The infinitive, the gerund and the participles of the English verb.
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THE
INFINITIVE, THE GERUND AND THE PARTICIPLES OF THE ENGLISH VERB
BY
H.
P,
POUTSMA
NOORDHOFF -
1923
-
GRONINGEN f4J0.gtb.fSJ0
THE LIBRARY
The Ontario for Studies in
Institute
Education
Toronto, Canada
THE INFINITIVE, THE GERUND AND THE PARTICIPLES OF THE ENGLISH VERB
BY
H. ENGLISH .MASTER
P.
IN THI
POUTSMA MUNICIPAL "GYMNASIUM" OF AMSTERDAM
NOORDHOFF
1923
GRONINGEN
Ill
BOOKS AND TREATISES CONSULTED. A
BOl
A Shakespearean Grammar
...
.
.
Macmillan and
London, 1SSS.
Akerlund
A Word on
.
the
AlFORD
Definite
Passiv
which
his
of heaven
went out early
In the
with
infinitive
\)am
gelic
on
wyrhtan
The kingdom
off
with
infinitive
Thus to writenne (or tvritanne) > to writene and iVrifan u-riten > write. be no instances in any period of the English
to
write;
There appear guage of the
to
infinitive
being placid
to the practice represented in
waardig, levensmoe
lan«
in the
Dutch by
or the
genitive, corresponding such formations as prijzens =
German liebens w urd
i
g.
"In process of time (the) obvious sense of the preposition became
weakened and generalized, so that expressing anv prepositional
link
to
Anglo Saxon Reader'. 51 Anglo Saxon Read.*, 51
Sw
")
Sweet.
s
The Belles Lettres Series. Sweet, Anglo Saxon Reader',
eft.
=
=
=
f.
f.
51
f.
became
at
last
the
ordinary
which an infinitive or substantive. Sometimes the
relation
stands to a preceding verb, adjective, ')
)
(Author.
:
Heofona •ihyrian
*)
John, IV. 7*)
unintlected infinitive without to seems to have been used occa*
sionally
II.
drincan.
to drink.)
in
was so vague
relation
and
transitive verb
its
as
to
scarcely
object.
differ
from that between
This was especially so
was construed both transitively and
intransitively.
when
a
the verb
There were several
verbs in Old English in this position, such as onginnan (to begin), ondrxdan (to dread), bebe'odan (to bid), bewerian (to forbid, prevent), leliefan (to believe),
\>encan
(to think, etc.);
these are
found com
strued either with the simple (accusative) infinitive, or with to and the dative infinitive. From these beginnings, the use of the infini= tive
with
to in
place of the simple infinitive, helped
by the pho;
netic decay and loss of the inflexions, and the need of some mark to distinguish it from other parts of the verb and from the cognate
substantive, increased rapidly during the late Old English and early Middle English period, with the result that in Modern English the infinitive with to
is
the ordinary form, the simple infinitive survive
ing only in particular connexions where it is intimately connected with the preceding verb. To a certain extent, therefore, i e. when the
infinitive
is
the
subject or direct
object,
to
has
meaning, and has become a mere 'sign' or prefix of the But after an intransitive verb, or the passive voice, to
lost
all
its
infinitive. is
still
the
In appearance there is no difference between the in* preposition. Hnitive in he proceeds to speak and he chooses to speak; but in the latter to speak is the equivalent of speaking or speech, and in the
former of to speaking or to speech. In form to speak is the des? cendant of Old English to specanne; in sense, it is partly the re= presentative of this s.
v. to,
and
largely of
Old English specan."
Murray,
B, History.
According to Onions (Adv. Eng. Synt., § 157, 4, Obs.) to is not found with the Nom.sAcc. form (i. e. the common^case form) of the Infinitive before the twelfth century.
III.
When
it had become usual to put to before the infinitive irrespective grammatical function, the want may have been felt for another expedient to express the notion of purpose. This may have given
of
its
rise to
the
use of for to before
the
infinitive.
Murray's
earliest
appears to have been quite common in Middle English, in which it seems to have served the same purpose as the Dutch om te and the German urn zu. But it soon came to be used before an infinitive also when no instance
notion
of this practice
is
dated 1175.
It
of purpose was implied, in like manner as in colloquial in the same connexion, where there is
Dutch om te is often used no occasion for it.
The use of jot
to before the infinitive, either with or without a notion of purpose, was still vigorously alive in Early Modern English, but has been constantly losing ground since. In Present English
survives only in dialects and in the language of the uneducated. For discussion see also Ch. XVIII, 24, Obs. IV; and compare Stok.,
it
Stud., A, VII, 4S
And
i.
specially,
from every shires ende
wende, The holy Yertue gives her will
solicit
'
$5
selfe I,
through
light,
XLY,
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury thev Chaui ant ales, A, 15— 17. 1
\
Scott,
22 l
>
I
Ivanhoe.')
pure infinitive regularly
a
negative
connexions there
appears to he some predilection for the prepositional For the rest the infinitive rarely stands without to,
infinitive.
the
pre;
position being indispensable when the two verbs are divided by another element of the sentence. It will be observed that the practice
observed mostly makes for
a
rhythmical
flow
of the
sentence.
He
i
daredn't refuse Miss Crawley anything.
Thack.,
Van. Fair,
1,
Ch. XIV,
138.
This woman, who loved rule, dared not speak another word of attempted per= G. Eliot, Fel. Holt, I, Ch. X, 175. I dared not contradict. Ch. Bronte, Villette. Ch. XXIII, 324.
suasion.
She dared not leave the house.
Fior. Marrtat,
A Bankrupt Heart,
II,
279. T.
Whatever pangs of
W.
soul around.
His
A
Life's
felt
them
... he dared not express
The Rough Road, Ch. XIV,
Lockf,
torment
fiercest
Gissing.
he
self=pity
J.
was the thought
Morn., Ch. XIII,
that
he dared not
a
living
fulfil
menace.
the
184.
No
it*
I
one dared attempt to stop him. Lamb, Tales, XII, 201. T. never dared say so before ... I love you with my whole heart and Novel, II, X, Ch. XXV, 242. Beatr. Har., Ships, 81. only I dared tell her now.
Lytton, If
soul.
My
—
"He's a darling", she said in a whisper. "And so are you "if only I dared say it". Gaisw., Saint's Prog., IV, II, 361. The disillusion was so complete, that some of those who had °*
to
163.
Kiyms, Fcon. hardly dared speak of it. (Here) no spectre dared to s/ioie his face.
,
he thought,
most
trusted
Cons, of the Peace, Ch. Ill, 35. W\sm Ikv.. Sketch'Bk., XXXII,
349.
Nobody dared
whom
annoy one
to
op., Ch. VII. 46a. Neither side dared to strike the
No
he honoured with his countenance.
Ch.
blow.
admiral,
dared
to
Nobody
dared to separate them
FiOK.
Marryat,
A Bankrupt Heart,
H.s ON, Dodo, 33. hardly dared to ask her Hood scarcely dared to utter the words which came into his mind. I
I
A
Life's
Morn
,
iii."
I
')
I.
Swabn,
(158). E. S.,
XX
7 t)
Gissi
Ch. V. 83.
would not have her
II.
I,
I
There were times when he scarcely dared hand, ib., Ch. XXVI, 344. 5
DlCK.,
2S7.
II, Mac, Hist., I, bearded by these corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, do more than mutter something about a courtmartial. ib., (,h. Ill, I first
think,
he dared
to take
to
in
love her.
his
own
that
Dryden,
fine*moulded
Span
Friar,
.
