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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

passive gerund vs. active gerund?

I feel if a gerund is in passive form, a good (correct?) form to use is a possessive like 'his' or 'her' rather than an object pronoun like 'him' or 'her'. Is that just a thought of that can hold no water?

eg.
I feel him being (able to be) in my birthday party is good.
Not good: I feel his being (able to be be) in my birthday party is good.

But, if the gerund is in active form, I feel the opposite.

eg.
I applaud his coming back to our team and playing for us.
Not good: I applaud him coming back to our team and playing for us.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Is that just a thought of that can hold no water? I'm afraid so. It is often said that only the possessive form is correct, but in reality you'll find the possessive and the objective forms in free variation.

  • Anonymous Is that just a thought of that can hold no water?
  • I'm afraid so.
  • It is often said that only the possessive form is correct, but in reality you'll find the possessive and the objective forms in free variation.
  • It is often more a matter of the preceding verb.
  • Some seem to go with the possessive more often; some, with the objective; others, with either, depending on emphasis.
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3 Answers
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AnonymousIs that just a thought of that can hold no water?
I'm afraid so. Emotion: crying
It is often
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example for passive gerund ; I don't like being interrupted

passive
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The gerund of a transitive verb has the following four forms:-

ACTIVE PASSIVE

Present : writing Present : being written

Perfect : having written Perfect : having been written

I stopped writing to speak to him. I could not help being impressed.

He

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