It has four forms which are homonymous to those of Participle one.
72
73
Forms
Active Voice
Passive Voice
Non-Perfect
discussing
being discussed
Perfect
having discussed
having been discussed
There is no Gerund in the Russian language and in Russian it is
rendered in different ways:
a)
By a noun
.
Traveling
has become his hobby.
Путешествие
стало его увлечением.
b)
By an Infinitive
.
It’s no good
hiding
our heads under the wings.
Бесполезно
прятать
голову под крыло.
c)
By деепричастие
.
On seeing
us he stopped.
Увидев
нас, он остановился.
d)
By a subordinate clause
.
He regretted now
having come
.
Теперь он сожалел,
что пришел
.
In Modern English the Gerund is widely used and often competes
with the Infinitive.
The Gerund is always used after:
1) the verbs: to remember, to love, to like / dislike, to hate, to mind,
to keep, to continue, to avoid, to enjoy, to deny, to forgive, etc.
2) the verbs used with prepositions: to go on, to put off, to depend
on, to burst out, to insist on, to object to, to rely on, to result in, etc.
3) the predicative phrases with prepositions: to be worth (while), to
be afraid of, to be aware of, to be proud of, to be surprised at, to be fond
of, to be interested in, etc.
4) composite prepositions and word-groups:
Because of / on account of
– из-за, ввиду, вследствие
Thanks to / due to / owing to
– благодаря
Instead of
– вместо того, чтобы
For the purpose of / with the object of / with a view to
– с целью,
для того, чтобы
In the event of
– в случае
It is (of) no use / it is useless / it is no good
– бесполезно
It is not worth while
– не стоит
What’s the good of
– Какой смысл?
I cannot afford
– Я не могу себе позволить
I cannot help
– Не могу не …
He is proud of
winning
the first prize.
Он гордится тем,
что выиграл
первый приз.
I can’t afford
studying
abroad now.
Я не могу позволить себе
обучение
за границей сейчас.
His doctor has succeeded in
saving
his life.
Его врачу удалось
спасти
ему жизнь.
Functions of the Gerund
It performs different functions in the sentence. Its functions are in
most cases similar to those performed by the Infinitive as it combines
the features of noun and verb. The Gerund performs the functions of:
a)
Subject
NOTE:
In this function the Gerund is translated by noun or
infinitive.
Talking
mends no holes.
Разговоры
не помогают в беде.
The Gerund used as a subject may follow the predicate; in this case
the sentence opens with the introductory
‘it’
or with the construction
‘
there is’
.
There was no
mistaking
the expression on her face.
Выражение ее лица нельзя было
не понять
.
b)
Predicative
NOTE:
It is translated by noun or infinitive.
Their favorite occupation has always been
reading
.
Их любимым занятием всегда было
чтение
.