30 mother immediately began
My
to
and
cry,
wondered how Peggotty dared
I
to
Cop., Ch. VIII, 56b. The noble wanderer (sc. Lord Byron) put boldly out to sea with his fortunes, and dared to hope for consolation on distant shores. Lytton, Life of Lord such
s.u-
Byron,
thing.
23
a.
Dick.,
was very little Ch. VIII, 161.
It I,
What he
And
dared
to
dared
she
that
say on
to
he would.
do,
IV,
to feel that, because she dared Hichens, The Garden of Allah,
Who
Holt,
Morn., Ch. XIII,
Life's
himself.
wasting
Pel.
184.
Beyond, IV
Galsvt.,
375.
She dared
God.
G. Eliot,
business.
A
Gissing,
was
that girl dared to say he
:h.
(
a
dared.
want
I
to
know,
make
to
in
believe
to
mercy of
endless
the
15b, T.
II,
us suffer so?
LXXV.
Ch.
Tiiack., Virg.,
707.
27. Durst almost
stands with a bare
regularly
The only have come to hand
in
quotations
See the
infinitive.
of
instances
b.
19,
the
alternative
the following, in which some other element of the sentence intervening between the two verbs. practice that
the use of to
my
durst,
I
wager she
to
lord,
N'or durst they
for a
while
28. After the infinitive tions without to are
common
are
apparently, due to
is,
honest.
is
Siiak.,
knock any more.
to
dare the use of to
Oth., IV,
12.
2,
1
Bunyan, Pilg. Prog. is
)
the rule, but construe*
by no means unfrequent. They
are especially
do (or did) not dare, but occur also after other complex predicates with dare. Some intervening element of the sentence being placed between the two verbs entails the use of
When
to.
r
dare
itself
is
it •-"'
after
is
is
usage
to,
did not dare to interrupt him. Sweet, N. She almost did not dare he affected by the
variable. b.
I
Van
Lair,
Here
lies
Ch. XII, 114. coward who did not dare forgive.
did not
1
h.
')
In passing
it
here be observed that could
may
a perfect infinitive
by
is
when followed
always a preterite conditional.
Such
Hij zei dat hij niet had kunnen komen cannot, therefore, be translated by *He said that he could not have come, the correct translation being He said that he had not been a
sentence
as
able to come.
b)
The same
tense*shifting
is
regularly observed in connection
whose past participle is used only by way of exception, and need, which, as has been observed in 7, with
will,
resembles, in in a).
He
beat
me
then as
Ch. IV, 29b. Poor Betty! .
Galsworthy, c)
its
See also
.
.
she
grammatical function, the verbs mentioned 7, if
b,
he
10;
3;
11,
need not have given
Beyond,
I,
b;
and
12,
c.
would have beaten me to death.
Ch.
I,
way
to
tears
Dick.,
Cop.,
on the door* step.
1.
Also the construction with the archaic or
dialectal
durst
regularly exhibits tense^shifting. For the rest ordinary literary English has the logical construction had dared or should (or
would^ have dared
-(- imperfect infinitive, colloquial English, apparently, favouring daren't -\- perfect infinitive.
63
i.
When IV,
ii.*
**
aesai
*
Two months ago had dared reH me
I.
Shak., Jul.
Ca
drunk the man who
or
The Phantom Kickshaw,
Rudy. Kin.,
the like.
mad
.is
A Bankrupt Heart,
21
II,
her story.
tell
i
>.
Flor.
I
You know you hadnt
61. Obs.
should have scouted
I
not the only one she would have dared
Hugh was Marryat,
iii.
he durst not thus have moved me.
lived
58.
5,
It
daren't have given the order to charge the bridge it' you seen us on the other side. Shaw, The of Destiny, (241).
Man
I
have been observed that the verb used in connection with
will
perfect infinitive in the above combinations stands in the conditional. But, as has already been stated in my treatise about
the
Mood
the notion of conditionality is apt to get speaker's consciousness when, as is often the As case, the protasis of the conditional sentence is understood. there is no formal difference between the preterite conditional (14,
and the from
Ill),
preterite indicative, except only in the case of the verb
the
conditional becoming indistinguishable The verbs ought and should have even
leads to the
this
to be,
Obs.
in the
obliterated
indicative.
be used as conditionals, unless followed by and this applies more or less to must as well. which attention may be drawn in this connection
practically ceased to a perfect infinitive, II.
Another point that
the
to
construction
described above, like all pluperfect conditionals, implies non=fulHlment of what is denoted by the main verb of the predicate. When the predicate is negatived, is
the case
is,
of course,
fulfilment being, in
reversed,
this
case,
understood. III.
Tense=shifting never takes place with most words or phrases which often serve as substitutes for the above verbs in some of their
various shades of meaning, such as to be able, to be allowed,
to
be obliged, to have.
An
important exception shown in Ch.
has been
is
formed by the verb
to be,
which,
often used to express weakened form of coercion or obligation, notions which in
common
not making
I,
29—31,
with must and ought.
is
it
has
The notion of
the indicative
itself felt,
as
some
is
conditionality used instead of the con=
ditional.
At was
ten to
I
had an appointment under
have been looking
at
the
moon
a certain at
that
Titm., Ch. I, 9. She was to have dined with us here the day GlSSlNG, A Life's Morn., Ch. XIY, 203.
She was
to
have married
The monument was Times.
to
a
Member
person's
moment. after
of Parliament,
her
ib.,
have been surmounted by an
window, who Tiiack.,
father's
Sam. death
Ch. XXV!, 345. equestrian statue.
Also when the meaning of to be is faded to the extent that it is a mere copula, the same tense=shifting may occasionally be ob= served.
64 Babie performed her mistress's command with the grace which was naturally have been expected. Scott, Bride of Lam., Ch. Ill, 46. (= might
to
(or could) have been expected).
second place tense* shifting is unavoidable in com* binations in which the infinitive is connected with the phrases
62. a) In the
mentioned
32:
in
/
had
better (best,
liefer
or
rather
liever,
or sooner), I had as lief or lieve (as soon, as good, as well), I had need, I were better (best). Arthur had
better
have taken a return=ticket.
Thack
,
Pend.,
II,
Ch.
XXXVI,
380.
had as lief have heard the nighbraven. Shak., had almost as well never have been a child.
I I
XXVII
B.
Barton,
II,
he would
his
own
life
.
.
.
had need
be
spared the sharp Dick., Cop., Ch. XLII, 301b.
if
neglected.
to
have been a good
consciousness
of
many
man
talents
The same construction is regularly observed in connection with the more or less archaic phrase had like, shaped, on the analogy of had rather, etc., from was like. See Ch. II, 36, II. In passing it may be observed that had imperfect infinitive seems to be non-existent.
Obs.
had like to have been picked up by Recruit. Offic, V, 7, (349). This intrigue had like to have ended I
I,
It
had
like
J l
a cruiser
in
my
under
false colours.
utter destruction.
like
+
Farquhar,
Swift, Gul.,
(128a;.
Poor man, poor man! It had Scenes, II, Ch. I, 82. to
like
him when she
have cost the nursery; maid her place.
had like to have burst out crying. Ch. IX, 47.
Note.
Was
following
The
to ha' killed
died.
