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She stopped to exchange a few words with a neighbour. (Dickens)
Она остановилась, чтобы поболтать с соседкой.
§ 23. The functions of the gerund in the sentence.
The gerund may be used in various syntactic functions. A single gerund occurs but seldom; in most cases we find a gerundial phrase or a gerundial construction.
1. The gerund as a subject.
Talking mends no holes. (proverb)
Разговоры не помогают в беде.
Waiting for the Professor was a lame excuse for doing nothing. (Heym)
To, что мы ждали профессора, было слабым оправданием тому, что мы
ничего не делали.
My answering in the affirmative gave him great satisfaction. (Dickens)
To, что я ответил утвердительно, было ему очень приятно.
The gerund used as a subject may follow the predicate; in these cases the sentence opens with the introductory it (which serves as an introductory subject) or with the construction there is.
It’s no use talking like that to me. (Shaw)
Бесполезно говорить со мной в таком тоне.
There was no mistaking the expression on her face. (Collins)
Выражения ее лица нельзя было не понять.
N o t e. — There is another view according to which it is the subject and the
rest of the sentence is the predicate.
2. The gerund as a predicative.
The only remedy for such a headache as mine is going to bed. (Collins)
Единственное средство от такой головной боли, как у меня, — это лечь
спать.
3. The gerund as
part of a compound verbal predicate.
(a) With verbs and verbal phrases denoting modality the gerund forms part of a compound verbal modal predicate.
We intend going to Switzerland, and climbing Mount Blanc. (Ch. Bronte)
Мы хотим поехать в Швейцарию и подняться на Монблан.
Joseph could not help admiring the man. (Heym)
Джозеф не мог не восхищаться этим человеком.
(b) With verbs denoting the beginning, the duration, or the end of an action, the gerund forms part of a compound verbal aspect predicate.
She began sobbing and weeping. (Dickens)
In. the night it started raining. (Hemingway)
Bathsheba continued walking. (Hardy)
Tom went on whitewashing. (Twain)
She took my hand and kept on laughing. (Hemingway)
Isabella ceased speaking. (E. Bronte)
(For detailed treatment of the compound verbal predicate see Chapter XV, § 16, 17.)
4. The gerund as an object.
The gerund may be used as a direct object and as a prepositional indirect
object.
I simply love riding. (Galsworthy) (DIRECT OBJECT)
Я просто обожаю кататься верхом.
She enjoyed singing and playing to him. (London) (DIRECT OBJECT)
Ей доставляло удовольствие петь и играть для него.
The times were good for building... (Galsworthy) (PREPOSITIONAL
INDIRECT OBJECT)
Время для постройки дома было самое подходящее.
Charlie did not succeed in taking things easily. (Priestley)
(PREPOSITIONAL INDIRECT OBJECT)
Чарли не удавалось смотреть легко на вещи.
Predicative constructions with the gerund form a complex object as they consist of two distinct elements, nominal and verbal.
Perhaps you wouldn’t mind Richard’s coming in? (Dickens) (COMPLEX
OBJECT)
Может быть, вы не будете возражать против того, чтобы вошел Ричард?
Aunt Augusta won’t quite approve of your being here. (Wilde)
(PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEX OBJECT)
Тетя Августа будет не очень довольна тем, что вы здесь.
5. The gerund as an attribute.
In this function the gerund is always preceded by a preposition.
Swithin protruded his pale round eyes with the effort of hearing.
(Galsworthy)
Суизин широко открыл свои бесцветные круглые глаза, стараясь
услышать разговор.
Не was born with the gift of winning hearts. (Gaskell)
Он родился с даром покорять сердца.
She had a feeling of having been worsted... (Galsworthy)
У нее было чувство, что над ней одержали верх...
...there’s no chance of their getting married for years. (Galsworthy)
...нет никакой надежды на то, что они смогут скоро пожениться.
Presently there was the sound of the car being brought to the door. (Du
Maurier)
Вскоре послышался шум автомобиля, который подъезжал к двери.
