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).
Participle I
In Old English, Participle I had the suffix -ende. Towards the end of the Middle English period, Participle I came to be formed by the suffix -ing under the influence of the verbal noun in -ung (-ing).
Participle I is a non-finite form of the verb that has a triple nature: verbal, adjectival, and adverbial.
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Verbal Features of Participle I
The verbal nature of Participle I reveals itself both at the morphological and syntactic levels. Morphologically, the verbal nature of Participle I manifests itself in the grammatical categories of phase and voice. The category of phase in Participle I finds its expression in the opposition of non-perfect and perfect forms. Perfect Participle I indicates that the action denoted by Participle I is prior to that denoted by the finite verb, e.g.:
Having completed the job, the men left early (The New Webster's Grammar Guide). <First, the men completed the job; then they left.>
Non-perfect Participle I, being the non-marked member of the phase opposition, has a more flexible meaning. It generally suggests that the action denoted by Participle I is simultaneous with that of the finite verb, e.g.:
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He looked at the carpet -while waiting for her answer (J. Galsworthy).
Non-perfect Participle I can denote an action following the action of the finite verb, e.g.:
John fell, hurting his knee (N.A. Kobrina et al.).
With some verbs of sense perception and motion, such as see, hear, look, come, arrive, seize, turn, etc., non-perfect Participle I is used to express priority, e.g.:
Hearing a footstep below he rose and went to the top of the stairs (Th. Hardy).
Coming close to the rock, we saw a strange sight (The New Webster's Grammar Guide).
The category of voice in Participle I finds its expression in the active and passive forms. Cf:
Trembling with excitement, Sara waited for her friends (The New Webster's Grammar Guide).
Being left alone, Pauline and I kept silence for some time (Ch. Bronte).
Syntactically, the verbal nature of Participle I manifests itself in the following features.
1. Its right-hand combinability with objects, adverbials, and predicatives when the participle happens to be a copula. Cf.:
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Having finished the dress, Mary packed it carefully in a box (The New Webster's Grammar Guide) - object.
Having recovered completely, Ted left the hospital (The New Webster's Grammar Guide) - adverbial.
All being well, we should arrive by tomorrow (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) - predicative.
2. Its left-hand combinability with a subjectival member
indicating the doer of the action denoted by Participle I, e.g.:
Can you see the girl dancing with your brother*? (M. Swan).
3. The function of realizing the verbal component of primary
predication when Participle I makes part of a simple verbal or
compound nominal predicate. Cf.:
She is reading a newspaper (V. Evans). It is very distressing to me, sir, to give this information (Ch. Dickens).
4. The function of realizing the verbal component of
secondary predication when Participle I makes part of a complex
member of the sentence or forms a parenthesis. Cf.:
We saw an old man lying on the road (The New Webster's Grammar Guide).
Generally speaking, men can run faster than women (M. Swan).
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Adjectival and Adverbial Features of Participle I
The adjectival and adverbial features of Participle I manifest themselves at the syntactic level, namely in the iunctions of attributes (both prepositive and postpositive) and adverbials. The prepositive attribute is usually expressed by a single participle, the postpositive attribute and the adverbial - by a participial phrase. Cf.:
/ think it is only a passing shower (D. du Maurier).
Hike the girl sitting on the right (M. Swan).
Putting down my newspaper, I walked over to the window and looked out (M. Swan).
Participle I and the Gerund
Participle I and the gerund are homonymous in form: 'the stem of a verb + the suffix -ing'. They are also identical in their verbal
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characteristics, both morphological (the categories of phase and voice) and syntactic (the combinability with objects, adverbials, predicatives, and subjectival members).
True, the subjectival member in predicative constructions with the gerund is usually expressed by nouns in the genitive case or by possessive determiners, while in predicative constructions with Participle I it is generally expressed by nouns in the common case or by personal pronouns in the objective case. Cf:
I'm annoyed at John's forgetting to pay (M. Swan).
Please excuse my coming late (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
/ saw a small girl standing in the goldfish pond (M. Swan).
I saw him leaving the house (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
However, there is a rising tendency nowadays to use the common case of nouns and the objective case of personal pronouns as subjectival member of a gerundial construction, which blurs the distinction between the gerund and Participle I, e.g.:
Who told you of your wife being there! (H. Sweet).
I do not like him coming here so often (H. Sweet).
In the gerundial predicative construction, the common case of a noun is preferred to the genitive case in the following cases.