Thack.,
G. Eliot,
Fitzboodle,
209.
ref.,
I
is
like
+
Reade, 1 he Cloister
perfect infinitive
the only instance that has
and the Hearth,
seems to be very rare: the come to hand.
good lady, as it helped Edward out of this scrape, was have drawn him into one or two others. Scott, Wav., Ch. LXI, 152 a.
vivacity of this
like to
The sense* shifting, which is unavoidable with the verbs that have no past participle, is often extended to a good many verbs that are in no way deficient in their conjugation, and accordingly, In the case of give no urgent occasion for the anomaly. some e. such as express, or at least suggest, some of them, movement of the human will, the adaptability to the peculiar i.
')
C. Askew,
The
Lurking Shadow, Ch. XXXI.")
The same I
don't
Morn., Ch. IV, II.
The
there
Thus
is
anything
left
to
be
said.
to remain.
Gissin^,
A
Life's
55.
active voice
passive
=
practice probably obtains after to be left
see that
sometimes appears to be obligatory, because the
would convey another meaning than the one intended.
in:
was no general to send. Omons, Adv. hng. Synt., §173 There was no general that could be sent. Compare There was no It was determined that no general should be sent.) general to be sent There s nothing on earth to do here. Kit;n Howard, One of 'he There
(=
:
=
Ch. IV, 79. (= There is no business, sport, amusement, I, going on here. Compare: There is nothing on earth to be done here There is nothing on earth that can (or should) be done here.) ib There is nothing to do here in the evenings hut play billiards
Family,
etc.
l
=
Mod. Eng. Gram..
)
Jespersen,
)
De Drie Talen. XXXI. No
s
15.88. 11.
f
S4 Easter Sunday, for is
all
its
traditions,
Nons.,
I,
a gladless
is
Temple Thurston,
nothing to do. Ch. XVI, 123.
positively
in
day
iome
cases idiom hardly tolerates the active voice to be replaced by the passive, although the change of voice would involve no change of meaning. She had known before she died practically all that there was fo know. Mrs. Ward, Cousin Phil., Ch. Ill, 47. The three men ... by now had learnt what there was to know of each In
III.
i.
Daily News.
other.
1
]
the following quotation in which the verb
Compare
accompained by weak She seemed to knew all Ch.
79. a) For
was
th.it
use
the
rest
known.
be
fo
of the
not
I
G.
Ei.iot,
a
in
infinitive
Eel.
passive
only when the noun modified
preceded by an adjective, especially one expressing fitness The noun modified mostly stands in the suitability.
is
or
grammatical
function
of nominal
predicative
adnominal
adjunct.
proper (correct,
etc.)
of the
part
predicate
Observe the frequent
or the
Mod. Eng.
See Jespersen,
thing to do.
Gram., 15.841; De Drie Talen, XXXI, No.
12.
to do was to carry him into the nearest shelter. .Mrs. Ward, of Lydia, 1, Ch. IV, 87. (Only only proper.) Osc. Wilde, The Importance of being the only thing to do now.
The only thing
=
The Mating It's
Earnest,
144.
III,
Now
the
in a
Boat, Ch.
thing fo
first
The baking pa 145.
t
Ill,
settle
is
what
take with us.
to
Jerome,
Three Men
Defoe,
Rob. Crus.,
24.
was the next thing
to
be consider'd.
2
)
Thus i
is
Beyond,
Galsw.,
relations.
girl's
active
common
to be
meaning appears
ii
be
36.
Ill,
the
to
there:
There was the devil fo pay with the Holt, !, Ch. XXI, 523.
ii.
i.
London. There of Beaut
The City
also
when an
book
This
is
a
book
to
read.) to
According
to
adjective
read.
Abbot,
is distinctly felt to be understood. 3 Shak. Gram. ^ 40s. (= This is a tit ,
him the Old Chapel was not
a
place fo
visit
by night
Sweet,
Old Chapel, It
is
a
ii.
ning, I
De Di
le
2
) I
1
work
to
read,
enjoy,
and
discuss.
Advertisement.)
to-day and every day. id/) Her father was in truth not a man to be treated with. I'urog
[espersen,
is
the
80.
bread
fo
eat
'J
Talen, XXXI, No.
Mod. Eng. Gram.,
De Drie Talen, XXX!. No. ii Mod. Eng. Gram.,
11.
15.871. 12.
15.872.
Chesterton,
Brow
. Fred.
to accept.
I,
an undeveloped adnominal clause.
c) as a constituent of
This wavering in her mistress's temper probably put something into the waiting=gentlew oman s head not necessary to mention to the sagacious reader. Fikld., Jos. And., I, Ch. VII, 15.
VI.
When
the subject is attended by a lengthy adjunct, it is some; times followed by it, representing the infinitive with its logical object. The insertion of if reestablishes the logical relations be;
tween the different elements of the sentence.
A form more M% Novel,
Miss Starke's
rigid than
XXV,
Ch.
VI,
I,
The amount of plunder he
Thus
was hard
in:
to conceive.
way
is
it
impossible to esth
insertion of
entailing the re * establishment of the logical
it,
relations
between the different elements of the sentence,
the rule
when
the subject of the sentence,
of the infinitive,
when i
Lytton,
435.
collected in this
Mac, Bacon, (375b).
mate.
The
it
the subject
Where
the
knowledge,
a subordinate question.
is
is
It
is
distinctly
the logical object
e.
i.
appears to be unusual
a relative
pronoun. Doctor had studied, how he had and where he had received
his
required
diploma,
his it
is
medical
hard
at
Wash. Irv., Dolf Hevl. present to say. How the Vicar reconciled his answer with the
strict notions he sup* posed himself to hold on these subjects it is beyond a layman's power to tell. Hardy, Tess, II, Ch. XIV, 122. What constitutes marriape it would be difficult exactly to define. Nineteenth Cent, No. 396, 259.
What
passed
this gathering
at
is
it
not lawful for
me
to
tell.
Times
No. 1823, 973d.
What may
be the ultimate outcome of the present situation ...
impossible No. 5249,
to
the
at
forecast
present
moment.
Westm.
it
is
Gaz.,
lc.
What amount
of truth there
is
in
this
statement
it
is,
of course, im>
possible to say. ib.. No. 5190, 2 b. How the Duke of Burgundy must resent this horrible cruelty on the person of his near relative and ally, is for your Majesty to jv
How
far
availed
to
I
me
(London
Why
Durw
Quent.
Scott,
the
have is
Ed.,
not
Ch. XXVIII, 361.
,
followed for
me
these to
,47.
special interest are constructions in
modified by 1.
to
fuel
is
also
word group.
Hunt was undoubtedly both pained and puzzled by Byrons misunderH. LoBBAN, Sel in Prose and Verse from of this attitude. J
standing
Leigh Hunt.
I
n trod.
Another distinction of the French Rev of Rev No. 191, 4t>0 a .
visit
was
the King's opening oj the
Kingsway.
112
ii.
This will hinder the growth of better relations with Germany and the granting her of concessions in the economic life. Westm. Gaz., No. 8579, 3a.
to
Note. A gerund with an objective q/;combination is equivalent to, and often interchangeable with a gerund with a non=prepositional ob; ject. Thus The purchasing of needless things has ruined many a one
=
Purchasing needless things has ruined
many
a one. For further discussion
see 32.
15.
Unlike
the infinitive, the gerund
modifier.
may be used
Godolphin was not
reading man.
a
Mac,
as
an adnominal
73.
Compare, however, Infinitive,
Ad., (745 b).
(—
a
man
to
given
reading.)
Mrs.
was
Bretton
Ch.
not
a
generally
caressing
woman.
