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| GERUND
| PARTICIPLE I
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| CHARACTER
| Nominal
| Adjectival/Adverbial
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| FUNCTION
| SUBJECT
| There is no translating this text without a dictionary.
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| OBJECT
| He suggested translatingthis text without a dictionary.
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| PREDICATIVE
| My dream is translating this text every day.
Note: The Gerund does not qualify the subject but identifies the subject by revealing its meaning.
| The sound was deafening.
Note: Participle I gives qualitative characteristics to the subject.
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| ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS
| On entering the room, he closed the door.
Note: The Gerund is always used with prepositions.
| Entering the room, he closed the door.
When entering the room, he stumbled over the threshold.
Note: Participle I is used without prepositions. It can be used with conjunctions.
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| ATTRIBUTE
| 1. He liked the idea of goingto Hungary.
(preceded by the preposition “of”)
2. a reading hall
(=a hall for reading)
a huntingdog
(=a dog for hunting)
The Gerund does not denote the performer of the action.
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a readingboy
(=a boy who is reading)
a hunting dog
(=a dog that is hunting)
Participle I denotes an action that the person or thing performs or experiences.
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ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS
| ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS
| 4. PREPOSITIONAL ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION
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| Mr Black was eating ice cream with his hat on his head.
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| 3. PREPOSITIONAL ABSOLUTE PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTION
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| Mr White went for a walk with his dog following him.
John was listening to the radio with his eyes closed.
NOTE: An additional idea of time, cause or condition may be prompted by the context:
I can’t read with everyone looking at me.
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| 2. NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION
| The lesson over, the students went home.
| Everything ready, I had nothing to do.
| The weather good, everyone will be happy.
| Mr Brown was walking along the street, his hands in his pockets.
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| 1. NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTION
| The work being finished, Mr Brown went home.
Examinations passed, the students were happy.
| It being very late, there were no buses in the street.
The work completed, I was able to take a month’s holiday.
| The weather permitting, I will go to work.
| The students were writing а test paper, their hands trembling.
The students were writing a test paper, their books closed.
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| Adverbial modifier of time
| Adverbial modifier of cause
| Adverbial modifier of condition
| Adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances
| |
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE INFINITIVE WITH SIMILAR MEANING
1. The idea of obligation can sometimes be expressed by an infinitive after a noun.
I’ve got letters to write.
These carpets are to be cleaned as soon as possible.
If the subject of the sentence is the person who has to do the action
I have work to do. (Not: *I have work to be done.)
If the subject of the sentence is the action that has to be done (or the person or thing that the action is done to)
These clothes are to be washed. (Not: *These clothes are to wash.)
This form is to be filled in in ink. (Not: *This form is to fill in.)
The cleaning is to be finished by midday. (Not: *… to finish …)
2. In some structures (for example, after there is/there are), both active and passive infinitives are possible with a similar meaning. We use the active infinitive if we think more about the person who has to do the action than about the action itself.
There is a lot of work to do/to be done.
There are six letters to write/to be written.
Give me the names of the people to contact/to be contacted.
We usually say that a house is to let, but to be let is also possible.
3. The passive infinitives to be seen, to be found, and to be congratulated are common after be.
He was nowhere to be seen.
The dog was nowhere to be found.
You are to be congratulated.
4. Note the difference between something/anything/nothing to do and something/anything/nothing to be done.
There is nothing to do. I’m bored. (=There are no entertainments.)
There is nothing to be done. (=There is no way of putting it right.)
5. To blame is often used in a passive sense (meaning ‘responsible for something bad that happened’)
Nobody was to blame for the accident.
Übung macht den Meister.
(German proverb)