1. When the noun denotes an inanimate object or thing, e.g.;
/ cannot accept the notion of school-life affecting the poet to this extent (H. Sweet),
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2. When the noun has the plural suffix -s, e.g.:
The rule against visitors entering this bureau is strict (A. Bennett).
3. When some other pans of the sentence depend on the noun,
e.g.:
Upon my application for her being refused, I had resigned my own post (Ch. Bronte).
H. Sweet calls the ing-form in such cases a 'half-gerund', H.W. Fowler-a 'fused participle'.
Since Participle I and the gerund are identical in their form and verbal characteristics, E. Kruisinga, L.S. Barkhudarov, E.M. Gordon and I.P. Krylova regard them as one form, which they call the ing-form. The latter is debatable. First of all, Participle I and the gerund differ in meaning. Participle I expresses
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an action as characterizing a person or thing (like an adjective) or as modifying another action (like an adverb). The gerund expresses an action in its most general sense, actually naming it, and therefore looks more like a noun. This is most evident when they function as predicatives or attributes. As predicative, Participle I gives a qualitative characteristic to the subject, e.g.:
When she finished speaking, the applause was deafening (Longman Language Activator).
The gerund does not qualify the subject, it rather identifies the subject by revealing its meaning, e.g.:
One of my bad habits is biting my nails (M. Swan).
As attribute, Participle I denotes an action that the person or thing performs or experiences, e.g. a running stream (i.e. a stream which is running). The nuclear stress is on the noun stream as in all adjective-noun word combinations. Cf:
a 'running "stream,
a 'deep "stream.
The gerund usually reveals the meaning of the modified noun, which never denotes the performer of the action, e.g. running shoes does not mean 'shoes that are running', but 'shoes used or intended for running1. The attributive gerund running here is a label for a subclass of shoe and could be replaced by a noun, e.g. sports shoes. The nuclear stress is on the ing-form as in all noun-noun word combinations. Cf:
"running 'shoes,
"sports 'shoes.
However, there are cases that admit of two interpretations. For instance, a hunting dog may be 'a dog for hunting' and 'a dog that hunts'.
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The difference in meaning brings about a difference in syntactic functions. Being more of a noun, the gerund can function as subject and object. Participle I cannot be used as subject or object. The typical syntactic Sanctions of Participle I are those of attribute and adverbial. True, the gerund can also function as attribute and adverbial. But one should bear in mind one important point of difference. When used as attribute or adverbial, Participle I, like an adjective or an adverb, is never preceded by a preposition. On the other hand, when the gerund is used as attribute or adverbial,
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it is preceded by a preposition as nouns usually are in these functions.
So, it seems better to differentiate Participle I and the gerund. Their main differential features, according to V.N. Zhigadlo, I.P. Ivanova and L.L. lofik, are 1) the possibility of substituting the personal pronoun in the objective case by a possessive determiner in predicative constructions and 2) the nature of the introductory verb. Some verbs, phrasal verb equivalents, and predicative word groups, as is well known, combine only with gerunds, e.g.: avoid, burst out. deny, enjoy, excuse, finish, forgive, give up, mind, put off, accuse of, approve of, depend on, feel like, insist on, look like, insist on, object to, prevent from, rely on, succeed in, suspect of, thank for, think of, give up the idea of, look forward to, not to like the idea of to miss an/the opportunity of, be capable of, be fond of, be guilty of, be pleased at, be proud of, be surprised at, be worth (while), etc. Cf.:
They burst out laughing (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
He enjoys travelling by train (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
She had finished dressing when the telephone rang (Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English).
Would you mind opening the window! (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
/ don't mind helping you with the dishes (V. Evans).
/ don't approve of smoking in bed (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
/ don't feel like dancing now (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
He insists on speaking to you personally (Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English).
The old lady thanked me for helping her across the road (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
/ did think of visiting him, but I've changed my mind (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
/ look forward to receiving your reply as soon as possible (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
// looks like being a fine day (A.S. Hornby, A.P, Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
I strongly object to being treated like a child (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
Who can prevent us from getting married? (A.S. Hornby, A.P- Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
They suspected him of giving false evidence (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
He's quite capable of neglecting his duty (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
I'm very fond of being looked at (0. Wilde).
Politicians of all parties are guilty of ignoring this serious problem (D. Biber et al.).
... she ... is proud of being so pretty (C\\. Dickens).
We were surprised at finding the house empty (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
It's worth while seeing that film (V. Evans).
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