7. Gerunds can often be modified with possessive forms such as his,
her, its, your, their, our, John's, Mary's, the machine's, and so on.
This makes it clearer who or what is performing the action.
Examples:
- I enjoyed their singing. They were singing.
- She understood his saying no to the offer. He said no.
- Sam resented Debbie's coming late to the dinner. Debbie came late to the dinner.
- We discussed the machine's being broken. The machine is broken.
8. Some verbs are followed by a noun plus an infinitive. In some
situations, the noun is required. In other situations, the noun is
optional.
Examples:
- The police ordered the man to stop. noun is required
- She asked to leave. noun is optional
- She asked him to leave. noun is optional
9. Some verbs are usually followed by a gerund, BUT they can also be
followed by a noun plus infinitive. Using a noun plus infinitive will
usually change who is performing the action.
Examples:
- I advised taking the train. in general
- I advised him to take the train. He will take the train.
10. There are many "go + gerund" expressions used for adventure sports and individual recreational activities.
Examples:
- I go swimming every weekend.
- Would you ever go skydiving?
11. Gerunds are used after prepositions. Most commonly, these are "verb + preposition" combinations.
Examples:
- They admitted to committing the crime.
- Leslie made up for forgetting my birthday.
- He is thinking about studying abroad.
12. Remember that there are many "adjective + preposition"
combinations and "noun + preposition" combinations in English as well.
These are also followed by gerunds.
- Sandy is scared of flying. adjective + preposition
- Nick is anxious about taking the examination. adjective + preposition
- His interest in becoming a professional snowboarder was well known. noun + preposition
- Thomas' story about seeing a grizzly bear was really exciting. noun + preposition
No comments:
Post a Comment