§ 227.The ing-form in the function of attribute is found in different constructions.
The ing-form may immediately precede its head-noun. In this case it expresses an action which is performed by the person or thing denoted by the head-noun (i.e. the head-noun is the subject of the action expressed by the ing-iorm). The ing-form is always a single word in this case, not an extended phrase. This attribute is not lexically dependent it may modify any noun.
e.g. There was nothing to be seen or heard, not even a barkingdog. Passing the Comedy Theatre I happened to look up and saw
the clouds lit by the settingsun.
I reached for a cigarette with trembling hands, and lit it. Singingpeople, arm in arm, filled the streets.
This kind of attribute is not of frequent occurrence in En- glish. However, ing-forms appear to be quite common as at- tributes when they are used metaphorically.
e.g. They delivered their views on the burningquestions of the day. Arthur gave a creakinglaugh.
"Hungry," said Mrs Nenneker, in a trumpetingvoice. Carbury cocked an inquiringeye at him. Hewatched it with despairingincredulity.
It is characteristic of the ing-form in this function to become adjectivized the ing-form is devoid of the idea of action in this case and its lexical meaning is often changed as compared with the meaning of the corresponding verb, e.g. a charming girl means 'a very nice girl,' an amusing story is 'an interesting, funny story,' a promising writer is 'a talented writer' (For adjectivization see also "Verbs", §172).
e.g. We had a very good view of all the surroundingscenery.
A desolate loneliness settled on me almost a frightening
loneliness. In her ringingvoice, she turned to the man on her right:
"Reggie, what do you think I ought to do?" They were preoccupied with the comingdebate.
Such adjectivized ing-forms are in common use in English. An- other peculiar feature of the ing-form in this function is its ten-
dency to form, in combination with its head-noun, a set phrase, e.g. the reading public, the presiding magistrate, a racing man, working people, a fighting officer, a leading politician, revolving doors, running water, a booking office, a publishing house, closing time, walking shoes, etc.
§ 228. The ing-form as attribute may closely follow its head- noun. It also expresses an action performed by the person or thing denoted by the head-noun (i.e. the head-noun is the subject of the ing-iorm). But unlike the ing-form in pre-position to the noun, it I is a more or less extended group, not a single word. This kind of attribute is not lexically dependent it may modify any noun. Yet its use is structurally dependent when it serves to modify a noun after there is (are).
e.g. There are some people comingin here now. There is a lot of work waitingfor me to do. "Aren't you coming to the music room?" "Not if there is any
music going on." "There was a man hurryingdown the street in front of me.
We find the structurally dependent use of the ing-form in coming on (in, up) when it modifies a noun which is an object of the verb to have (to have got).
e.g. I saw at once he had an attack of malaria coming on.
Sam thinks that he ought to return home by the next boat. He
has got his exams coming on. You've got too many things coming upto get involved in such
an affair.
This kind of attribute is used in literary as well as in spoken English.
Note. It is noteworthy that running in post-position to a plural noun is used in the meaning of 'one after another', 'in succession'.
e.g. He says he has received three telegrams runningfrom them.
§ 229.In all other instances the use of the ing-form as at- tribute in post-position is free. It is a loose attribute in this case and, hence, may be separated from its head-noun by a pause. In all other respects this attribute is similar to the structurally depen-
dent one: the head-noun is also the subject of the ing-form and the ing-form is generally part of a more or less extended group.
This kind of attribute is neither lexically nor structurally de- pendent it can modify any noun and the noun can have differ ent syntactic functions in the sentence.
e.g. I could hear the voices of the kids waitingfor the school bell
to ring.
They stumbled on the snow turningto icy water. Then I picked up a booklet depictingvarious scenes of Navy life.
The loose character of the ing-form in this function is always marked off by intonation, and it may also sometimes be indicated by the use of a comma.
e.g. The wardrobe was empty, except for one dress, swingingon a hanger.
The door was opened by one of the man-servants, bearingan envelope, addressed to me in Collingwood's bold hand.
This loose attribute is frequently used in literary style but is not typical of spoken English.
§ 230. The ing-form in the function of attribute may be pre- ceded by a preposition. In this case it always follows its head- noun and is generally part of an extended phrase. The ing-form is lexically dependent here.
In most cases the ing form is preceded by the preposition of and the attribute acquires appositive meaning, i.e. serves to ex- plain the meaning of its head-noun. That is why it can modify only certain abstract nouns that admit of and sometimes even require an explanation of their meaning. The number of nouns thus used is quite considerable. The most commonly occurring of them are: action, (dis)advantage, adventure, aim, appearance, art, attitude, business, capacity, case, chance, charge, choice, (dis)comfort, com plication, conception, consequence, consideration, consolation, (in)convenience, cost, custom, danger, delight, difficulty, disap pointment, disgrace, effect, emotion, enterprise, evidence, expendi ture, expense, experience, fact, fascination, favour, fear, feeling- gesture, gift, grief, guilt, habit, honour, hope, horror, humiliation.
e.g. He said that he had no chance of learningthe truth. I don't want her to make a habit of beinglate. I have no hope of discussing it, Mr Birling. There was no possibility of takinga walk that day. I had the privilege of meetingyour mother and dad some
weeks ago. The prospect of travellingwith two elderly very dull people
made me regret my hasty decision yesterday. He admired his way of doingthings very much. After a while I began to have a feeling of being watched. Miss Moss gave no sign of having heardhis words. She experienced an unreasonable feeling of having been cheated. Her parents are terribly upset at the thought of her givingev- idence.
