259
A
257 Form and use
The gerund has exactly the same form as the present participle:
running, speaking, working elc.
It can be used in the following ways:
(a) as subject of a sentence: Dancing bored him. (see 258)
(b) as complement of a verb: Her hobby is painting.
(c) after prepositions: He was accused of smuggling. (259)
(d) after certain verbs (261, 266)
(e) in noun compounds: a ’diving board (a board (or diving off). Tne gerund here carries the main stress. (See 16.)
258 The gerund as subject
As already seen in 240 E, either infinitive or gerund can be the subject of a sentence when an action is being considered in a general sense. We
can say:
It is easier to read French than to $peak it or
Reading French is easier than speaking it. The gerund, like the infinitive (see 240 F), can be the subject of a clause placed after believe, consider, discover, expect, find,
think, wonder etc.
After find we can omit that and the verb be, i.e. we can say: He found that parking was difficult or He found parking difficult. But it \s safer not to omit be after the other verbs. Note the possible difference between gerund and infinitive here: He found parking difficult would mean that he usually/always found it difficult. He found it difficult to park could refer to one particular occasion. It could also mean that he always found it difficult, but it is more usual to express this idea by a gerund. The gerund is used in short prohibitions:
No smoking. No waiting. No fishing.
I But these cannot be followed by an object, so prohibitions involving an
’’ -object are usually expressed by an imperative:
Do not touch these wire’s. Do not feed the lions. Gerunds are used in the saying Seeing is believing.
24 Gerund
259 Gerunds after prepositions (see also 98)
A When a verb is placed immediately after a preposition the gerund form must be used:
What can you do besides typing?
I have no objection to hearing your story again.
Touch your toes without bending your knees!
He is good at diving. She is fond of climbing.
I iff not keen on gambling. I ’m too afraid of losing.
He was fined for being drunk in charge of a car.
I’m against saying anything/I’m for saying nothing.
I’m tired of arguing. I’m fed up waiting, (colloquial)
This is a toot for opening tins. Do you feel like going out? After swimming I felt cold. She disapproves of jogging. What about leaving it here and collecting it later? He is thinking of emigrating. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. They escaped by sliding down a rope. We had difficulty in finding a parking place. You should be ashamed of yourself for behaving so badly.
• In spite of starting late he arrived in time.
Aren’t you interested in making money? There’s no point in waiting.
B A number of verb + preposition/adverb combinations (’phrasal verbs’) take the gerund. The most common of these are be for/against, care for, give up, keep on, leave off, look forward to, put off, see abojft, take to. (For go on, see 363.)
/ don 7 can for standing in queues.
Eventually the dogs left off barking.
I am looking forward to meeting her.
He put off making a decision till he had more information.
He took to ringing us up in the middle of the night.
260 The word to
This word often causes confusion as it can be either (A) a part of an infinitive, or (B) a preposition.
A to placed after the auxiliary verbs be, have, ought, used and after going (in expressions such as’ the be going to form’.’) is. part of the infinitive of the following verb and is only added to remind students that the preceding verb takes the full infinitive, i.e. the infinitive with to. to is often placed after hate, hope, intend, would like/Jove, mean, plan, try. want and some others (see 247) to avoid repetition of an infinitive already mentioned:
Did you buy cheese? ~ No. I meant to (buy some) but the shop was shut.
B
Jk*
24 Get-*””1 . .. V- a preposition and *»
tooUcedafteraverbwinprobab^ap^^.^
’ tSffeSSSk*3” ;55?5S2«~r. -r KSf-iSS35r=.–«-
2£S5»r—-l’.
gerunds.
