Файл: The Verb, Basic Forms and Grammar Categories. The Indefinite Tenses.doc

8. THE GERUND

The gerund is a non-finite firm of the Verb which has nominal and verbal properties.



§ 1The nominal characteristics of the gerund are

1. The gerund can perform the function of subject, object and predicative.

2. The gerund can be preceded by a preposition.

3. Like a noun the gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case or by a possessive pronoun.

§ 2 The verbal characteristics of the gerund are the same as those of the participle:

1. The gerund of transitive verbs can take a direct object.

2. The gerund can be modified by an adverb.

3. The gerund has tense distinctions; the gerund of transitive verbs has also voice distinctions.

	Active	Passive
Indefinite Perfect	writing having written	being written having been written

There is no gerund in the Russian language and the English Gerund is rendered in Russian in different ways:

(a) by a noun.

(b) by an infinitive.

(c) by деепричастие.

(d) by a subordinate clause.
§ 3 The tense distinctions of the gerund.

1. The Indefinite Gerund Active and Passive denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb;

2. The Perfect Gerund denotes an action prior to that of the finite verb.

3 The voice distinctions of the gerund indicates the doer of the action.

He likestelling fairy tales.(G., Ind., A.V)-- Онлюбитрассказыватьсказки.

He likes being told fairy tales. (G., Ind., P.V)-- Он любит, когда ему рассказывают сказки.

He is proud of having spoken to this outstanding person.(G., Perf., A.V)--Онгордится, чторазговаривалсэтимвыдающимсячеловеком.

He is proud of having been spoken to. (G., Perf., P.V).-- Он гордится , что с ним поговорили.

§ 4. The use of the gerund.

In Modern English the gerund is widely used and often com­petes with the infinitive.

In the following cases only the gerund is used:

1. With the verbs and verbal phrases: to avoid, to burst out, to deny, to enjoy, to excuse, to finish, to forgive, to give up, to go on, to keep (on), to leave off, to mind(in negative and interrog­ative sentences), to postpone, to put off, cannot help

---

, and some others.

2. With the following verbs and verbal phrases used with a preposition: to accuse of, to agree to, to approve of, to complain of, to depend on, to feel like, to insist on, to look like, to object to, to persist in, to prevent from, to rely on, to speak of, to succeed in, to suspect of, to thank for, to think of, to give up the idea of, to look forward to, not to like the idea of, to miss an (the) oppor­tunity of and some others.

3. With the following predicative word-groups (with or without a preposition): to be aware of, to be busy in, to be capable of, to be fond of, to be guilty of, to be indignant at, to be pleased (dis­pleased) at, to be proud of, to be sure of, to be surprised (aston­ished) at, to be worth (while),and some others.



TEST YOURSELF

What is the gerund?

What are the nominal characteristics of the gerund?

What are the verbal characteristics of the gerund?

In what way is the gerund rendered in Russian?

What does the Indefinite Gerund Active and Passive denote?

What does the Perfect Gerund denote?

What does the voice distinctions of the gerund indicate?



Exercises.

Exercise 1. Underline the gerund, determine its form, voice. Translate from English into Ukrainian.

1. She has always dreamt of living in a small house by the sea. 2. My mother likes cooking very much. 3. Mary hates being laughed at. 4. On being told the news , his sister turned pale. 5. The place is worth visiting. 6. Watching football matches may be exciting enough , but of course it is more exciting playing football. 6. She stopped coming to see us, and I wondered what had happened to her. 7. Can you remember having seen the man before. 8. After being corrected by the teacher, the student’s papers were returned them. 9. I wondered at my mother’s having allowed the journey.

10. She denied having been at home that evening.11. Excuse my leaving you at such moment. 12. I avoided speaking to them about this matter.

Exercise 2. Write the Gerund in Active or in Passive Voice. Translate from English into Ukrainian.

1. He was always ready for (to help) people. 2. He was very glad of (to help) in his difficulty. 3. On (to allow) to leave the room, the children immediately ran out into the yard and began (to play). 4. The results of the experiment must be checked before (to publish). 5. Why do you avoid (to speak) to me. 6. She tried to avoid (to speak) to. 7. The doctor insisted on (to send) the sick man to hospital. 8. The child insisted on (to send) home at once.