The ing-form may also be preceded by the prepositions for, in, at, about and to. But they are by far less common than of. These prepositions are found after a limited number of nouns which reg- ularly require their use:
for cause, excuse, genius, gift, grounds, motive, passion,
pretext, reason, reputation, talent;
in advantage, belief, believer, difficulty, experience, harm, hesitation, ingenuity, meaning, object, participation, pleasure, point, purpose, sense, skill, use;
at amazement, astonishment, attempt, delight, dismay, ir- ritation, pleasure, satisfaction, shyness, surprise; about fantasy, obsession, scruples; to objection, preparation.
e.g. She had a real passion for reading detective stories. Did he have any special reason for doing that? There was no point in going further. I saw no harm in asking a few questions. He felt irritation at being disturbed. I was making up my mind to another attempt at persuading
him to do it. After three months I got an obsession about having a place of
my own. Certainly I should have no objection to working with the man.
For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted by the ing-form see "Verbs", § 166.
This ing-form is not restricted to any particular style and is widely used in English.
(For comparison with the infinitive see §§ 203-204, 242.)
§ 231. The ing-form may be used as an attribute in a sentence pattern with it as a formal subject. The ing-form is lexically de- pendent here it is regularly used only after it is no good and it is no use with appositive meaning.
e.g. It's no use lamenting over things that are past and done with. "It's no use going on like this," he said. It's no good trying to fool yourself about love. It's no good my saying I'm sorry for what I've done. That
would be hypocritical. If she had made up her mind to anything it was no good our
opposing her.
Note. We also find a synonymous construction there is no use followed by an
Ing-form.
e.g. There was no use pretending that they were different from the others. There was no use complaining.
This construction is less common than the one with the formal if, still less common is the pattern in which the ing-form is preceded by the preposition in.
e.g. You can see now there's no use in tryingto make him understand.
Sometimes the ing-form occurs after a number of other nouns which are, as a rule, semantically pale, such as thing, business, chance, idea, problem and some others. The nouns are usually modified by an adjective which is semantically more important than the noun.
e.g. In this filthy weather it's the hardest thing in the world get- ting things dry.
I'd like to give it to him myself. It's not the same thing send- ing it in a letter.
It's been a great chance my meeting you like this.
It'll be such a surprise to her seeing you.
It should be mentioned, however, that the ing-form is not common after these nouns. We normally find an infinitive here (see "Verbs", § 206). The use of this ing-form is mainly restricted to spoken English.
For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted I by the ing-form see "Verbs", § 166.
§ 232. The ing-form may also be used as an attribute in a sen- tence pattern with it as a formal object of the verbs to find, to think and to make. The formal it, in its turn, is followed by a noun. It is to this noun that the ing-form serves as an attribute.
e.g. Won't you find it rather a bore having me at home for so long?
It should be noted that this construction is of rare occurrence. (For comparison with the infinitive see § 207.)
The ing-form as Parenthesis
§ 233. The ing-form as parenthesis tends to become a set phrase.
We mainly find here the verbs to talk and to speak. The ing-form as parenthesis serves to denote some sort of reservation on the part of the speaker or else it is used as an introductory phrase, meaning
'incidentally' (compare with the Russian κρςΰςθ).
e.g. Secrets, generally speaking, are not very well kept nowadays, with reporters and television cameras all around us.
Roughly speaking, it might have been said that youth and hope in women touched him.
Talking about crime, I can lend you rather a good book, as you are interested in the subject.
Of course, strictly speaking, the excuse was not necessary.
The ing form as parenthesis is in most cases placed at the head of the sentence and, in writing, marked off by a comma.
The Infinitive and the ing-form Compared
§ 234. The infinitive and the ing-form sometimes have similar functions in the sentence and it is therefore necessary to define the spheres of their application.
The distinction between the two verbals partly lies in their dif- ferent tense and aspect characteristics. The infinitive tends to ex- press a single action following that of the predicate verb, while the ing-form generally serves to denote permanent actions, simul- taneous with that of the predicate verb. (These characteristics re- fer to the simple forms of the infinitive and the ing-form. Their Perfect forms are infrequent and do not play an important part in distinguishing between the two verbals). But it should be noted that we are dealing here only with tendencies, not with hard and fast rules. For that reason the difference between the infinitive and the ing-form sometimes becomes obliterated.
In most cases, however, the differentiation between the two verbals rests on linguistic tradition which finds its expression in the following:
1) the infinitive and the ing-form have a different frequency of occurrence in certain functions (and the preference of one form to the other cannot be accounted for by any tangible reasons, grammatical or semantic);
2) the infinitive and the ing-form are in certain functions lexi- cally dependent, which means that their choice is determined by their head-word, but not by any grammatical properties inherent in them;
3) the infinitive and the ing-form are sometimes structurally dependent, i.e. their use is determined by definite sentence patterns;
4) the infinitive and the ing-form may become part of a set phrase.
Besides, in some of the functions there are a few additional factors which affect the choice between the two verbals. The in- finitive, for instance, may acquire modal meaning which is never expressed by the ing-form. The ing-form, in its turn, when preced- ed by prepositions (or conjunctions), can express different mean- ings not typical of the infinitive. In certain functions the infini- tive of terminative verbs serves to express accomplished actions, while the ing form shows the action in its progress.
The Perfect infinitive may, as well as the Perfect ing-form, denote actions preceding that of the predicate verb. But the Per- fect infinitive can also, in certain positions, express unreality.
On the whole, the differentiation between the infinitive and the ing-form is well defined, and the choice between them does not present much difficulty as in most functions there is no overlap. To prevent possible mistakes in the cases where they do overlap, it is necessary to compare the two verbals where they are used in a parallel way.
