The present perfect used with forand since 6 page

(d) after certain verbs (261, 266)

(e) in noun compounds: a diving board (a board for diving off). The 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:

// is easier to read French than to speak 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, wonderetc. After findwe can omit thatand the verb be, i.e. we can say:

He found that parking was difficult or

He found parking difficult.

But it is 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.

But these cannot be followed by an object, so prohibitions involving an object are usually expressed by an imperative:

Do not touch these wires. Do not feed the lions. Gerunds are used in the saying Seeing is believing.

259 Gerunds after prepositions (see also 98)

д 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'm 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 tool 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.

В 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 about, take to.(For go on,see 363.)

/ don't care 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, usedand after going (in expressions such as ' the be going toform') 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. tois often placed after hate, hope, intend, would like/love, mean, plan, try, wantand 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.

В Otherwise toplaced after a verb will probably be a preposition and will be followed by noun/pronoun or gerund. Note these expressions: look forward to, take to, be accustomed to, be used to:

/ am looking forward to my holidays/to next weekend/to it.

I am looking forward to seeing you.

I am used to heat/hard work/bad food/noise/dust.

I am used to standing in queues/to it.

Be careful not to confuse I used to/he used toetc., which expresses a past habit or routine (They used to burn coal; now they burn fuel oil only), with I am used to/he is used toetc., which means 'I am/he is accustomed to/familiar with':

/ am used to the cold. (It doesn't worry me.)

He is used to working at night. (He doesn't mind it.) (See 162.) A good way of finding out whether a to is a preposition or a part of an infinitive is to see if it is possible to put a noun/pronoun after it. For example a noun/pronoun could be placed after I am accustomed to:

/ am accustomed to it/the dark.

This to therefore is a preposition, and verbs used after to must be gerunds.

261 Verbs followed by the gerund A The most important of these are:

*See B.

The gerund is also used after the expressions can't stand (= endure), can't help (= prevent/avoid), it's no use/good and after the adjective worth.

о Other constructions with the above verbs

Starred verbs can also take that-clauses (see 346). For suggestand propose(= suggest), see 289. mean/propose(= intend) take the infinitive (see 269). For hate, like, love, prefer,see 295. For other verbs taking gerund or infinitive, see chapter 25. dread+ infinitive is used in 'dread to think': / dread to think what this will cost.

С Examples of verb + gerund sentences:

He admitted taking the money. Avoid over-eating.

Would you consider selling the property?

He detests writing letters.

She dreads getting old. Do you enjoy teaching?

He narrowly escaped being run over.

Fancy meeting you!

Putting in a new window will involve cutting away part of the roof.

He kept complaining. He didn 't want to risk getting wet.

If we buy plenty of food now it will save shopping later in the week.

I can't understand his/him leaving his wife.

I couldn 't help laughing. It's no good/use arguing.

Is there anything here worth buying?

262 Verbs + possessive adjective/pronoun object + gerund

A If the verb or verb + preposition is followed directly by the gerund, the gerund refers to the subject of the verb:

Tom insisted on reading the letter. (Tom read it.) But if we put a possessive adjective or pronoun before the gerund, the gerund refers to the person denoted by the possessive adjective /pronoun:

He insisted on ту/me reading it. (I had to read it.)

В Useful verbs and expressions which can take either construction are:

He disliked working late.

He disliked me/ту working late.

I object to paying twice for the same thing.

I object to his/him making private calls on this phone.

He resented being passed over for promotion.

He resented my/me being promoted before him.

(For mind,see 263; for suggestand propose,see 289.)

С excuse, forgive, pardon and preventare not followed directly by the gerund but take either possessive adjective/pronoun + gerund or pronoun + preposition + gerund:

Forgive ту/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 stopmeaning '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 not 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.

В 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.)

С would you mind? is one of the most usual ways of making a request: Would you mind not smoking? (Please don't smoke.) Would you mind moving your car? (Please move it.)

Note the change of meaning when a possessive adjective precedes the

gerund:

Would you mind my moving your car? =

Would you object if I moved your car? (This is not a request but a

polite query.)

Do you mind if I move it? is a possible alternative to Would you mind my moving it? but Do you mind my moving it? may mean that the action has already started.

D mind can never be followed by an infinitive.

E The personal pronoun object can be used with gerunds instead of a possessive adjective (see 262 D).

264 The perfect gerund (having worked, having spokenetc.)

This can be used instead of the present form of the gerund (working, speakingetc.) 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 Perfect: 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.

25 Infinitive and gerund constructions

266 Verbs which may take either infinitive or gerund

Note also be ashamed (of)/afraid (of)fsorry (for), 271; care (for), 294, 295; go on, 270.

267 Verbs taking infinitive or gerund without change of meaning

A begin, start, continue, cease

В can't bear

С intend

D advise, allow, permit, recommend

E it needs/requires/wants

A With begin, start, continue, ceaseeither infinitive or gerund may be used without any difference in meaning, but the infinitive is more usual with verbs of knowing and understanding and the verb matter:

/ began working./I began to work.