261 Verbs followed by the gen*d
A the most important of these ^ (= continue)
odwtr joaffce
anting* mean* (. involve)
a#r«cwfe w»rMi( = <>bJect)
flWWd ^ wi5S
constd1*’* pardon
defer postpone
delay practise
deny* prevent .
detest , J^os** (- suggest)
d«sJ«fe< r«co/l«c’* .
d«ad rtWm^’(=recoUect)
f«;oy . «s«”f
escfl^ r«s»$’
/fl^/ (= imapne) 2w ^b ”»« tirouble of)
finish stop(” cease)
, continue)
: imagine)
fewp(= continues
loathe
wean* (= evolve)
wind (= object)
wiss pardon postpone practise
JUjS* (- su^est)
recollect* -iurrt
«m«mb«r*(.reco»ecO
. «s«”f rests’
MM (sb ”»« ”’0”b’ °-°
stop(= cease)
sMffiesf
Mn<i««’flna
’j-^.-give ^ suggest*
imagine’ understand
inVOlVt . ^(-endure),
S5?.h^ftKS5=SS–’-
worth.
B
262
A
B
fi’SSl* ••*»«.
?=sss£s$£zs:s:fff^ftjar^f*”^*-
c 2r3”sss^–
•
Hdrtads getting old ’ n
fi^sssr^^r*”-*4*
* *» a^,V ^^ *£*»«*. arguing
ssgsasaaiSSs^
»~~”~ •”””•-«.
a ^–^r–
24 Genjnd
dislike
dread
fancy
involve
’*** (negative) «<a«
mind
propose recollect
remember
resent
save
-*-’ Construe understand
SEX****
’*’**> good/use object to
th*re-s no polnt in ”tofs the point of
** Stt* Z-
u j- suggest Jsno Point in
2fiSrf* -••***„
’<*x«t<,pZ£l”°”””ela<’-
.
*<* ”»nd. see 263; /or ^T*f ^ **•
«««t and propose, see 289.)
24 Gerund
C excuse, forgive, pardon and prevent are not followed directly by the gerund but take either possessive adjective/pronoun + gerund or 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. appreciate usually requires a possessive adjective or passive gerund:
/ appreciate your giving me so much of your time.
I appreciate being given this opportunity.
D ’ Possessive adjective and pronoun object compared
In formal English the possessive adjective is used with the gerund. But
in informal English we very often use the pronoun. The student
therefore has a choice of forms, but is recommended to use the
pronoun.
With stop meaning ’prevent’ the pronoun is more usual than the
possessive adjective:
/ can’t stop” him writing to the papers.
E Nouns with gerunds
In very formal English the possessive case is used:
/ do no! remember my mother’s complaining about it. But it is much more usual to omit the ’s: / don’t remember my mother complaining.
263 The verb mind
A This verb is used chiefly in the interrogative and negative: Would you mind waiting a moment? I don’t mind walking.
B It can be followed directly by a gerund, or by a noun/pronoun or possessive adjective + gerund:
/ don’t mind living here. (I live here and don’t object to it.)
/ don’t mind his/him living here. (He lives here and I don’t object
to this./I don’t object to his/him living here.)
He didn ’t mind leaving home. (He left home quite happily.)
He didn’t mind Ann leaving home. (Ann left home and he was quite
happy about it. See 262 E for case of noun.)
C would you mind? is one of the mcst usual ways of making a request: Would you mind not smoking? (Please don’t smoke.) Would you mtnd moitng your car? (Please move it.)
Note the cnange of meaning when a possessive adjective precedes the
gerund:
Would vou mind my moving your car? =
Would you object if I moved your car? (This is not a request but a
polite query.)
D E
264
24 Gerund
Do you mind if I move it? is a possible alternative to Would you mind my moving it? bat Do you mind my moving it? may mean that the action has already started.
mind can never be followed by an infinitive.
The personal pronoun object can be used with gerunds instead of a possessive adjective (see 262 0).
The perfect gerund (having worked, having spoken etc.) This can be used instead of the present form of the gerund (working, speaking etc.) when we are referring to a past action:
He was accused of deserting his ship or
He was accused of having deserted his ship. The perfect gerund is fairly usual after deny:
He denied having been there. Otherwise the present form is much the more usual.
265 The passive gerund
Present: being written Past: having been written
He was punished by being sent to bed without any supper.
I remember being taken to Paris as a small child.
The safe showed no signs of having been touched.