Cii.
BrontI-",
Villette.
5.
1,
His wealth consists
in
land, factories,
machinery, and
a vast
selling organisation
Westm.
Gaz., No. 8603, 4 a. The Entente has been in thorough working
efficiency.
Times, No.
2299, 55a
Note.
In this function the gerund often forms established designations, graphically distinguished from occasional collocations by the use of the
Such are
hyphen.
car\'ing-knife, dancing-master, dwelling=house, fowling-
piece, laughing-stock, meeting-house, reaping-hook, stumbling-block, spinning-
wheel, turning-lathe, turning-point, walking-stick, and a great many others. In the same position and function we also find the present participle,
likewise often forming with
The The
Comforts
Ch
men.
for fighting
no
There's
in
XIII, 239),
Many
its
head-word
a
[i.
e.
men
man who makes
8121,
3 a.
ib.
But fighting
fighting in the field.
justice for a fighting
a
e.
i.
ib.
kind of compound.
Westm. Gay., No.
has passed through Standing Committee,
Bill
gerund
a serving officer.
is
general
his
is
living
by
prize-fighting.]
combinations leave room for a twofold interpretation. Thus those in
am not
on
a
man (Shaw, Cash. Byron's Prof
:
and intimate terms with the Coupon system, but I have a nodding acquaintance with it. Punch, No. 3998, 126 a. The new ministry appears as a good working combination. Westm. Gaz., No. 8597. 3 a. I
yet
friendly
.
.
.
For further dicussion and illustration see Ch. XXIII,
16.
Unlike and
i
Obs. VII.
the infinitive, the gerund may be inflected for Inflection for number is quite common;
number
for case.
that for case,
sake
13,
the
is
which seems
to be confined to collocations in
not so
which
word modified.
At length the tumult died away
in
low gaspings and moanings.
Mac, Clive,
(S14a).
Good It
is
extent
make good
beginnings difficult
be
to
carried
England, Ch.
endings. Mks. Craik, A. Hero, 68. how borrowings and tendings could to any large Esgoti on without the medium of the Stock Exchange.
conceive
IV, 42
,
113
He
ignored the sayings and
Our man
Nat
She hated
Ch
hole*and*corner doin
n.
and
1
Diam. cut Paste
le,
I
s
such doingi
r,
N.
E.
Gr.
Ni
,
329
There have been indiscriminate burnings, pillagings, and discernible results? Times No 2301 99a
Who
aim Temperance, whose blessings those partake tor scribbling' S
He It
sakt
nobler to
talk
sake
The
extinction of the great auk was
for killing's sake.
was evident
than
hunger, .\nd
with
what
who
thirst
12 b talk
to
The Gerund gerund
Not
with
a
purpose
ib..
wanted
to
talk,
if
421 b
only for talking's sake,
Hk\y> Stoker,
22
often attended bv both verbs and nounsmodifiers
is
instances
may
found
be
in the
preceding sections.
numerous possible combinations following which deserve some attention.
Among
love of killing
the
of
2^2.
exhibiting at once Verbal and Substantival Features.
few
a
II.
the result
.
The New Statesman, No
that he
Dracula, Ch.
18.
-
sake like those other enemies
Gaz., No. 5249,
talking' s
;
lb
No.
17. 1 he
for
s
50.
I.
for eating's
kill
We s tin.
have been named
is
Dunciad.
Pope,
moor-hen) does not
the
(sc
that
It
S\kmi Grand,
famil)
V, 72
never saw
I
the ladies of his
d
. The meeting with such formidable obstacles at such an unseasonable time
ii.
iii.
upset
b)
all
his
plans.
Constructions in which the gerund is preceded by the definite article and followed by a non* prepositional object were, quite common in Early Modern English, but unusual, especially in the case of the object being noun. In literary English, even of quite recent times,
apparently,
now
are a
instances are not, however, so infrequent as is often believed. For discussion and illustration see also Onions, Adv. Eng.
Konrad Meier,
Synt., § 181-2;
Verm.
Beitr., VII,
No.
E.S.,
Curme,
16;
XXXI, 327; Ellinger, XLV, 361.
E.S.,
Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it. Siiak., Macb. I, 4, 8. (The construction is revived in: Nothing perhaps in life became him like to the leaving it. McCarthy, Hist, of Our Own Times, I, Ch. I, 3.) liven grey hair itself is no objection to the making new conquests. Mary ,
|
Wortley Montague, Let. 71. When Mrs. Debora returned into with his
the
finding
had been.
the
little
Fielding,
the room,
infant,
Tom
and was acquainted by her master
her consternation was
Jones,
I,
Ch.
Ill,
rather
greater than
3b.
My attention was fixed on another subject, the completing a tract which I intended shortly to publish. Goldsmith, Vic, Ch. II, (245). I confess I have since known no pleasure equal to the reducing others to the of my own reputation. Siier,. School, I, 1, (364). present engagement might only end in his being exposed like a conquered Roman a in a enemy triumph, captive attendant on the car of a victor, who
level llis
meditated Scott,
only
the
satiating
his
Bride of Lam., Ch. XIX,
pride L 1
at
the
expense of the vanquished.
>4.
have another reason for refraining to shoot besides the fearing discomfiture ,md disgrace, id., Ivanhoe, Ch. XIII, 134. T. regard it as a most happy thought, the placing Miss Smith out of doors. I
1
|\m Austen, Emma, Ch. VI, 46. Nothing he thought could bring a man to such wretchedness but the having unkind daughters. Lamb, Tales, Lear, 161. T. lie had certain inward misgivings that the placing him within the full glare of the judge's eye was only a formal prelude to his being immediately ordered away for instant execution. Dick., Pickw., Ch. XXXIV. I
he excitement of the events of the day, the quitting my home, the meeting set my brains in a whirl. Thack., Barry
with captain Quin, were enough to I
vndon,
Ch.
Ill,
48.
115
The contemplating
My
Novel. not
,im
I
II,
sure
father's death ...
a
it'
the inhabiting this house
some unusual power of Next in importance was and pauperism from the
kind of parricide
a
was
Lytton,
—
your aim
.ts
and banishing miser}
to,
World.
Lit.
isle
also
and order
the restoring peace sister
nol
believed to convey .Mks. Gask., Cranf., Ch. VII, 129.
intellect,
exhort you to take tins
I
seems
it
Ch. IV, 30
VIII,
bringing into existence the peac*
the
of the world. The Archbishop of York's Address to the
BoyScoutS
(The Jamboree Hook. 100 a).
Note. . not my own. .
Kossuth was a powerless
exile,
and looked with
a jealous
eye on the ingathering
by others of the harvest. Times. All the sounds hitherto described impiy out=breathing or expiration. But they can also be formed with in=breathing or inspiration. Sweet, Sounds of Eng.. § 139. Please help to maintain the many activities of the Westm. those who have fallen in Life's Struggle
Church Army for uplifting Ga;., No. 8438, 24b.