6. The gerund as an adverbial modifier.
In this function the gerund is always preceded by a preposition. It is used in the function of an adverbial modifier of time, manner, attendant circumstances, cause, condition, purpose and concession; the most common functions are those of adverbial modifiers of time, manner, and attendant circumstances.
(a) As an adverbial modifier of time the gerund is preceded by the preposition
after, before, on (upon), in or at.
After leaving, her umbrella in the hall, she entered the living room.
(Cronin)
Оставив зонтик в передней, она вошла в гостиную.
Не was to have three days at home before going back to farm. (Galsworthy)
Он должен был пробыть три дня дома, прежде чем возвратиться на
ферму.
On reaching Casterbridge he left the horse and trap at an inn. (Hardy)
Приехав в Кастербридж, он оставил лошадь и экипаж в гостинице.
Mr. Bumble’s conduct on being left to himself was rather inexplicable.
(Dickens)
Поведение мистера Бамбля, когда он остался один, было не совсем
понятно.
Upon waking I found myself much recovered. (Swift)
Когда я проснулся (проснувшись), я почувствовал себя значительно
лучше.
In quitting the room he paused once more at my desk. (Ch. Bronte)
Выходя из комнаты, он еще раз остановился у моего письменного стола.
Clare turned at hearing her footsteps... (Hardy)
Услышав ее шаги, Клэр оглянулся.
N o t e. — In the function of an adverbial modifier of time the gerund
sometimes competes with the participle.
George, on hearing the story, grinned. (Galsworthy)
Джордж, услышав эту историю, усмехнулся.
The four girls, hearing him speak in the hall, rushed out of the library.
(Eliot)
Все четыре девочки, услышав, что он говорит в передней, выбежали из
библиотеки,
After reaching the second landing... I heard a sound of quiet and regular
breathing on my left-hand side. (Collins)
Дойдя до второй площадки лестницы... я услышал с левой стороны
спокойное и ровное дыхание.
Reaching the door of the room occupied by Cowperwood and Aileen, she
tapped lightly. (Dreiser)
Дойдя до двери комнаты, которую занимали Каупервуд и Эйлин, она т
ихонько постучала.
(b) As an adverbial modifier of manner the gerund is used with the prepositions by or in.
She startled her father by bursting into tears. (Gaskell)
Она напугала своего отца тем, что расплакалась.
The day was spent in packing. (DuMaurier)
День прошел за упаковкой вещей.
(c) As an adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances the gerund is preceded by the preposition without.
She was not brilliant, not active, but rather peaceful and statuesque without
knowing it. (Dreiser)
Это была женщина не блестящая, не энергичная, но она была очень
спокойна и величественна, сама того не зная.
(d) As an adverbial modifier of purpose, the gerund is chiefly used with the preposition for.
...one side of the gallery was used for dancing.
(Eliot)
...одна сторона галереи использовалась для танцев.
(e) As an adverbial modifier of condition the gerund is preceded by the preposition without.
He has no right to come bothering you and papa without being invited.
(Shaw)
Он не имеет права приходить и беспокоить вас и отца, если его не
приглашают.
(f) As an adverbial modifier of cause the gerund is used with the prepositions for, for fear of, owing to.
I feel the better myself for having spent a good deal of my time abroad.
(Eliot)
Я чувствую себя лучше оттого, что долго прожил за границей.
I dared not attend the funeral for fear of making a fool of myself. (Coppard)
Я не смел присутствовать на похоронах, так как боялся поставить себя в
глупое положение.
(g) As an adverbial modifier of concession the gerund is preceded by the preposition in spite of.
In spite of being busy, he did all he could to help her.
The above examples show that the gerund preceded by one and the same preposition may be used in different functions: with the preposition without, it may perform, the function of an adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances and of condition; with the preposition in, it may perform the function of an adverbial modifier of time and of manner; with the preposition for, it may perform the function of an adverbial modifier of purpose or of cause.
N o t e. — The Russian не + деепричастие may correspond to the English
without + gerund or not + participle. It corresponds to not + participle if it is
used in the function of an adverbial modifier of cause.
