The Gerund
The gerund is a peculiarity of the English language. It is not to be found in
other Germanic languages. The gerund goes back to the Old English verbal noun in
-ung. In the course of time, it has acquired a number of verbal characteristics so that
now the gerund shares the properties of nouns and verbs.
Nominal Features of the Gerund
The nominal nature of the gerund reveals itself at the syntactic level, namely in
its combinability and functions. Like the noun, the gerund can be preceded by:
1)
a preposition, e.g.:
I'm tired of watching television (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English);
2)
a noun in the genitive case or a possessive determiner. Cf.:
I remember Tom's complaining about the poor service in this hotel (V.
Evans).
/ remember his complaining about the poor service in this hotel (V. Evans).
Like the noun, the gerund can perform the functions of the following parts of
the sentence.
1.
Subject, e.g.:
Swimming is my favourite sport (R.A. Close). // is awfully hard work doing
nothing (O. Wilde). There was no mistaking the expression on her face
(W. Collins).
2.
Object, e.g.:
I like swimming (R.A. Close).
I'm fond of swimming (R.A. Close).
3.
Predicative, e.g.:
My favourite sport is swimming (R.A. Close).
4.
Attribute,
both
prepositional
and
non-prepositional.
Cf:
He was born with the gift of winning hearts (E. Gaskell).
... do you like these running shoes'? (J.C. Richards, J. Hall, S. Proctor).
5.
Adverbial, e.g.:
... one side of the gallery was used for dancing (G. Eliot).
Verbal Features of the Gerund
The verbal nature of the gerund reveals itself at the morphological and
syntactic levels. Morphologically, the verbal nature of the gerund manifests itself
in the grammatical categories of phase and voice. The category of phase finds its
expression in the opposition of non-perfect and perfect forms. The perfect gerund
always denotes an action prior to the action rendered by the finite verb, e.g.:
He was ashamed of having shown even the slightest irritation (A. Bennett).
Being the non-marked member of the phase opposition, the non-perfect
gerund is more flexible in meaning. In the first place, it can denote an action
simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb, e.g.:
Hike walking in the rain (M. Swan).
In the second place, the non-perfect gerund can render an action following the
action denoted by the finite verb, e.g.:
We are thinking of going to France for our holidays (Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English).
In the third place, non-perfect gerund can express an action prior to the action
indicated by the finite verb if it is used:
1)
after the verbs remember, thank, forget, excuse, forgive,
etc., e.g.:
/ don *t remember hearing the legend before (Th. Hardy), Thanks for
coming (M. Swan);
2)
after the prepositions on, upon, after, before, without, etc.,
e.g.:
Upon receiving the telegram, we cancelled the trip (The New Webster's
Grammar Guide).
After walking about ten yards, he found the hat among the leaves (Th.
Hardy).
The category of voice is represented by the opposition of active and passive
forms, e.g.:
He liked neither reading aloud nor being read aloud to (W.S. Maugham).
Being the non-marked member of the voice opposition, the active gerund can
also render the meaning common to the passive gerund. Thus, after the verbs need,
want, require, deserve and the adjective worth the active gerund renders passive
meaning. Cf.:
My coat needs mending (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
This job wants doing at once (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English).
The book is well worth reading (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
Syntactically, the verbal nature of the gerund manifests itself in the following
characteristics.
1.
Its right-hand combinability with objects and adverbials,
e.g.:
Sweeping the floor was one of Jack's duties (The New
Webster's Grammar Guide).
Sitting on a park bench was his favourite pastime (The New Webster's
Grammar Guide).
2.
The function of realizing the verbal component of primary
predication when the gerund makes part of a compound nominal or
compound verbal predicate. Cf.:
The only remedy for such a headache as mine is going to bed (W. Collins).
I kept glancing at her through the rest of the play (J. Braine).
3.
The
function
of realizing
the
verbal
component
of
secondary predication when the gerund forms part of a complex
member of the sentence, e.g.:
Forgive my speaking plainly (Th. Hardy) - complex object. ... there is no
chance of their getting married for years (J. Galsworthy) - complex attribute.
The Gerund and the Verbal Noun
The verbal noun, from which the gerund has developed, has not dropped out
of use. Nowadays, the two forms co-exist. O. Jespersen does not differentiate them.
But they should be distinguished because they are different. The gerund has
nominal and verbal features; the verbal noun has no verbal features at all It lacks
the grammatical categories of phase and voice, and it never combines with an
object or an adverbial.
But the verbal noun has more nominal features than the gerund. First, it can
be used in the plural, e.g.:
Our likings are regulated by our circumstances (Ch. Bronte).
Second, it can be used in the genitive case, chiefly before the noun sake, e.g.:
I'm not talking just for talking's sake (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English).
Third, it can combine with both articles and other noun determiners. Cf.:
A good beginning is half the battle (Proverb).
Did democracy have its beginnings in Athens'? (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie,
A.C. Gimson).
Fourth, the verbal noun can be modified by attributes, both prepositive and
postpositive. Prepositive attributes are usually expressed by adjectives,
postpositive - by prepositional word combinations. Cf.:
When learning a foreign language, it's important to make a good beginning
(A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
/ can't quite grasp the meaning of these figures (Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English).