The Forms and the Functions of the Gerund.

Gerundial Constructions.

The Forms of the Gerund
	Active	Passive
Indefinite (Simple)	writing	being written
Perfect	having written	having been written

How to Translate Different Forms of the Gerund
Indefinite (Simple)	Active	He likes telling fairy tales. рассказывать
	Passive	He likes being told fairy tales. чтобы ему рассказывали
Perfect	Active	He is proud of having spoken to this outstanding person что поговорил
	Passive	He is proud of having been spoken to. что с ним поговорили

Ex. 1.1 Translate into Russian. State the function of the gerund.

1. Repairing cars is his business. 2. It goes without saying. 3. Living in little stuffy rooms means breathing poisonous air. 4. Iron is found by digging in the earth. 5. There are two ways of getting sugar: one from beet and the other from sugarcane. 6. Jane Eyre was fond of reading. 7. Miss Trotwood was in the habit of asking Mr. Dick his opinion. 8. Have you finished writing? 9. Taking a cold shower in the morning is very useful. 10. I like skiing, but my sister prefers skating. 11. She likes sitting in the sun. 12. It looks like raining. 13. My watch wants repairing. 14. Thank you for coming. 15. I had no hope of getting an answer before the end of the month. 16. I had the pleasure of dancing with her the whole evening. 17. Let's go boating. 18. He talked without stopping. 19. Some people can walk all day without feeling tired.

Ex. 1.2 Transform the following complex sentences into simple ones using the gerund with a preposition "of ".

E.g.She thought she would go to the country for the weekend.

She thought of going to the country for the weekend.

1. I thought I would come and see you tomorrow.2. I am thinking that I will go out to the country tomorrow to see my mother.3. What do you think you will do tomorrow? – I don't know now; I thought I would go to the zoo, but the weather is so bad that probably I won't go. 4. I hear there are some English books at our institute bookstall now. – So you are thinking that you will buy some,aren't you? 5.I thought I would work in the library this evening,but as you have come, I won't go to the library.

Ex. 1.3 Transform the following complex sentences into simple ones using the gerund with a preposition "after".

E.g. When she had bought everything she needed,she went home.

After buying everything she needed,she went home.

1.After she took the child to the kindergarten,she went to the library to study for her examination. 2. When he had made a thorough study of the subject,he found that it was a great deal more important than he had thought at first. 3. After I had hesitated some minuteswhether to buy the hat or not, I finally decided that I might find one I liked better in another shop. 4. When she had graduated from the university,she left St. Petersburg and went to teach in her hometown. 5. When he had proved that his theory was correct,he started studying ways and means of improving the conditions of work in very deep coalmines.

Remember some verbs and phrases after which we use the gerund:
to like	to avoid	to burst out
to love	to deny	to go on
to hate	to finish	to give up
to prefer	to stop	to put off
to enjoy	to excuse	to postpone
to adore	to forgive	don't mind
to be worth	to keep (on)	cannot help

Ex. 1.4 Translate into Russian. State the function of the gerund.

1. I understand perfectly your wishing to start the work at once. 2. Everybody will discuss the event, there is no preventing it. 3. At last he broke the silence by inviting everybody to walk into the dining room. 4. On being told the news she turned pale. 5. The place is worth visiting. 6. Watching football matches may be exciting enough, but of course it is more exciting playing football. 7. She stopped coming to see us, and I wondered what had happened to her. 8. Can you remember having seen the man before? 9. She was terrified of having to speak to anybody, and even more, of being spoken to. 10. Reading French is easier than speaking it. 11. After being corrected by the teacher, the students' papers were returned to them. 12.I wondered at my mother's having allowed the journey.

Ex. 1.5 Translate into Russian. State the form and the function of the gerund.

1. She has always dreamt of living in a small house by the sea. 2. She disliked living in her old house. 3. She likes cooking and is very good at it. 4. But she doesn't like washing and ironing. 5. She hates getting up early, but she has to. 6. She doesn't mind working a lot, you know. 7. She enjoys driving an expensive car. 8. But she hates flying and she's never been overseas. 9. She enjoys being photographed because she thinks she's beautiful. 10. Oh, please, do stop laughing at him. 11. Would you mind coming again in a day or two? 12. She could not help smiling. 13. I cannot put off doing this translation. 14. Though David was tired, he went on walking in the direction of Dover. 15.I avoided speaking to them about that matter. 16. She burst out crying. 17. They burst out laughing. 18. She denied having been at home that evening. 19. Excuse my leaving you at such a moment. 20. He gave up smoking a few years ago. 21. Her husband used to smoke, but he stopped smoking two years ago. 22. Have you finished washing the dishes yet? 23. He postponed going to New York as he felt ill.