He зная адреса мисс Бетси, Давид не мог ей написать.
Not knowing Miss Betsey’s address, David could not write to her. (CAUSE)
If не + деепричастие is used in the function of adverbial modifiers of attendant circumstances and of condition, it corresponds to without + gerund.
Давид уехал из Лондона, никому ничего не сказав.
David left London without telling anybody about it. (ATTENDANT
CIRCUMSTANCES)
Мальчики не могли уходить из Салем-Хауса, не спросив разрешения.
The boys could not leave Salem House without asking for permission.
(CONDITION)
§ 24. The gerund and the participle.
In most cases the differentiation between the gerund and the participle does not present any difficulty.
Unlike the participle the gerund may be preceded by a preposition, it may be modified by a noun in the possessive case or by a possessive pronoun; it can be used in the function of a subject, object, and predicative. In the function of an attribute and of an adverbial modifier both the gerund and the participle may be used,, but the gerund in these functions is always preceded by a preposition.
There are cases, however, when the differentiation between the’ gerund and the participle presents some difficulty; for instance, it is not always easy to distinguish between a gerund as part of a compound noun and a participle used as an attribute to a noun. One should bear in mind that if we have a gerund as part of a compound noun, the person or thing denoted by the noun does not perform the action expressed by the
ing-form: e. g. a dancing-hall (a hall for dancing), a cooking-stove (a stove for cooking), walking shoes, a writing-table, etc.
If we have a participle used as an attribute the person denoted by the noun performs the action expressed by the ing-form:e. g. a dancing girl (a girl who dances), a singing child, etc.
However, there are cases which admit of two interpretations; for example a sewing machine may be understood in two ways: a machine for sewing and a machine which sews; a hunting dog may be a dog for hunting and a dog that hunts.
§ 25. The gerund and the verbal noun.
The gerund should not be confused with the verbal noun, which has the same suffix ‑ing. The main points of difference between the gerund and the verbal noun are as follows:
| 1. Like all the verbals the gerund has a double character — nominal and verbal. | The verbal noun has only a nominal character. |
| 2. The gerund is not used with an article. | The verbal noun may be used with an article. The making of a new humanity cannot be the privilege of a handful of bureaucrats. (Fox) I want you to give my hair a good brushing. (Hardy) |
| 3. The gerund has no plural form. | The verbal noun may be used in the plural. Our likings are regulated by our circumstances. (Ch. Bronte) |
| 4. The gerund of a transitive verb takes a direct object. He received more and more letters, so many that he had given up reading them. (Priestley) | A verbal noun cannot take a direct object; it takes a prepositional object with the preposition of. Meanwhile Gwendolen was rallying her nerves to the reading of the paper.(Eliot) |
| 5. The gerund may be modified by an adverb. Drinking, even temperately, was a sin. (Dreiser) | The verbal noun may be modified by an adjective. He (Tom) took a good scolding about clodding Sid. (Twain) |
THE INFINITIVE
§ 26. The infinitive developed from the verbal noun, which in course of time became verbalized, retaining at the same time some of its nominal properties. Thus in Modern English the infinitive, like the participle and the gerund, has a double nature, nominal and verbal.
1. The nominal character of the infinitive is manifested in its syntactic functions. The infinitive can be used:
(a) as the subject of a sentence.
To go on like this was dangerous. (Galsworthy)
(b) as a predicative.
Her plan was now to drive to Bath during the night. (Hardy)
(c) as an object.
I have never learnt to read or write. (Collins)
2. The verbal characteristics of the infinitive are as follows:
(a) the infinitive of transitive verbs can take a direct object.
He... began to feel some curiosity... (Eliot)
(b) the infinitive can be modified by an adverb.
I cannot write so quickly.
(c) the infinitive has tense and aspect distinctions; the infinitive of transitive verbs has also voice distinctions.
In Modern English the infinitive has the following forms:
| | Active | Passive |
| Indefinite | to write | to be written |
| Continuous | to be writing | — |
| Perfect | to have written | to have been written |
| Perfect Continuous | to have been writing | — |