INTRODUCTION
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Gerunds in English
In English, the gerund is one of the uses
of the form of the verb ending in -ing (for details of its
formation and spelling, see English verbs). This same verb form
has other uses besides the gerund: it can serve as a present participle (used adjectivally or
adverbially), and as a pure verbal noun.
A gerund behaves as a verb within a clause (so that it may be
modified by an adverb or have an object); but the resulting
clause as a whole (sometimes consisting of only one word, the gerund itself)
functions as a noun within the larger
sentence.
For example, consider the sentence
"Eating this cake is easy." Here the gerund is the verb eating,
which takes an object this cake. The entire clause eating this cake
is then used as a noun, which in this case serves as the subject of the larger
sentence.
An item such as eating this cake in
the foregoing example is an example of a non-finite verb phrase; however, because
phrases of this type do not require a subject, it is also a complete clause.
(Traditionally such an item would be referred to as a phrase, but in in modern linguistics it has become common
to call it a clause.) A gerund clause such as this is one of the types of non-finite clause.
The following sentences illustrate some
uses of gerund clauses, showing how such a clause serves as a noun within the
larger sentence. In some cases the clause consists of just the gerund (although
in many such cases the word could equally be analyzed as a pure verbal noun).
- Swimming is fun. (gerund as subject of the sentence)
- I like swimming. (gerund as direct object)
- I never gave swimming all that much effort. (gerund as indirect object)
- Eating biscuits in front of the television is one way to relax. (gerund clause as subject)
- Do you fancy going out? (gerund clause as direct object)
- On being elected president, he moved with his family to the capital. (gerund clause as complement of a preposition)
Using gerunds of the
appropriate auxiliary
verbs, one can form gerund clauses that express perfect aspect and passive voice:
- Being deceived can make someone feel angry. (passive)
- Having read the book once before makes me more prepared. (perfect)
- He is ashamed of having been gambling all night. (perfect progressive aspect)
For more detail on when
it is appropriate to use a gerund, see Verb patterns with the gerund below, and also Uses of English verb forms: Gerund.
Distinction from other uses of the -ing
form
Gerunds are distinguished grammatically from
other uses of a verb's -ing form: the present participle (which is a non-finite verb form like the gerund,
but is adjectival or adverbial in function), and the pure verbal noun or deverbal noun.
The distinction between gerund and present
participle is illustrated in the following sentences:
- John suggested asking Bill. (asking Bill is the object of the verb, i.e. a noun, so asking is a gerund)
- I heard John asking Bill. (asking Bill is adjectival, describing John, so asking is a participle)
The distinction between
the gerund and the pure verbal (deverbal) noun is that the gerund itself
behaves as a verb, forming a verb phrase which is then used as a noun, whereas
the pure noun does not in any way behave grammatically as a verb.[1] This is illustrated in the following examples:
- I like playing football. (playing takes an object, so is a gerund)
- Her playing of the Bach fugues was inspiring. (playing takes a prepositional phrase rather than an object; not a gerund)
Gerunds with
a specified subject
A gerund cannot take a grammatical
subject like a finite verb does. (The -ing verb form can take a subject in nominative
absolute constructions such as The day being over, ..., but here it is a
present participle rather than a gerund.) Normally the subject of the gerund is
considered unspecified, or is understood to be the same as the subject of the
main clause: in a sentence like "Meg likes eating apricots", the
subject of eating is understood to be the same as the subject of the
main clause, namely Meg – what Meg likes is a situation where she herself is
eating apricots (see also raising verb). However in other
cases it is necessary to specify explicitly who or what is to be understood as
the subject of the gerund.
Many prescriptive
grammarians prefer the subject of such a gerund to be expressed using the possessive form, since the gerund
clause serves as a noun phrase. Hence:
- We enjoyed their singing. (i.e. the singing that was done by them)
- The cat's licking the cream was not generally appreciated. (i.e. the licking that was done by the cat)
- We were delighted at Paul's being awarded the prize. (i.e. the awarding of the prize to Paul)
The above construction is common in formal
English; however in informal English it is often more usual to use just the
noun or noun phrase (in the objective case, in the case of
personal pronouns) to indicate the subject, without any possessive marker.
- We enjoyed them singing.
- The cat licking the cream was not generally appreciated.
- We were delighted at Paul being awarded the prize.
The above usage, though common, is
criticized by prescriptivists, since it apparently places two noun phrases (the
agent and the gerund clause) together without any indication of their syntactic
relation. It is compared with a superficially identical construction in which
the -ing form is a present
participle, and it is entirely appropriate for it to be preceded by a noun phrase,
since the participial clause can be taken to qualify that noun phrase:
- I saw the cat licking the cream. (i.e. I saw the cat, and the cat was licking the cream)
The use of a non-possessive noun to precede
a gerund is said to arise as a result of confusion with the above usage with a
participle, and is thus sometimes called fused participle.[2] or geriple.[3] This
construction represents common informal usage with gerunds; however, if the
prescriptive rule is followed, the difference between the two forms may be used
to make a slight distinction in meaning:
- The teacher's shouting startled the student. (shouting is a gerund, the shouting startled the student)
- The teacher shouting startled the student. (shouting can be interpreted as a participle, qualifying the teacher; the teacher startled the student by shouting)
- I don't like Jim's drinking wine. (I don't like the drinking)
- I don't like Jim drinking wine. (I don't like Jim when he is drinking wine)
In some cases, particularly with a
non-personal subject, the use of the possessive before a gerund may be
considered redundant even in quite a formal register. For example, "There
is no chance of the snow falling" (rather than the prescriptively correct
"There is no chance of the snow's falling").[4]
sep bro
ReplyDeletethank you....