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| Grammatical categories of the gerund
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| Gerundial phrases
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| The gerund as subject
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| The gerund as predicate
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| The gerund as predicative
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| The gerund as part of compound verbal aspect predicate
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| The gerund as attribute
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| The gerund as adverbial modifier
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| The gerund as object
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| The gerund and the verbal noun
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| Revision of the gerund and the infinitive
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| Appendix:
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| Verbs followed immediately by the infinitive
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| Verbs followed by either gerunds or infinitives without any change in meaning
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| Verbs followed by a noun/pronoun + the infinitive
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| Adjectives followed by infinitives
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| Set expressions used with infinitives
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| Verbs commonly used with the gerund
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| Adjectives always used with the gerund
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| Verbs with prepositions commonly used with the gerund
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| Set phrases with prepositions commonly used with the gerund
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| Adjectives followed by a preposition + the gerund
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| Gerunds after certain nouns with prepositions
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| Gerunds after prepositions
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| Infinitives and gerunds used with difference in meaning
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Grammatical categories of the gerund
1. The gerund is a non-finite form of the verb that developed from the noun, which in the course of time got verbalized, preserving at the same time its nominal character. However, the gerund should not be confused with the verbal noun, which has the same suffix – ing. For the main points of difference between the gerund and the verbal noun see in Section 10.
2. Grammatically gerund means a process. If we compare the gerund and the noun derived from the same notional verb, we can see that the gerund emphasizes a process while the noun states a fact, e.g. Thank you for your help. (fact) # Thank you for helping me. (process)
3. As a result of its origin and development, the gerund has a double nature: it has both nominal and verbal features.
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| Nominal Features
| Verbal Features
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| The gerund can perform the functions of
subject, object and predicative,
· Seeing is believing. (seeing – subject; believing – predicative)
· He remembered posting the letter. (object)
| The gerund can take a direct, indirect / prepositional object,
· She avoided (what?) meeting him. (direct)
· Mr. Black thought (of what?) of leaving the town. (prepositional)
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| The gerund can be preceded by a preposition,
· Mary insisted on calling Dick.
· He was accused of stealing the money.
| The gerund can be modified by an adverb or an adverbial modifier,
· Peter enjoys reading books (how?) slowly and thoroughly.
· I showed you my respect (how?) by listening to you very carefully,
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| The gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case or a possessive pronoun,
· Excuse my interrupting you.
· Excuse John’s interrupting you.
| The gerund has the category of voice, e.g.
· I hate interrupting people.(active)
· I hate being interrupted. (passive)
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| The gerund can perform the functions of attribute and adverbial modifier,
· There is a chance (what kind?) of finding him in. (attribute)
· Remember to turn off the gas (when?) before leaving the house. (adv. modifier of time)
| The gerund has the category of correlation,
· There was hope of catching the last train. (non-perfect/common)
· Paul remembered having caught the last train. (perfect)
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4. The gerund has only two grammatical categories: the category of voice (active and passive) and the category of correlation (perfect and non-perfect)
| Correlation
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| Active Voice
| Passive Voice
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| Non-Perfect (Common)
| I remember taking my sister to the theatre for the first time. = Я помню, как повел свою сестру в театр в первый раз. / Я пам'ятаю, як уперше повів свою сестру в театр.
| I remember being taken to the theatre for the first time. = Я помню, как меня повели в театр в первый раз. / Я пам'ятаю, як мене уперше повели в театр.
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| Perfect
| Ted entered without having knocked at the door. = Тед вошел, не постучав в дверь. / Тед увійшов, не постукавши у двері.
| The door opened without having been knocked on. = Дверь отворилась, без стука. (т.е. без того, чтобы в нее постучали.) / Двері відчинилися, без стуку. (= без того, щоб у неї постукали.)
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Note: In Modern English the perfect passive gerund is used very seldom
5. Gerund can be translated into Russian in different ways:
a) by an infinitive, e.g. Before going to bed, Jack checked all the locks in the house. = Перед тем как пойти спать, Джек проверил все замки в доме. / Перед тим як піти спати, Джек перевірив всі замки в домі.
b) by a noun, e.g. Reading English books in the original is my aunt’s hobby. = Чтение английских книг в оригинале – увлечение моей тетушки. / Читання англійських книг в оригіналі - захоплення моєї тіточки.
c) by using a special form of the verb (деепричастие / дієприслівник), e.g. Fred left the room without looking at anyone. = Фред вышел из комнаты, ни на кого не глядя. / Фред вийшов з кімнати, ні на кого не дивлячись.
d) by a subordinate clause, e.g. I don’t remember meeting this person before. = Я не помню, чтобы я встречала этого человека раньше. / Я не пам'ятаю, щоб я зустрічала цієї людини раніше.