She understood something of the struggle provoked ... by the uprising oi Mrs. Ward, The Case of Rich. Meyn., I,
the tvpical modern problems. Ch. IV. 68. tii.°
In
him woke.
earnings
to
|
With
the
his
first
uttermost,
|
babe's
And
give
first
cry the noble wish
his child
a
To
save |
all
Than
Ten, En. Arden, 87. half=humorous account of the troubles and storms of Hester's bringing=up. Mrs. W\rd, The Case of Rich. Meyn. II, Ch. X, 201. She divined his home and upbringing, ib., I, Ch V, 106. his
had been, or
He began
to give
hers.
a
,
**
|
better bringing'Up
140 Her French biographers her
own
maiden modesty
attribute her lack of
in
matrimonial arrangements to her English upbringing. Ethel
conducting
Colquhow n,
The Husband
of Madame de Boigne (Ninet. Cent., No. 398, 700). Dora has had a scallawag upbringing. Graph., No. 2264, 617. There were many rom antic stones as to the humble birth and upbringing of the late Lord Strathcona. II. Lond. News, No. 3902, 161a.
Note. «) When the collocation is only an occasional one, i. e. does not form a fixed designation, the adverb regularly stands after the gerund, and makes no real compound with it. They smoked out his singing=school by stopping up Sketch* Bk. XXXII, 357.
the chimney.
Wash.
Irv.,
,
Other adverbs than the above may form compounds with nouns
/0
of action, not with gerunds. Mr. C. B. Cochran has been writing to the papers concerning their ilUtreatment "The League of Nations". Westm. Gaz. No. 8621, 10a.
of
,
maintain that
I
of humanity,
it
ib.,
was sheer
disinterested concern
on
my
part for the welfare
7a.
41. Verbs which
govern fixed prepositions may form compound gerunds with these prepositions. The fact that the preposition is separated from the (pro)noun it refers to goes far to show that verb
and preposition form
naturally
closest
when
the
kind of
a
compound
is
The union
unit.
is
preceded by an ads
nominal modifier. i.
You
will never read
anything
that's
ii.That needs no accounting for.
worth
listening to.
People occasionally called him a vernacular of youth terms 'a sitting upon'. Gissing, I
wish you'd
I,
Sher., Critic,
I,
I,
(443).
Chu-., Ch. L, 389a. prig; now and then he received what the
Dick.,
come round and give
the gurl
a
A
Life's
talkin
to.
Morn., Ch.
Ill, 36.
Shaw, Candida,
(130). T.
The poor
fellow almost got the Georgian knock-out, for finally the Prime Minister went for him in a letter, and gave him a good talking=to. Eng. Rev., No. 106, 264.
42. Obs.
I.
Only one is
instance of a gerund
compound whose
an adjective has come to hand,
The welhbeing of society
member
of more importance than the interest of the
is
Westm. Gaz., No.
individual.
first
viz.: well-being.
8579, 4b.
Also in merry-making the first member is, indeed, an adjective, but in to make merry, from which the compound is formed, merry As has already been is felt rather as a noun than an adjective. observed in Ch. merry.
Compare
He came to at
attend
clattering a
I,
5,
to
up
schoobdoor with an invitation to Ichabod frolic", to be held that evening Wash. Irv., Sketch.Bk., No. XXXII, 358.
to the
merrymaking
Mynheer \'m
make merry stands for to make oneself Eng. and Deri v., § 218.
also Nesfield, Hist.
Tassel's.
or "quilting
141
II.
which
in
Compounds
relation to the verb,
a
noun
can in
stands in
many
.in
objective or adverbial
be replaced
cases
by gerund
phrases in which the noun is placed after the verb, no material change of meaning being involved. Thus there is no appreciable difference between / do not like letter-writing. Note-taking in such a position
is
very difficult,
coming.
He
writing
letters,
Great
festivities took place at his
gave up cigar=smoking, and, respectively,
Taking notes
in
such a position
He
Great festivities took place at his coming home,
is
/
home?
do not
very
like
difficult,
gave up smoking
cigars.
Compare
also the
two following quotations:
The somewhat superfluous 1885, 28. Nov. 697 1.
By of
hcirt-searchings
he
has
undergone.
Athen.,
Lagan and the Foyle there must be searchings Gaz., No. 8603, 2b.
the watercourses of the
Westm.
heart.
Some up
of these compounds, however, hardly admit of being split into their component parts. This applies, for example, to
coalmining, horse^racing, tuft=hunting.
Numerous as these compounds are, especially such as have the noun in the objective relation to the verb, they cannot be formed freely. Thus we could not substitute call=paying for paying calls in: Chapters on dress, paying III.
calls, letter=writing.
Business Letter Writer.
When
the connection between gerund and adverb is weak enough to admit of another verbsmodifier separating them, they cannot
be said to form a compound. Mr. Bagg had No. 8603, 12 a.
a
passion
for
ordering
people
The connection
is also considerably weakened modifier follows the combination.
She finds lying up Ch. I, § 5, 25, IV.
so
much very irksome.
Westm. Gar.,
about.
when another
Wins,
Ann Veronica,
gerunds containing an adverb may form
Compound
compound with
a
verbs
a
further
preposition.
Both
the peace and the rending of it were worth the Hor. Hutchinson (Westm. Gaz., No. 6011, 2c).
getting=up=for.
V. Like simple gerunds, compound gerunds of the first and the second kind are often used as adnominal modifiers, sometimes forming fresh
compounds with
He was
their hcad=words.
slow and time*taking ^pe.iker. Dick., Nich. Nick., Ch. I, 3b. The prosperity of our mercantile marine and of our shipbuilding yards, depends on our total trade, both coming in and going out. Westm. Ga:., a
No. 8591, 4
a.
December was
a turning-point for the worse for the shipbuilding industry, ib. ceasing to be a game-playing nation and becoming, instead, a nation that looks on at games, ib., 8603, 10 b.
We
are
142
,,The Iying=in room,
ii.
I
suppose?" said Mr. Bumble.
Ch.
XXXVII,
The
getting=on races took place last week.
DlCK., Ol. Twist,
340.
Pall Mall Gaz.
VI. Finally it may be observed that these compounds have the mark of the plural attached to the verbal part. Of none of them the of those of the third kind it plural is, however, at all common ;
is
non-existent.
It
is
only natural that she could not attach
much importance
home*
to
Agn. and Eg. Castie, Diam. cut Paste, I, Ch. VI, 75. comings. (That ball) is kicked about anyhow from one boy to another before
Tom Brown,
Hughes, callings-over and dinner. felt sure there must be goings-on
when
She
Rhf.yfs,
The Reward
of Virtue, Ch.
Ch. V, 93.
I,
her back was turned.
II,
AMBER
16.
THE GERUND COMPARED WITH THE OTHER VERBALS. The gerund compared with 43.
It
the Infinitive.
has already been observed (1) that the gerund bears a close
resemblance to the infinitive on the one hand and to the noun of action on the other. 44.
Most of
the features which distinguish the infinitive
from the
gerund have already been referred to in the preceding pages, and it is, therefore, sufficient to pass them rapidly in review. Owing to its being more distinctly verbal in its functions than the gerund, the infinitive, unlike the latter, a) does not suffer the distinction of tense to
except so far as futurity
Thus,
granted
that
is
concerned.
idiom would tolerate
imperfect gerund would infinitive
Ikv.,
place
the
change,
57.
the
of the perfect
in:
To have taken the
Wash.
the
take
be disregarded,
Compare Infinitive,
field
openly against his
Sketch* Bk., XXXII, 355.
rival
would have been madness.
(Taking the Held
etc.)
Conversely the imperfect gerund would correspond to the perfect infinitive in: don't remember seeing more than one or two drunken men on week-days. G.Wood, Good Words (Stof., Leesb., I, 72.). (I don't remember I
).
to
have seen
etc.)
Note.
