lost ourselves through not knowing the way
- She tried to be quiet for fear of making the child wake up
- He was out of breath becauseof walking fast
- On account of breaking my glasses I couldn’t read a book
- Owing to your coming in time we managed to catch the train
f) adverbial modifier of concession (уступка):
- in spite of
- In spite of being busy he did all he could to help her.
g) adverbial modifier of condition (условия):
- but for (если бы не)
-
But for her meeting John, she wouldn’t have learned the truth.
The use of the Gerund
1. Verbs followed by prepositions:
- to accuse of (обвинять кого-л.)
- to apologize for
- to approve of (одобрять кого-л.)
- to blame for
- to forgive for
- to congratulate on
- to count on (рассчитывать)
- to depend on
- to hear of
- to inform of
- to insist on (настаивать на)
- to persist in (настаивать на)
- to object to (возражать чему-л.)
- to prevent from (предотвратить)
- to result in (заканчиваться чем-л.)
- to stop from (отговорить от)
- to succeed in
- to suspect smb of (подозревать кого-л.)
- to thank for
- to think of (думать о)
- They succeeded in finding a good flat
- Can you stop the child from getting into mischief?
- He was accused of having broken the law
- I insisted on his coming with us
- Who is to blame for starting the fire?
- Are you thinking of buying the house?
- I apologize for being so awkward.
2. Nouns used with prepositions:
- art of
- chance of
- difficulty in
- experience in
- habit of
- idea of
- importance of
- interest in
- means of (средство чего-л.)
- mistake of
- opportunity of
- plan for
- preparation for
- process of
- purpose of
- reason for
- right of (право на)
- skill in
- way of
- There is no chance of winning
- We had no opportunity of meeting interesting people there
- I have no experience in building houses
- There are different ways of solving this problem
- Do you have any reason for saying such a thing?
3. Phrasal verbs:
- burst out (разразиться)
- give up (бросить)
- go on (продолжать что-л делать)
- keep on (продолжать)
- put off (отложить)
- He gave up smoking two years ago
- She kept on interrupting me while I was speaking
- She burst out crying when she heard the news
4. Verbs:
- to avoid (избегать)
- to involve (вовлекать)
- to consider (считать, полагать)
- to delay (откладывать. задерживаться)
- to deny (отрицать)
- to escape (избегать)
- to excuse (извинять, прощать)
- to fancy (воображать)
- to finish (заканчивать)
- to forgive (прощать)
- to justify (оправдывать)
- to mind (возражать)
- to practice (практиковать)
- to recall (вспоминать)
- to recollect (вспоминать)
- to resent (сопротивляться, возмущаться)
- to postpone (откладывать)
- to risk (рисковать, попытать удачу)
- Do you mind my opening the window? (Would you mind…?)
- He denied having seen the man before
- You can hardly avoid meeting her
- They postponed sending an answer
- I’ll risk trying my hand in it
5. Verb combinations:
- to be afraid of
- to be angry with
- to be guilty of (быть виновным)
- to be interested in
- to be no use
- There is no use crying over spilt milk
The Gerund and the Infinitive compared
They have much in common since they both have nominal and verbal features (черты).
The basic difference in their meaning is that the Gerund is more general whereas the Infinitive is more specific.
1. With the verbs:
- to like
- to hate
- to prefer
the Gerund expresses a habitual action; the Infinitive expresses a specific single action
- I like swimming (вцелом)
- I should like to swim in the lake (разовоедействие)
- I hate interrupting people
- I hate to interrupt you but I have to
- They prefer staying indoors when the weather is cold
- I’d prefer to stay at home in this cold weather
2. There are some verbs which are followed by either the Gerund or the Infinitive with some difference in meaning
a) to remember to do (the remembering occurs before the action):
- He always remembers to pay his bills (Он всегда помнит платить по счетам)
to remember doing (the remembering occurs after the action):
- He remembers paying the bill (Онпомнит, чтооплатилсчет)
b) to forget to do (the result of forgetting is that the action doesn’t take place):
- I forgot to post the letter (Язабылотправитьписьмо)
to forget doing (an action is forgotten after it takes place):
- I forgot posting the letter (Я забыл как отправлял письмо)
c) to stop to do (to stop for the purpose to accomplishing the task (сделать с результатом)):
- He stopped to buy a newspaper (Оностановился, чтобыкупитьгазеты)
to stop doing (interrupt an action in progress):
- He stopped buying newspaper (Онпересталпокупатьгазеты)
d) to go on to do (finish doing smth and move to smth different):
- On graduating from high school he went on to study at Oxford (ПослешколыонпродолжилучитьсявОксфорде)
to go on doing (continue doing the same):
- He went on studying medicine though his father objected (Онпродолжилизучатьмедицину, хотяегоотецвозражал)