He continued living/to live above the shop. But:

/ am beginning to understand/see/realize why he acted as he did.

It ceased to matter whether or not he sold his work.

She never ceased complaining/to complain about prices.

В After can/could bear(chiefly used in the negative) either gerund or infinitive can be used: / can't bear waiting/to wait; but when the infinitive refers to a deliberate action the expression implies that the subject's feelings prevent(ed) him from performing the action: / couldn't bear to tell him. (so I didn't)

С After intend,an infinitive:

/ intend to sell it is more usual than a gerund:

/ intend selling it.

The infinitive is necessary when we have intend+ object. This is found only in formal English:

/ intend him to take over the department.

D With advise, allow, permit, recommend

If the person concerned is mentioned we use the infinitive: He advised me to apply at once. She recommends housewives to buy the big tins. They don't allow us to park here.

But if this person is not mentioned, the gerund is used: He advised applying at once. She recommends buying the big tins. They don't allow parking.

The gerund after allow and permitcannot have an object, so if we want an allow/permit+ verb + object construction, we must use the infinitive and mention the person concerned:

They allowed their tenants to use the garage.

E it needs/requires/wants can be followed either by the gerund or by the passive infinitive, the gerund being the more usual: The grass wants cutting or The grass needs to be cut.

268 regret, remember, forget

A regret, remember, forget are used with a gerund when the action expressed by the gerund is the earlier action: / regret spending so much money = I'm sorry I spent so much money, (spending is the first action, regret

is the second.)

I remember reading about the earthquake, in the papers, (reading is

the first action, remember is the second.) remembercan be followed by possessive adjective/object + gerund:

/ remember his/him telling me about it.

I remember my father('s) telling me about it.

forget + gerund is possible only when forgetis in the negative. It is often used after will never forget:

I'll never forget waiting for bombs to fall = I'll always remember waiting for bombs to fall.

В When regret, remember, forgetthemselves express the earlier action they are followed by an infinitive:

/ regret to say that you have failed your exam, (regret is the first

action, to say is the second.)

regret here is normally followed by a verb such as say, inform, tell. It is normally used only in the present tense. remembercan be used in any tense:

I'll remember to ring Bill, (remember is the earlier action.) forgetis used similarly:

/ often forget to sign my cheques.

I remembered to lock/I didn't forget to lock the door. (I locked it.) Conversely:

/ didn't remember/I forgot to lock it. (I didn't lock it.)

С regret, remember, forget can also be followed by a noun/pronoun or a that-clause.

remember and forgetcan also be followed by noun clauses beginning how, why, when, where, who etc.:

I can't remember when I saw him last. I've forgotten where I put it.

269 agree/agree to, mean, propose

A agree and agree to(preposition)

agree takes the infinitive. It is the opposite of refuse+ infinitive:

When I asked them to wait, Tom agreed to wait a week but Bill

refused to wait another day.

agree cannot take a noun/pronoun object. The opposite of refuse+ object is accept+ object:

He refused any reward. She accepted the post. agree to (preposition) can be followed by possessive adjective + gerund:

He agreed to my leaving early on Friday. (I asked if I could leave

early on Friday and he said that I could. The opposite here would

be He ivouldn 't agree to my leaving early etc.) agree tocan be followed by noun/pronoun object:

He agreed to the change of plan/to this/to that.

В mean meaning 'intend' takes the infinitive:

/ mean to get to the top by sunrise.

mean meaning 'involve' (used only with an impersonal subject) takes the gerund:

He is determined to get a seat even if it means standing in a queue all night.

С propose meaning 'intend' usually takes the infinitive:

I propose to start tomorrow. propose meaning 'suggest' takes the gerund:

I propose waiting till the police get here. (For propose + that . . . should, see 289.)

270 go on, stop, try, used (to)

A go on = 'continue' and is normally followed by a gerund. But it is used with an infinitive, usually of a verb like explain, talk, tell, when the speaker continues talking about the same topic but introduces a new aspect of it:

He began by showing us where the island was and went on to tell us

about its climate.

Compare He went on talking about his accident, which implies that he had been talking about it before, with He went on to talk about his accident, which implies that he had been speaking perhaps about himself or his journey but that the accident was being introduced for the first time.

В stop (= cease) is followed by the gerund: Stop talking. It can be followed by object + gerund:

/ can't stop him talking to the press.

A possessive adjective would be possible here but is very seldom used. stop(= halt) can be followed by an infinitive of purpose:

I stopped to ask the way. (I stopped in order to ask the way.)

С try usually means 'attempt' and is followed by the infinitive:

They tried to put wire netting all round the garden. (They attempted to do this.)

The sentence doesn't tell us whether they succeeded or not. try can also mean 'make the experiment' and is then followed by the gerund:

They tried putting wire netting all round the garden. This means that they put wire netting round the garden to see if it would solve their problem (presumably they were trying to keep out rabbits and foxes). We know that they succeeded in performing the main action; what we don't know is whether this action had the desired effect, i.e. kept the foxes out.