Like the gerund, the infinitive is frequently enough placed in the active voice when it is passive in meaning, but the cases in which the two verbals exhibit this grammatical peculiarity differ en= tirely.
See Infinitive, 72,
ff;
and compare
29.
143
no other preposition before it than to, save for which sometimes have for placed -}- InHnitive. Compare Infinitive, 3, Obs. Ill; and
take
b) can
archaic or dialectal English,
before to
Ch. Will, 24, Obs.
also
not
is
It
lawful for to
III.
them
puf
(sc.
the
silver
Bible, Matth., XXVII, 6. Miss Arabella wondered whv he always said he G. Eliot, Scenes, c)
Ch.
I,
II,
into
pieces)
w.is
going for
the
treasury.
to 0*0 a thing.
14.
—
It cannot be attended by adnominal modifiers (13 14). may here be observed that the genitive or possessive pronoun
(sometimes replaced by the common case or objective per* sonal pronoun respectively) often placed before the gerund to denote the originator of the action or state it expresses is
(13, d),
sometimes represented by for
the infinitive. feel
Compare
quite certain
i.
I
ii.
Anyhow,
it
E. F.
your painting.
(pro)noun before of quotations:
worth while for you to be very industrious with Benson, Mr. Teddy, Ch. II, 49. is
worth while
it's
+
the following groups
mv
having a game of golf=croquet with
you.
ib.,'50.
Westw. Ho!,
i.
ii.
There is no use for me to cry about the matter. Kincsley, Ch. XIV, 118b. There is no use your telling me that you are going to be good. Wilue. Dor. Gray, Ch. XIX, 268. T.
+
For detailed discussion of for -\- (pro)noun Ch. XVIII, 45 ff. Compare also Ch. XIX, 7. d) cannot be used as an e)
Osc.
infinitive see
adnominal modifier (15).
In Old admits of no inflection for number or case (16). English, as we have seen in Infinitive, 3, Obs. I, the infinitive I
Ie
is
Thone
to
had
cumenne
calic the
45. For the rest,
ic
a
= to
dative, but
He
is
no further
drincenne ha:bbe
when no
inflection.
about to come.
= The
cup that
subject^indicating
word
I
am about precedes,
to drink.
either
gerund or the infinitive can be used in numerous cases, sometimes with a marked difference in meaning, sometimes with no, or a hardly appreciable, distinction. In Ch. XIX an attempt has been made to delimit the cases in which the two verbals
the
are, apparently, interchangeable, and in which either one or the other is obligatory or preferable. Although continued investi? gation has shown that the results set forth require some recti*
fication
and considerable supplementing, the student must,
for
144 the time being rest satisfied with the information there offered. For detailed discussion see also Ellinger, gerund, infinitiv
and
thatssatz als adverbiale
oder adnominale erganzung
(Anglia, XXXIII, 480ff). The Gerund compared with 46. a)
The noun of 1)
by
its
action
Noun of
Action.
distinguished from the gerund, showing the distinctions of
incapability of
utter
voice and tense. strictly
is
the
In other words nouns of action are
neutral as to voice
and
tense.
Thus
ilhusage might take the place of being UUused in Lucius, I call being UUused. Sher., Riv., 4, (252).
:
This, Sir
punishment might be substituted for being punished in: If we es= caped being punished, it was only because Mr. Webb was away at a wedding most of the time. Sweet, Old Chapel. admiration might replace being admired in: 14 admired. Mason, Eng. Gram." § 397.
He
is
desirous of being
,
Conversely being uttered might be substituted for utterance in She had started up with defiant words ready to burst from her lips, but they fell back again without utterance. G. Eliot, Rom o la, II, :
Ch. XL, 310. 2)
by its incapability of taking a non^prepositional object. The (pro)noun which in the case of a gerund may be used in
this
function,
adjunct with of
when
figures as part of an
the
noun
of action
is
adnominal used.
Thus Arranging flowers is a favourite pastime of mine. (Habberton, Helen's Babies, 55) might be changed into The arrangement of flowers etc. Conversely in To doubt phrases would be to show
in the creation of poetic of poetical incapacity. (A. C. Bradley, Com. on Ten.'s In Memor., Ch. VII, 73) the creation of poetic phrases might be replaced by creating poetic phrases.
his
originality
the extreme
When
the non?prepositional object is represented by a subordinate clause, substitution of the noun of action for
the gerund
is
impossible.
Thus
in:
Johnson's inquiring what injury he had suffered at the hands of those persons to justify so splenetic an outburst, Goldsmith showed him a copy of "The Elysian" [etc.], Westm. Gaz. No. 8579, 6b.
Upon
,
In like manner as in the case of gerunds (39), nouns in the objective relation to the verbal idea implied in
145
nouns of action are often enough found before the latter, Such a com; forming with them a kind of compound.
pound mostly admits
of being
expanded
action 4" adnominal adjunct with The much
sum
larger
of
£ 10.000.000
will
go
to
302
(=
No.
li\
have grave
b.
reclamation
of
noun
a
the provision
of.
oi relief
Manch, Guard., V,
works, such as land reclamation and afforestation.
We
into
of.
land.)
doubts
whether the country can afford to foster the complacency of Mr. Austen Chamberlain any longer by setting aside large sums for debt redemption. Times, No. 230 \ lvs (Compare: There ,i.
signs in the King's Speech that the pride of the Chancellor of the xchequer in the heavy demands made upon the Country for redemption
.ire I
debt
not
is
Note.
It
now shared by
his colleagues,
standing before a case, which, as we have seen, (13, e; 34—3;).
The arguments
ib.)
be observed that the subjective noun of action is never replaced by the
here
may
is
often the case before
Lady Clementine's
for
given with terrible power.
E. F.
genitive-
common a
rejection of Christianity
Benson, Mr. Teddy, Ch.
II,
gerund
had been 29.
Iherc certainly was force in Daisy's contention that matter published in a serial is not to be judged in the same way when it appears in book form. ib.
The higgling about status was ended by Mr. Loyd George's invitation and Air. de Valera's acceptance to a conference. Manch. Guard., V, No. 14, 261a. b)
The noun
of action, however, is like the gerund in being manner, capable of modification by a prepositional object or an adverbial adjunct containing a preposition. Prepositional word^groups, whether corresponding to prepo* >
in
a
sitional objects or adverbial adjuncts, owing to the more markedly substantival nature of the noun of action, are, For illustration seehowever, felt as adnominal modifiers.
also the next section. i.
Haven't
you
interference in
On own
made
yourself
of
all
your acquaintance by your Siiix., Critic, I,
no business.
scheme depended one of Dick., Chu:., Ch. I.I, 590b.
his persistence in safety.
the jest
matters where you have the
1
his
precautions for his
(The chimes were) incapable of participation in any of the good things that were constantly being handed through the street doors and the area railings to prodigious cooks, ii.
She did not make from
a
keen
sense
this
of justice,
interference on her behalf.
We Gar
id..
Chimes*.
sacrifice without
Rio.
I,
10.
motive, which
may have sprung
and of gratitude to the plaintiff for Hag., Mees. Will, Ch. XXI, 224
shall all regret his disappearance ,
a
from
the
his
House of Commons. Wes tm
No. 5255, 2a. Hi
146 Note. Nouns of action are very rarely found attended by an ad; verb of quality, the markedly verbal notion, which is implied in the use of such a modifier, rendering the employment of the gerund practically obligatory. Mark actually held him to prevent
XXXV,
Ch.
his interference foolishly.
Dick.,
Chuz.,
281a.
