The Gerund

The morphological characteristics.

The gerund developed from the verbal noun which in the course of time became verbalized preserving its nominal character. That is why the gerund has both noun and verb characteristics.

The gerund has the following forms:

The temporal meaning of the gerund.

The tense distinctions of the gerund, like those of the participle, are relative. The indefinite gerund both active and passive denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb:

He works (worked, will work) for many hours without stopping.

She doesn't like (didn't like) being laughed at.

The indefinite forms can also express prior actions:

I remember meeting him somewhere.

On receiving the telegram he went to the station.

After being found safe and sound, the children were sent home.

The perfect gerund expresses an action prior to that expressed by the finite verb:

He denies having stolen the papers.

She was not surprised at having been received in this manner.

The functions of the gerund.

Syntactically the gerund can be used as:

The subject

Talking mends no holes.

There was no going back.(Пути назад не было.)

It's no use arguing like that.

A predicative

Your task is looking after the children.

Are you against discussing the question now?

4.3.3. part of a compound verbal predicate (with verbs denoting the beginning, duration or the end of an action)

She began sobbing again.

They kept on laughing.

At last he stopped talking.

A direct object

You can't avoid being talked about.

She couldn't help laughing.

The book is worth reading.

I was busy writing a letter.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1182