People who are just starting to learn English very often ask a question about what a gerund is. Since this linguistic phenomenon for a Russian-speaking person not only sounds exotic, but also has no direct analogue in Russian, it is sometimes very difficult to explain everything intelligibly and clearly the first time. It should be immediately pointed out that this topic is very difficult to grasp immediately. Therefore, professional teachers advise from time to time to return to theoretical materials on this topic in order to refresh their knowledge.
What is a gerund?
So, the gerund is called the impersonal form of the verb, which does not express the action, but only calls it and has the functions of both a noun and a verb at the same time. The impersonal form means that the gerund does not change in person or number. Initially, it is difficult to understand how to form it and how to use it, but the necessary knowledge and skills will come with time and practice.
Gerund: basic rules of education
Gerund formation is the easiest piece of information on this topic. Which, by the way, often leads tomisconceptions about use. To do this, you just need to add the ending -ing to the stem of any verb. At this stage, everything seems elementary simple, but do not forget that we are still talking about English, and do not forget about the constant surprises and subtleties.
If the verb is simple and ends with an open syllable or -y, then the corresponding ending is added without any additional steps:
to read - reading;
to worry - worrying.
If the last syllable of the verb is closed, then the final consonant should be doubled to form a gerund. Example:
to swim - swimming.
When a verb ends in -e, the final letter is dropped. Then the ending -ing is added without it. For example:
to store - storing.
In general, endings in English are a separate conversation. To see this, let's form a gerund for verbs that end in -ie. In this case, this letter combination changes to -y, to which the ending of the gerund is added.
Verbal properties of the gerund
As mentioned above, the gerund combines two functions. The verbs, in turn, include the following:
- presence of direct unprepositional addition - reading newspapers;
- presence of an adverb as a definition - singing lovely;
- presence of a perfect form and a passive voice.
Gerund: properties of a noun
Because the gerund is a combination of qualitiesverb and noun, it shares the following features with the noun:
- can be used after possessive pronouns - his dancing;
- may come after the preposition - before sleeping;
- can perform various functions of a noun as part of a sentence.
Functions of the gerund in a sentence
Given the above fact, it is not surprising that the gerund can perform various functions in a sentence, which will seem quite difficult for people who are trying to master the English language.
First of all, the gerund can act as a subject, which is not surprising, because it is the properties of the noun that are one of the main forming gerunds. So, the function of the subject gerund can only be performed if it is used without a preposition and comes before the predicate:
Riding is good for he alth.
In this role, he can still pull along a number of words that are dependent on the meaning, which create a gerundial group. The words that form such a group must come between the predicate and the gerund itself. Example:
Reading that book was excellent.
In the above example, the first three words form a gerund group. It also consists of the gerund itself, which stands out for one of the most characteristic endings in the English language, and two words that depend on it.
Also, the gerund can function as part of a nominal predicate. In this case, it should be immediately afterverb to be in the appropriate form. For example:
The assignment was writing an essay.
Here, many may notice that the gerund in this function is very similar in external form to a regular verb used in one of the tenses of the Continuous group. To determine the difference between these linguistic phenomena is quite simple. If the subject in the sentence itself cannot perform the action expressed by the word with the ending -ing, then we are dealing with a gerund, and if the subject can independently perform this action, then we can safely assert that the verb is used in a continuous aspect.
Although it sounds unexpected, the gerund can also serve as a definition. Here he describes or characterizes any member of the sentence, only if it is expressed by a noun. Traditionally, the gerund performs this function when it stands after the described word and the preposition, which just shows the relationship between words. The most popular preposition here is of, although sometimes there may be other variants expressed for, in, at, and about.
When we talk about the definition function, it is worth noting separately the following clichéd phrases that indicate the need to use the gerund. Examples: chance of, hope of, reason for and others.
There was little hope of coming in time.
In certain cases, the gerund can act as a definition, being in front of the word being defined. Here you need to clearly understand the difference between it and participle I,which is identical in form. As for the meaning, there is a difference and it lies in the fact that the participle I expresses the action performed by a person or object, and the gerund means the purpose of the object before which it is used.
Another possibility of the gerund is to perform the function of circumstance. In this case, it must necessarily come after such prepositions as for, through, by, without, instead of, in, on, after and before. Examples of using the gerund in sentences in this function are the following sentences:
After reading that, he went home.
Instead of stopping, he increased the speed.
Finally, we come to the gerund as a complement. Despite the fact that this function is listed last, it is the most common use of the word form in speech. It is immediately worth noting that the gerund in the complement function can be direct and prepositional. There are no specific rules in English about when to use the direct object and when to use the prepositional. The only useful advice here is to learn the verbs that determine the choice of option. The most difficult thing here is that the English language has accumulated a huge number of verbs for each group. However, there is no need to worry here, because over time, English learners should develop a sense of language, which will further help to make choices.
Gerund or infinitive
A very common difficulty formany is the decision to choose either a gerund or an infinitive just in the role of a complement. The whole difficulty lies in the fact that both the infinitive and the gerund in this function are translated into Russian by the indefinite form of the verb. So, in English there are verbs after which only the gerund can be used, there are verbs that pull only the infinitive, and there are those after which both options can be used. Given all this, you should always remember the following two rules:
- the infinitive denotes a short manifestation of an action, and the gerund expresses a long process;
- the infinitive is directed towards the future, while the gerund is associated with the present and the past.
Despite the above, many scholars argue that there is a strong tendency in modern English to use the infinitive instead of the gerund.
Gerund translation options
Since there is no direct analogue of the gerund in Russian, it can be translated into different parts of speech, depending on what function it performs in the sentence. The main ones are a noun denoting a process (swimming) and an indefinite verb (smoking). In addition, the gerund participle (doing) can also be found as a translation option.
Conclusion
Gerund is an integral part of the English language, which, unfortunately, is hard for Russian-speaking people. In order to fully understand the gerund, examples,education rules and translation methods, you need to stock up on a dozen patience and not give up in case of possible failures.