This applies
also,
less degree, to modifiers which would adnominal adjuncts to the gerund that might
although in a
figure as predicative
be substituted for the noun of action, these modifiers partaking of the nature of adnominal and adverbial modifiers at once. Life alone at twenty=six
47. a)
When
a distinct
action,
as a very useful makeshift.
44
l
).
the gerund supplies rest there is
For the
the former in preference to the is mainly substantival.
use
to
tendency
when
latter
Hope, Instructions of Peggy,
lonely.
no noun of
a verb has
want
the
is
the grammatical function
A
few moments' attentive reading will bring
to
any student interested
the
in
this fact
home
Thus idiomatic
subject.
propriety would appear to suffer in most of the following quotations, if the gerund were substituted for the noun of action.
you associated more with your brother, one might, indeed, Sher., School for Scand., IV, 3, (428). He gave up his attendance at that course, and announced to his fond parent that he proposed to devote himself exclusively to the cultivation of Greek and Ah, Charles,
hope
for
if
your reformation.
Roman Literature. He was in debt
183. I, Ch. XVIII, hundred pounds to tradesmen, chiefly of Mrs. Hoggarty's recommendation, id., Sam. Titm., Ch. XI, 141. And in due course there was bed, where, but for the resumption of the studies which took place in dreams, were rest and sweet forgetfulness. Dick., Domb.,
Thack., Pend., a
nearly
Ch. XII, 110. Bathsheba looked up
the completion
at
A
resolution to avoid an evil
as to
They speak Sweet,
it
(sc.
Sounds
ib.,
till
the evil
so far advanced
the standard dialect) without effort and without thought.
Hugh
name by any member
the further mention of her
Walpoi.e,
The Captives,
Ch.
I,
The Westminster Gazette Information Bureau has been
I,
who are househunting or Westm. Gaz., No. 5249,
The whole performance
a great joke, a merry incursion into
I
ib.,
is
for
the
contemplating removal 15c.
more serious
4 b.
overheard him telling
Tony
mousetrap which won't bear Jespersen,
15.
established
purpose of assisting readers to another neighbourhood. debate,
')
is
Ch. XVIII, 141.
of Eng., § 229.
The Reverend Charles forbade of his household.
140.
seldom framed
is
make avoidance impossible,
Th. Hardy, Far
of the manoeuvre.
from the Madding Crowd, Ch. XVIII,
Mod. Eng. Gram.,
a
rather
repetition,
12.09.
amusing story about a nun and a No. 5255, 3 a.
ib.,
h; 1
Icr
judgments,
the dramas in
in the
main, are formed upon a perusal and not
a
n's/o/i
of
No. 8633, 10a.
lb.,
question,
in which gerunds and nouns of corresponding to different verbs, are used alternately,
The following quotations, action, will
bring out this
lor pickling,
Vic, Ch. Sleep
is,
fact
more
still
and
presetting,
could
excel
her.
Goldsmith,
i.
perhaps. Nature's neverȣailing
Him, A few Thoughts on
Leigh
clearly.
cookery, none
relief,
as
swooning
upon
is
the rack
Sleep.
arge sums have been expended in the rebuilding of dwelling=houses, in the 1aying*down of main roads, in the reclamation of land by drainage, planting and enclosure. Escorr, England, Ch. Ill, 33. 1
The
Irisch
agriculture
had recommended the improvement of Royal Commissioners bv the reclamation of waste lands, the draining of bogs, the .
.
.
provision of labourers' cottages and allotments, the bringing of agricultural instruction to the doors of the peasant, the improvement of land tenure, etc., reforms which only now are being introduced. J.Ellis Barker, Parliament
and the Irish Party (Nineteenth Cent., No. CCCXCVI,
— piece of
246).
ground appropriated to the breeding and preservafion of game or rabbits. Ann, Cone. Diet. The discovery and training of one genius may pay for the education of a whole town. Westm. Ga:. No. 8574, 4a.
Warren
,
b)
Sometimes, however, the gerund and the noun appear to be equally appropriate, being used in practically identical connect This is shown by the following groups of quotations, which by assiduous reading could, most probably, be cons siderably added to:
tions.
i.
No
ii.
A
difficulties
legion
Peter de
ii.
His remark ...
i.
Parliament has
ii.
my own creating. Sher., Riv., IV, 3. of my own creation. Dick., Christm.
all
Groot did not think
i
Heyl.
but of
of goblins
(Stop.,
Handb., is
I,
it
worth
mentioning.
Wash.
Car..
Irv.,
I.
Dolf
105).
worth mention.
Athen., No 4535,
2
)7b
L
thought well to provide in advance for a review of its results bv a statutory commission ten years after the passing of tin Westm. Gaz., No. 8597, 12a. The great revolution which was always feared, however, never took place, itself
but this fear was responsible for the passage of laws which made it difficult in many of the States for a master to emancipate his slaves, ib., No. 5266. 16 c. They could do nothing to prevent the passage of the Home Rule Bill, ib..
No. 6535, 12a. i.
The sudden conviction
that they (sc. the Lords) need reforming is a very curious 'non sequitor' after the prolonged chorus of self=approval, which has gone up from the Peers during the last six months. Westm.
S9),
"There
is
ft.)
but one gerund
has a strong verbal force" implies that in his view the variety of grammatical potentialities in the verbal it
is
a
it
no sufficient ground for differentiation. Kruger (Verm. Beitr., 20), while admitting that the verbal in ing can often be replaced by a noun of action, especially one in ion or tion, vet contends that we have to deal with a gerund, not a verbal noun, in such
in ing affords
He takes (a) pleasure in contradicting (— contradiction), Living (= Life is a combat, a struggle, a strife). The same grammarian
sentences as is
combating
(Verm. Beitr., 22) holds that the only adnominal adjuncts by which the gerund can be preceded are a possessive pronoun, a demonstrative pronoun and the indefinite no. As the same adjuncts may, of course, be found before a verbal noun, we are, if we endorse his reasoning, confronted with the difficulty to decide when the form in ing is a gerund, when it is
a verbal
noun,
in the
case of
any of these adjuncts preceding. The
seems to lead to the conclusion that in such a sentence announced his coming the form of ing has to be looked on
writer's reasoning
as
A
letter
noun, whereas in A letter announced his coming in great haste some such adverbial adjunct of quality), it has to be regarded as a gerund. But it is difficult to see any difference either in meaning or in grammatical function between coming in the first and in the second sentence. Similarly it would require subtle reasoning to define the difference between the forms in ing in two such sentences as No whispering there! and No as a verbal
(or
Nor, indeed, is there any meaning and grammatical function between the forms in ing as used in My friend's singing disturbed me, in which singing would be set down as a gerund, and My friend's loud singing disturbed me, in which it would be pronounced a verbal noun.
whispering there essential
56.
in
difference
such an offensive way!
in
From what has been ferred that
all
said above,
it
must
not, of course, be in;
substantival forms in ing which have been derived
from verbs, should be regarded as gerunds. Many such do not express any action or slate at all and are, therefore, to be appre* hended as pure nouns. This is the case with: a) a large
number
meaning,
of nouns which
denoting things which
have
may
a
be
distinctly
material
understood
to
be
156 in a subjective or objective, or also in a local or instrumental,
by the verb from which they
relation to the action indicated
Of
have been derived.
these a great
many appear
exclusively
or preferentially in the plural.
