English Grammar for University Students. Part 4
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3. The Gerund of transitive verbs has voice distinctions.
She likes reading fairy-tales to her son.
Her son enjoys being read fairy tales.
Syntactic functions of the gerund
In а sentence the Gerund is often used as a part of a Gerundial phrase or a Gerundial construction. The Gerund can perform the following syntactic functions:
1. Subject
Speaking foreign languages well is an advantage.
Getting the job in the face of such stiff competition was a great achievement.
Reading bookshas never done any harm to anyone.
Your helping was appreciated.
The Gerund in this function can be introduced by it or there:
It’s no use going there.
There is no driving in the yard.
There is no use arguing now.
2. Predicative
My dream is travelling the world.
Sometimes doing the right thing is doing nothing at all.
This was like being someone else.
His only task was looking after the patient.
3. A part of
– а part of а compound verbal modal predicate with the verbs or expressions having modal meaning:
She did not feel like seeing anybodythat night.
– а part of а compound verbal aspect predicate with the verbs denoting the beginning, duration or cessation of the action [Шрамко, Степанова, 2009 ]:
Why did they stop arguing?
He ceased shivering at last.
4. Object а) after the following verbs Gerunds can be used as
avoid, appreciate, (cannot) bear, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, deserve, detest, discuss, dislike, encourage, endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, fancy, forbid, forget, forgive, hate, (cannot) help, imagine, involve, justify, like, loathe, love, mention, mind (in interrogative and negative sentences), miss, need, postpone, practise, prefer, prevent, prohibit, recommend, regret, remember, resent, resist, risk, save (sb), (cannot) stand, suggest, tolerate, understand, want, and the adjectives busy and worth.
Excuse my coming late.
His friends avoided discussing the matter with her.
Do you mind opening the window?
The room needs cleaning.
The film is really worth watching .
b) after the following verbs and phrases Gerunds can be used as prepositional objects:
verbs: accuse (sb) of, apologize for, approve of, blame (sb) for, boast about / of, burst out, carry on, complain about / of, count on, depend on, discourage smb from, excuse (sb) for, forbid sb from, forgive smb for, give up, insist on, join in, keep from, look forward to, object to, persist in, prevent (keep, stop) smb from, put off, rely on, result in, save from, speak of, succeed in, suspect (sb) of, talk into / out of, thank (sb) for, think of, warn (sb) against;
phrases: be aware of, be annoyed at, be astonished at, be afraid of, be ashamed of, be capable of, be certain of, be clever at, be delighted at, be disappointed at, be excited about / at, be engaged in, be fond of, be grateful for, be guilty of, be ignorant of, be indignant at, be interested in, be involved in, be pleased (displeased) at (with), be proud of, be responsible for, be sorry for / about, be sure of, be surprised at, be tired of, be used to, get used to, etc.
He was blamed for being late.
He was accused of stealing that money.
She is afraid of staying alone.
She is sure of being manipulated.
I suspect you of having told a lie then.