to think of
to suspect smb of
to accuse of
to be afraid of
to object to
to be used to
to succeed in
to be engaged in
to insist on
to depend on
to apologize for
to be grateful for
to be responsible for
to thank smb for
to blame smb for
to be clever at
to prevent smb from, etc.
doing smth
being done
having done smth
having been done
e.g. He apologized for coming late.
She insisted on being treatedlike a grown woman.
I hope you don’t object to our singing.
We are engaged in discussing this problem.
The Attribute
intention
plan
idea
point
sense
purpose
habit
good
harm
mistake
difficulty
way
opportunity
advantage / disadvantage
cause
of doing smth
There is no (little)
Smb sees no (little)
sense
harm
difficulty
point
danger
in doing smth
e.g. She had no intention of staying.
I don’t like his habit of making people wait.
There is no harm in asking her again.
There is little point in refusing.
The Adverbial Modifier
on (upon)
after
before
by
through
because of
without
in spite of
despite
instead of
at
doing smth
e.g. She locked the door before going to bed.
He left without saying good-bye.
Before goingto the station I had to telephone my office on business.
In spite of beingill, he came to the final discussion.
She frightened her father by bursting into tears.
The Gerundial Complex
The Gerund can have a subject of its own different from that of the sentence. In this case the Gerund and its subject form a construction called the Gerundial Complex. The relations between the elements of the complex are predicative. The first element of the complex may be expressed in a number of ways: by a noun in the common case, a noun in the possessive case, a pronoun in the objective case, a possessive pronoun.
boy’s
boy
my
me
doing smth
being done
The Gerundial complex has practically the same syntactical functions as the gerund.
Syntactical Functions of the Gerundial Complex
The Subject
It
is
was
no use
useless
no good
Smb’s doing smth
Smb’s doing smth
does smth
did smth
will do smth
would do smth
e.g. It is useless your going there immediately.
His saying this made all the difference.
His being a foreigner and an ex-enemy was bad enough.
The Predicative
to be for / against
smb’s doing smth
e.g. I’m against your going there alone.
He was for your staying there for two more days.
The Direct Object
admit
anticipate
avoid
consider
delay
deny
enjoy
escape
excuse
fancy (imagine)
forgive
involve
mind
postpone
prevent
regret
remember
resent
resist
risk
suggest, etc.
to be worth
smb’s doing smth
e.g. Do you mind my closing the window?
I don’t like his coming late.
The Prepositional Object
to think of
to suspect smb of
to accuse of
to be afraid of
to object to
to be used to
to succeed in
to be engaged in
to insist on
to depend on
to apologize for
to be grateful for
to be responsible for
to thank smb for
to blame smb for
to be clever at
to prevent smb from, etc.
smb’s doing smth
e.g. Much depends on your taking the job.
The teacher insisted on my coming in time.
She apologized for her being late.
The Attribute
intention
plan
idea
point
sense
purpose
habit
good
harm
mistake
difficulty
way
opportunity
advantage / disadvantage
cause
of smb’s doing smth
There is no (little)
Smb sees no (little)
sense
harm
difficulty
point
danger
in smb’s doing smth
e.g. I had no idea of your being there.
There is little sense in your staying here just now.