Exercise 3. Translate these sentences from Ukrainian into English. 1 Я не можу перекласти цей текст не подивившись декілька слів в словнику. 2. Я відвідаю тебе коли приїду до Москви. 3. Нам подобається грати в футбол. 4. Їй подобається читати англійські оповідання. 5.Припиніть розмовляти. 6. Продовжуйте читати. 7. Грати в теніс дуже цікаво. 8. Він пішов з класу не промовив ні слова

Exercise 4. Translate from English into Ukrainian. Pay attention to the use of the gerunds.

1. Have you finished writing? 2. Taking a cold shower in the morning is very useful. 3. I like skiing, but my sister prefers skating. 4. She likes sitting in the sun. 5. It looks like raining. 6. My watch wants repairing. 7. Thank you for coming. 8. I had no hope of getting an answer before the end of the month. 9. I had the pleasure of dancing with her the whole evening. 10. Let's go boating. 11. He talked without stopping. 12. Some people can walk all day without feeling tired. 13. Living in little stuffy rooms means breathing poisonous air. 14. Iron is found by digging in the earth. 15. There are two ways of getting sugar: one from beet and the other from sugar-cane. 16. Jane Eyre was fond of reading. 17. Miss Trotwood was in the habit of asking Mr. Dick his opinion.

---

Exercise 5. Replace the subordinate clauses by the gerunds with the prepositions “of”.

MODEL. She thought she would go to the country for the week-end. She thought of going to the country for the week-end

1.1 thought I would come and see you tomorrow. 2. I am thinking that I shall go out to the country tomorrow to see my mother. 3. What do you think you will do tomorrow? 4.1 don't know now; I thought I would go to the zoo, but the weather is so bad that probably I shan't go. 5. I hear there are some Eng­lish books at our institute book-stall now. - So you are thinking that you will buy some, aren't you? 6.1 thought I would work in the library this evening, but as you have come, I won't go to the library.

Exercise 6. Replace the subordinate clauses by the gerunds with the prepositions “after”.

MODEL. When she had bought everything she needed, she went home. After buying everything she needed, she went home.

After I had hesitated some minutes whether to buy the hat or not, I finally decided that I might find one I liked better in another shop. 2. When she had graduated from the university, she left St. Peters­burg and went to teach in her home town. 3. When he had proved that his theory was correct, he started studying ways and means of improving the conditions of work in very deep coalmines. 4. After she took the child to the kindergarten, she went to the library to study for her examination. 5. When he had made a thorough study of the sub­ject, he found that it was a great deal more impor­tant than he had thought at first.

Exercise 7. Translate from English into Ukrainian. Pay attention to the use of the gerunds.

1. Watching football matches may be exciting enough, but of course it is more exciting playing football. 2. She stopped coming to see us, and I wondered what had happened to her. 3. Can you remember having seen the man before? 4. She was terrified of having to speak to anybody, and even more, of being spoken to. 5. He was on the point of leaving the club, as the porter stopped him. 6. After being corrected by the teacher, the stu­dents' papers were returned to them. 7. I won­dered at my mother's having allowed the journey. 8. I understand perfectly your wishing to start the work at once. 9. Everybody will discuss the event, there is no preventing it. 10. At last he broke the silence by inviting everybody to walk into the din­ing-room. 11. On being told the news she turned pale. 12. The place is worth visiting.

Exercise 8. Translate from English into Ukrainian. Pay attention to the use of the gerunds.

I avoided speaking to them about that mat­ter. 2. She burst out crying. 3. They burst out laughing. 4. She denied having been at home that evening. 5. He enjoyed talking of the pleasures of travelling. 6. Excuse my leaving you at such a moment. 7. Please forgive my interfering. 8. He gave up smoking a few years ago. 9. They went on talking. 10. He keeps insisting on my going to the south. 11. Oh please do stop laugh­ing at him. 12. Do you mind my asking you a difficult question? 13. Would you mind coming again in a day or two? 14. I don't mind wearing this dress. 15. She could not help smiling. 16. I cannot put off doing this translation. 17. Though David was tired, he went on walking in the di­rection of Dover.

