Examples:
•
He suggested eating dinner at the airport.
•
Bringing up that subject will only cause trouble.
•
Going there today isn’t wise. b. The subject is in another part of the sentence
Examples:
•
On Seeing the damage he had done, the child felt ashamed. the subject of seeing is child, the subject of the main verb .
•
We thanked them for making such a generous contribution. the subject of making is them, the object of the main verb.
1. Subject of Gerund in Possessive or Unchanged Form a. Subject a word denoting a live being
The choice of possessive or non – possessive form often depends on whether formal or informal usage is being observed.
In formal usage, possessive forms of nouns and pronouns are required.
Examples:
•
The girl resents her sister’s getting more attention than she does.
•
The idea of Harold’s getting a job as a traveling salesman doesn’t appeal to his wife.
If the gerund phrase is the subject of the sentence, the possessive form is obligatory in both formal and informal usage.
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Example:
•
His undertaking such a difficult task is to be commended.
In informal usage, the unchanged forms of nouns, as well as the object forms of personal pronouns, may be used for subjects of gerunds. These forms
establish a closer relationship with the verb or preposition after which they commonly appear. They are more emphatic than the possessive forms: in speech
they receive greater stress and are followed by a longer pause.
Gerund phrase after a main verb : especially such verbs as dis like, not mind, miss, remember, understand.
Examples:
•
We can’t understand them doing a thing like that.
•
I remember my father being very strict with us.
•
Can you imagine him being elected president
Such a gerund phrase may be considered as the second part of a two – part object.
Gerund phrase after a preposition: Examples:
•
I don’t approve of a woman walking by herself late at night.
•
She was proud of her son winning first prize.
•
She went there without him knowing about it. b. Subject a word denoting a lifeless thing or an abstract idea
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Much less frequent than subject that represents human being. Such a subject of a gerund is usually in non – possessive form.
Examples:
•
They told us a story of a pirate ship having been sunk in these
waters. •
The doctors are afraid of a relapse occurring in a few months.
•
Instead of her health improving after the operation, it got worse.
This type of subject is something also found with possessive endings.
Examples:
•
I can’t understand the door’s not being open.
•
There is a real danger of a war’s destroying the world.
•
Who could imagine a thing’s seeming so different from what it is?
Subjects with modifiers, especially modifiers that follow them, generally do not occur in possessive form even in formal English.
Examples:
•
There is no need of the president of the company attending the meeting.
•
I marvel at anything of such small importance standing in his way.
• I can not bear the thought of my best friend, once so rich and
powerful, being almost destitute now.
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A long gerund phrase functioning as subject of a verb or as object of a preposition is generally awkward, especially if the subject of the gerund has noun
– possessive form. Most experts suggest avoiding such sentences as the following.
Examples:
•
The government inspector walking into the factory without any
previous warning disconcerted the plant superintendent. •
Because of the money not being where he had put it, he was afraid it
had been stolen. In gerund phrases derived from sentences beginning with expletives, it or
its may be used; there remains unchanged.
Examples:
•
In spite of its informal, it being a rainy night, he went out for a
long walk. •
We were mistaken about there being a meeting tonight. 2. Subject of gerund an of Phrase
An of phrase subject of a gerund may denote a live being or an inanimate
thing. This kind of subject is used mostly with intransitive verbs. The occasionally another determiner initiates the phrase.
Examples:
•
The plotting and intriguing of the ambassador for his own ends finally caused his dismissal.
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•
The shouting of the children disturbed his sleep.
Personal pronoun are not used as subjects in of phrases --the shouting of them.
A subject representing a live being may something be put either in an of
phrase or in s’ possessive form – the shouting of the children or the children’s shouting. The gerund with the possessive subject has greater force as a verb ; the
gerund with the of phrase subject has greater force s a noun.
3. Subject of gerund a by phrases
