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Laborious Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Recognizing gerunds and gerund phrases and their functions in sentences
Hi beloved teachers,
Would you kindly help me with the following sentences? I've put the confusions and questions, I have, in the brackets.
a). Increasing the vehicle license fee angered most California residents. [Here, the underlined part is a gerund phrase which is acting as the subject of the verb ‘angered’. And the word, which is in bold, is a gerund. Thus, ‘increasing’ is a gerund and ‘increasing the vehicle license fee’ is a gerund phrase in the sentence. Am I right about what I’ve said, teachers? But, my questions are about the words/group of words associated with the gerund – increasing. What should I call the words/group of words associated with it, teachers?]
b). Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed to California voters by promising to rescind the vehicle license fee.
[In this sentence, the gerund phrase is underlined which is being preceded by the preposition ‘by’ and which is acting as the object of the preposition ‘by’. The gerund (promising) is in bold.]
c). Many people would recommend delaying the legal age for driving.
[Here, the gerund phrase is ‘delaying the legal age for driving’ which is acting as the direct object of the verb ‘recommend’. But If we were to split this gerund phrase by telling the name of every phase/unit used, how would we do that, teachers? ]
Okay let me try to do that first, and then, I would like to see your opinions on that.
(Dear teachers, my confusion and questions are…)
The gerund phrase, as I’ve already mentioned, is ‘delaying the legal age for driving’. In this phrase, the gerund is ‘delaying’. Am I right, teachers? But, what about the other words associated to it? I mean, what should I call them? Do we have two gerunds in this phrase, one is ‘delaying’ and the other is ‘driving’?
d). If you have vision problems, you shouldn’t risk driving at night.
[The gerund phrase is ‘driving at night’ which is acting as the object of the verb ‘risk’. The gerund is ‘driving’ which is the subject of the prepositional phrase ‘at night’( Here, is ‘what I am saying’ correct, teachers?). Could we call the part (at night) associated with the gerund (driving) in the gerund phrase (driving at night) ‘a prepositional phrase’ or ‘the object of the gerund ‘driving’?]
Thank you.
Would you kindly help me with the following sentences? I've put the confusions and questions, I have, in the brackets.
a). Increasing the vehicle license fee angered most California residents. [Here, the underlined part is a gerund phrase which is acting as the subject of the verb ‘angered’. And the word, which is in bold, is a gerund. Thus, ‘increasing’ is a gerund and ‘increasing the vehicle license fee’ is a gerund phrase in the sentence. Am I right about what I’ve said, teachers? But, my questions are about the words/group of words associated with the gerund – increasing. What should I call the words/group of words associated with it, teachers?]
b). Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed to California voters by promising to rescind the vehicle license fee.
[In this sentence, the gerund phrase is underlined which is being preceded by the preposition ‘by’ and which is acting as the object of the preposition ‘by’. The gerund (promising) is in bold.]
c). Many people would recommend delaying the legal age for driving.
[Here, the gerund phrase is ‘delaying the legal age for driving’ which is acting as the direct object of the verb ‘recommend’. But If we were to split this gerund phrase by telling the name of every phase/unit used, how would we do that, teachers? ]
Okay let me try to do that first, and then, I would like to see your opinions on that.
(Dear teachers, my confusion and questions are…)
The gerund phrase, as I’ve already mentioned, is ‘delaying the legal age for driving’. In this phrase, the gerund is ‘delaying’. Am I right, teachers? But, what about the other words associated to it? I mean, what should I call them? Do we have two gerunds in this phrase, one is ‘delaying’ and the other is ‘driving’?
d). If you have vision problems, you shouldn’t risk driving at night.
[The gerund phrase is ‘driving at night’ which is acting as the object of the verb ‘risk’. The gerund is ‘driving’ which is the subject of the prepositional phrase ‘at night’( Here, is ‘what I am saying’ correct, teachers?). Could we call the part (at night) associated with the gerund (driving) in the gerund phrase (driving at night) ‘a prepositional phrase’ or ‘the object of the gerund ‘driving’?]
Thank you.
Top answer
Laborious a). Increasing the vehicle license fee angered most California residents. [Here, the underlined part is a gerund phrase which is acting as the subject of the verb ‘angered’.
- Laborious a).
- Increasing the vehicle license fee angered most California residents.
- [Here, the underlined part is a gerund phrase which is acting as the subject of the verb ‘angered’.
- And the word, which is in bold, is a gerund.
- Thus, ‘increasing’ is a gerund and ‘increasing the vehicle license fee’ is a gerund phrase in the sentence.
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6 Answers
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Laboriousa). Increasing the vehicle license fee angered most California residents. [Here, the underlined part is a gerund phrase which is acting as the subject of the verb ‘angered’. And the word, which is in bold, is a gerund. Thus, ‘increasing’ is a gerund and ‘increasing the vehicle license fee’ is a gerund phrase in the sentence. Am I right about what I’ve said, teach
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Thank you very much, Alphecca Stars, for clarifying every doubt I had.
You really deserve to be called a teacher. The way you explain things is awesome!
You really deserve to be called a teacher. The way you explain things is awesome!
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LaboriousBy the way, Does it (you really deserve to be called a teacher) sound natural to your native ears?Yes, perfectly natural.
LaboriousWould it be correct if I said 'you really deserve being called a teacher'?Yes.
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AlpheccaStars[Many people] (subject)[would recommend] (main verb) delaying the legal age for driving. (direct object) [delaying] non-finite verb[the legal age] (direct object)[for driving] (prepositional phrase, modifying "age")[for driving] for = prepositiondriving = gerund, object of preposition.Dear ma'am, firstly, I'd like to say thanks to you for all the
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A non-finite verb is a verb form that does not have person, number, tense and other characteristics of a fully inflected verb..
There are three non-finite verb forms in English: the present participle, the past participle and the infinitive.
A gerund is the present participle form that functions as a noun in a sentence. So a gerund is a special case of the present part
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