Exercise 9. Replace the infinitives in brackets by gerunds in Active or Passive Voice.

1. Why do you avoid (to speak) to me? 2. She tried to avoid (to speak) to. 3. The doctor insisted on (to send) the sick man to hospital. 4. The child insisted on (to send) home at once. 5. Do you mind him (to examine) by a heart specialist? 6. He showed no sign of (to recognize) me. 7. She showed no sign of (to surprise). 8. He had a strange habit of (to interfere) in other people's business. 9. I was ang­ry at (to interrupt) every other moment. 10. He was always ready for (to help) people. 11. He was very glad of (to help) in his difficulty. 12. On (to allow) to leave the room the children immediately ran out into the yard and began (to play). 13. In (to make) this experiment they came across some very interesting phenomena. 14. The results of the experiment must be checked and re-checked before (to publish). 15. David was tired of (to scold) all the time. 16. The watch requires (to repair).

---

¹ 17. The problem is not worth (to discuss).¹ 18. Jane Eyre remembered (to lock) up in the red room for (to contradict) Mrs. Reed.

Exercise 10. Translate into English and Ukrainian. Use gerunds while translating into English.

1. Наконец они перестали смеяться. 2. Она от­рицала, что украла деньги. 3. Давайте отложим поездку на дачу до следующей субботы. 4. Простите, что я потерял вашу ручку. 5. Когда она кончит писать сочинение? 6. Я не возражаю против того, чтобы остаться дома и поработать над моим переводом. 7. Перестаньте дрожать. Из­бегайте показывать этим людям, что вы их бои­тесь. 8. Я не могу не беспокоиться о них: они перестали писать. 9. Я не отрицаю, что видел их в тот вечер. 10. Он не возражал против того, что­бы его осмотрели: он перестал притворяться, что здоров. 11. Он не может меня простить за то, что я порвал его сумку. 12. Перестаньте разговари­вать. 13. Мы закончили работу над этой проблемой. 14. Продолжайте петь. 15. Вы не против того, чтобы открыть окно? 16. Он отрицал свое участие в преступлении. 17. Я очень люблю ри­совать. 18. Мы получили удовольствие от плава­ния. 19. Я не могла не согласиться с ним. 20. Он рассмеялся. 21. Она бросила курить. 22. Она из­бегала встречи с ним. 23. Мы отложим обсужде­ние доклада.

Exercise 11. Translate from English into Ukrainian. Pay attention to the use of the gerunds.

1. They accuse him of having robbed the house. 2. He never agreed to their going on that danger­ous voyage. 3. He did not approve of her drinking so much coffee. 4. The teacher of mathematics did not approve of his pupils dreaming. 5. All the hap­piness of my life depends on your loving me. 6. I don't feel like seeing him. 7. I insist on being told the truth. 8. I object to his borrowing money from you. 9. I stretched out my hand to prevent her from falling. 10. My friend succeeded in translat­ing this difficult text. 11. She suspected him of deceiving her. 12. The poor peasant thanked Rob­in Hood heartily for having helped him. 13. He gave up the idea of ever hearing from her. 14. We are looking forward to seeing you again. 15. She always complains of feeling unwell. 16. He per­sisted in trying to solve that difficult problem. 17. The cold weather prevented the girls from go­ing for long walks. 18. Jane thought of leaving Lowood after Miss Temple's marriage.

Exercise 12. Open the brackets using necessary forms of gerunds.

1. Excuse me for (to break) your beautiful vase. 2. You never mentioned (to be) to Greece. 3. She was proud of (to award) the cup of a champion. 4. I don't remember ever (to meet) your sister. 5. I don't remember (to ask) this question by anybody. 6. The cat was punished for (to break) the cup. 7. The cat was afraid of (to punish) and hid itself under the sofa. 8. The machine needs (to clean).¹ 9. I am quite serious in (to say) that I don't want to go abroad. 10. He seemed sorry for (to be) inat­tentive to his child. 11. She confessed to (to for-

get) to send the letter. 12. The old man could not stand (to tell) what he should do. 13. Going to the party was no use: he had no talent for (to dance). 14. The Bronze Horseman is worth (to see).¹ 15. After thoroughly (to examine) the student, the professor gave him a satisfactory mark.

---

---