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Tenjing Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

which one is formal? I have questions about ' GREUNDS WITH POSSESIVE'.PLEASE HELP.

A. Do you like people's disturbing you? Or Do you like people disturbing you?

I want to know about gerunds with possessive like, your being involved, your behaving like that,my being there, my being insulted. How does it work in a sentence as a direct object or as an indirect object? ? If it works as a direct object with verb and a object of prepositions, can we use it with the replacement of 'it'.like,
A. I am tired of it.
A. I am tired of your asking me the same question again and again.
b. I respect it.
b. I respect your being here.
C. What is your reaction to it.
C. What is your reaction to his being involved there.
D. I finished it.
D. Today, I fired him.I finished his interfering you.
the sentences above and my understands are correct? ?
  

Top answer

" is strained to the point of being effectively incorrect. " instead. "I finished his interfering you" is incorrect, for one thing because "interfere" cannot take a direct object.

— GPY

  • " is strained to the point of being effectively incorrect.
  • " instead.
  • "I finished his interfering you" is incorrect, for one thing because "interfere" cannot take a direct object.
  • "I finished his interfering with you" is barely possible, I suppose, but is not something I would ever naturally say.
  • The others are all possible.
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10 Answers
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"Do you like people's disturbing you?" is strained to the point of being effectively incorrect. Use "Do you like people disturbing you?" instead.

"I finished his interfering you" is incorrect, for one thing because "interfere" cannot take a direct object. "I finished his interfering with you" is barely possible, I suppose, but is not something I would ever naturally say.

The othe
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But here 'Disturbing' is a gerund right so it is supposed to be people's disturbing. Am I right? ?
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tenjingBut here 'Disturbing' is a gerund right so it is supposed to be people's disturbing. Am I right? ?
It is a gerund, but we do not use the possessive noun much anymore and even the possessive pronoun is being displaced by the objective pronoun.
eg.
I don't like him bothering my girlfriend.
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What about these sentences?
A. He resents Mary's being promoted.
B. I appreciate your coming here.
I was told that these sentences are the formal sentences. What do you think? ?
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Certainly A would be considered formal. It seems quite stilted to me. Most people would say something like this instead:
He resents Mary's promotion.

B is fine.
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tenjingA. He resents Mary's being promoted.B. I appreciate your coming here.I was told that these sentences are the formal sentences. What do you think? ?
(B) is pretty natural to me. I think I might even use this one in conversation.

(A) is acceptable in formal language but not too far away from feeling strained, in my opinion.
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You mean the sentence 'I don't like people's disturbing me' would also be considered formal although it seems quite stilted to you right? ?
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tenjingYou mean the sentence 'I don't like people's disturbing me' would also be considered formal
No. This does not seem formal to me. It seems foreign, non-native.
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Would it be correct if I wrote,'I don't like people disturbing me' in an examination? ?(in English writing subject)
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tenjing Would it be correct if I wrote,'I don't like people disturbing me' in an examination? ?(in English writing subject)
Yes.
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