D Subject + used+ infinitive expresses a past habit or routine:

/ used to swim all the year round. (At one time I swam all the year round.) (See 162.)

But subject + be/become/get + used+ to(preposition) is followed by noun or pronoun or gerund and means 'be/become/get accustomed (to)':

/ am used to heat/to living in a hot climate. (I have lived in a hot climate for some time so I don't mind it.) (See 163.)

271 be afraid (of), be sorry (for), be ashamed (of)

A be afraid of + gerund or gerund + noun/pronoun

Here the gerund usually expresses an action which the subject fears may happen. It is normally an involuntary action:

He never swam far out. He was afraid of getting cramp.

She avoids lonely streets. She is afraid of being mugged.

She didn't tell him because she was afraid of upsetting him. be afraid + infinitive means that the subject is/was etc. too frightened to perform the action. This is obviously a deliberate action:

He was afraid to jump, (so he didn't jump)

She was afraid to protest, (so she kept quiet)

be afraid can also be followed by a that-clause. This can express a fear:

I'm afraid (that) he'll blame me for this.

But, especially in the first person, it can express (usually fairly mild) regret:

I'm afraid (that) we haven't any tickets left. (For I'm afraid so/not,see 347.)

В be sorry for + gerund means 'apologize/regret'. The gerund usually refers to a previous action but can refer to an immediately following action:

I'm sorry for making such a noise last night.

I'm sorry for disturbing you. (now) But I'm sorry to disturb you would be more usual here. be sorry+ infinitive can express regret or sadness:

I'm sorry to hear that you've been ill. (See also 26 F.) When the action expressed by the infinitive is involuntary, the two actions are almost simultaneous:

/ was sorry to see him looking so ill. (When I saw him ... I was

sorry.)

When the infinitive refers to a deliberate action, be sorryis the earlier of the two actions and is then very similar to regret(see 268 B):

I'm sorry to inform you that there has been an accident. be sorry that ... is also possible. Note that I'm sorry that usually expresses genuine regret, but that with I'm sorry to say that or I'm afraid that the regret may be very faint, even perfunctory.

С be ashamed of + gerund or be ashamed of yourselfetc. for +gerund The gerund here refers to a previous action:

You should be ashamed of lying to him or

You should be ashamed of yourself for lying to him. In be ashamed+ infinitive, the infinitive usually refers to a subsequent action:

I'm ashamed to tell you what this carpet cost.

would be ashamed + infinitive often implies that the subject's feelings (will) prevent him from performing the action:

I'd be ashamed to ask for help, (so I won't/wouldn't ask)

26 The participles

272 The present (or active) participle

A Form

The infinitive + ing, e.g. working, loving, sitting.

В Use

1 To form the continuous tenses (see 164, 178 etc.):

He is working. You 've been dreaming.

2 As adjectives (see 17):

running water floating wreckage

dripping taps leaking pipes

Here there is equal stress on participle and noun. Compare with gerund + noun combinations (see 16).

3 After have+ object (see 121):

He had me swimming in a week.

We have people standing on our steps all day.

I won't have him cleaning his bike in the kitchen.

4 A present participle can sometimes replace a relative pronoun + verb (see 77):

a map that marks/marked political boundaries =

a map marking political boundaries

people who wish/wished to visit the caves =

people wishing to visit the caves

children who need/needed medical attention =

children needing medical attention

5 Present participles/participle phrases such as adding/pointing out/ reminding/warningcan introduce statements in indirect speech:

He told me to start early, reminding me that the roads would be crowded. (See 324 C.)

The above uses have already been dealt with. The present participle can also be used:

6 After verbs of sensation (see 273).

7 After catch/find/leave+ object (see 274).

8 After go, come, spend, waste, be busy(see 275).

9 Present participles can sometimes replace subject + verb in other main or subordinate clauses other than those mentioned above (see 276-7).

273 Present participle after verbs of sensation

A The basic verbs of sensation see, hear, feel, smell,and the verbs listen (to), noticeand watchcan be followed by object + present participle:

/ see him passing my house every day.

Didn 't you hear the clock striking?

I felt the car skidding.

She smelt something burning and saw smoke rising.

I watched them rehearsing the play.

The action in the present participle may be either complete or incomplete: / saw him changing the wheel could mean that I watched the whole action or that I saw only part of it.

В see, hear, feel and sometimes listen (to), noticeand watchcan

also be followed by object + bare infinitive:

We saw him leave the house.

I heard him make arrangements for his journey.

The infinitive implies that the action is complete. / saw him change the wheel means that I saw the whole action.

С Comparison of the two forms

The participle is the more generally useful as it can express both complete and incomplete actions. But the infinitive is useful when we want to emphasize that the action is complete. It is also neater than the participle when there is a succession of actions:

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 591