— that which covers, or with which thing = which drips from roasting = held by especially = work sewn; digging(s) = a place superior; sewing
Thus covering
a
melted covered; dripping land which meat; holding of a
where digging ding
=
a
is
is
carried on,
legal right,
lan=
especially in gold?fields;
disembarking passengers or unlading
for
place
is
fat
goods, also a platform in which a flight of stairs terminates; etc. Similar interpretations may be put upon bearings, binding, blacking,
cutting(s),
clipping(s),
engraving,
hanging(s),
drainings,
incomings,
drawing,
leavings,
earnings,
lightning,
losings,
outgoings, parings, savings, scrapings, shavings, stitching, sur= etc.
roundings, sweepings, winding, winnings, workings, writing, b)
many nouns of
or material employed the verb from
Thus
meaning denoting the substance in the action or process indicated by
a collective
which they have been derived.
=
things employed things used in roofing, etc.
A
clothing
similar collective
peting, rigging,
in
clothing;
meaning can be traced
shipping, tackling,
tiling,
= car=
in bedding,
ceiling, edging, flooring, gearing, gilding,
Note. The ing=nouns here
roofing
housing, lining,
etc.
referred to have, for the greater part, been
formed from verbs that have been derived from nouns, and
it is
with
the latter that they are most closely associated. Some have been formed Such are direct from nouns, there being no corresponding verb. coping, piping, scaffolding, tubing; bagging, quilting, sacking, sheeting, These latter formations are especially frequent in industrial and commercial language.
shirting, trousering, etc.
The following
arranged according to the alpha? ing=nouns in question may be accept?
quotations,
betical succession of the
able to the student: If Russia intervenes she (sc. Turkey) may find that the question of Asia Minor has been thrown into the boiling with that of her European territory. Westm. Gaz., No. 6294, lb.
Pig with pruin sauce I'm for plain eating, I
so
is
very
good
eating.
Goldsmith,
She stoops,
II.
ib.
wonder when it (sc. the nation) will begin to see the much on eating. Westm. Gaz., No. 5555, 4b.
folly
of
spending
157
And
Enid
beard
his
dashing of
the
Suddenly cane, arm
fall,
and
his
at
Dismounting, loosed the fastenings of his pale En., 511.
all
ier.
side
and
I
No small part of these Speeches consisted of the merest personalities, and of as injured innocents, who are attempts to represent the Coalition Liberals the constant butt of plots on the part of Mr Asquith's following. Westm. Gaz., No. -sols, 2b.
A sum
of
£ 200.000
T m
sound footing. There
is
now
No. 8591, Shipping
is
4
i
a
e
needed
is S
No
,
-
in
fall
very heavy
to
209,
put
it
(sc.
Scout movement) on
a
the
demand
for shipping.
Westm.
('.a:
,
a.
being laid up tor want of goods to carry,
There's some writing on
it
the card).
(sc.
Grace was pre-eminent in Athen., No. 4422, 93a.
his
all
writing
ib.,
861s, 4a.
Mid»Channel, Westm. Ga:, No.
Pinero,
This agreement has not been put into writing.
57.
the
5 5 a.
which was
at
IV, (220) i->20\ lb.
once easy and pointed.
in ing, although having no material sense, are only remotely associated with an action or state, denoting as they do,
Some words
a)
an event, a state, or ceremony characterized by or resulting from an action. Thus meeting, in the sense of an assembly of a etc.
number of people for purposes of discussion, legislation, Thus also gathering in a similar meaning. Further in?
stances are
wedding
e.
(i.
nuptial ceremonies), christening (in
an analogous meaning), and a great many others, such as merry-making, outing, sitting, etc. in certain of their meanings, which need no definition in these pages. b)
acquired by assiduous or constant practice Thus reading and writing in such a sentence Of as Reading and writing are now common acquirements. a similar meaning are drawing, engraving, fencing, swimming, etc.
an
art or ability
of an action.
difficult to find an appropriate name for these words in of action is not quite suitable. Nor is abstract noun more serviceable, on account of its vagueness and its varied application
Note.
ing.
It
is
Noun
different grammarians. be used to good purpose,
The term half^gerund
by
employed by Sweet and of the word in ing.
Under the
if it
were not for the
his followers for
these circumstances there seems
denomination
gerund
might, perhaps, it has been
fact that
an entirely different function
no
sufficiently for
alternative but to it
to include these
stretch
words
an immaterial meaning, which, although associated with an action or state, do not denote an action or state in the strict sense in ing of
of the word.
158
Here follow some quotations with gerunds more or less of described above, not a few of them being ad? mittedly examples of a doubtful nature, and included after some hesitation. the nature
Then came... orchards vvhon, Ch. IX, 90.
of
fruiMrees
in
full
Sam.
bearing.
Ere;
Butler,
He began from
very low beginnings, and odd stories are told about the origin Thack., Newc, I, Ch. VIII, 90. has betaken himself to the high and honourable calling of letters. Rid.
of his fortune.
He
Mees. Will, Ch. IV,
Hag.,
He
The Card, And ever in Ten., Cer.
42.
take
to
isn't
I,
any notice of the crossings=out Ch. Ill, 7.
mind she
her
and
cast
about
|
For that unnoticed failing in
number
a
of
petitions
be brought without regard to the recent findings of judges. No. 5231, 4 b.
The Government The
refuse
definitely
Times, No.
Report.
herself.
En., 46.
may be doubted whether even now
It
Arn. Bennett,
in red ink.
party conference
.
2303, .
.
will
138
to
publish
ought not to Gaz.,
Westm.
the findings of the Strickland
d.
produce
its
own schemes
be brought before
to
on January 27. Westm. Gaz., No. 8591, 2a. She felt sure there must be goings-on when her back was turned. The Reward of Virtue, Ch. II, 16. Reeves, a
special gathering
Amber
Some unforeseen happening may change
their minds. Times, No. 2298, 23d. Another cause which makes candidates unwilling to attempt prosecutions or to bring petitions is the remembrance of judgments in certain recent hearings of election petitions. Westm. Gaz., No. 5231, 4b.
A
Pope, Es. on Crit, II, 215. dangerous thing. makings of a very nice fellow about him. Dick., Pickw., Ch. XXXVII, 343. You've not the makings of a Porson in you, or a Leibnitz either. G. Eiiot, little
learning
He seemed
Holt,
Fel.
II,
Serious people, friendly its
is
a
to have the
Ch. XVI, 258.
who know how
relationship
meaning,
Westm.
Larger political
vital to this country and to the world is a between Britain and America, will be quick to realise Gaz., No. 8597, 2a.
were referred to meetings of the Prime Ministers.
questions
Times, Rev. of the Year 1920, After
payment of necessary
lc.
outgoings,
he
income remaining for luxuries and saving. He was a man of great reading. Thack.,
The German Government made strong disturbed
state
of the
has
a
larger
Westm.
Newc,
I,
representations
country and the communist
of his
proportion
Gaz., No. 8574, Ch. VIII, 97. that
risings,
in
23a.
view of the
they
could not
carry out the clauses of the Treaty. Times, Re v. of the Year 1 9 2 0, Id. He is, according to his showing, guilty of a twenty-thousand=fold act of treason. Rev. of Rev., No. CC, 161b. I
he corn duty, on their own showing, could not possibly injure anybody.
On
this
Westm. 1
lad
it
showing,
showing all Governments Gaz., No. 6465, la. not ib.,
been
for that
No. 6465,
3a.
factor,
would
be open
to
the
same
South Bucks would have made
Times.
reproach. a
better
159 The Government shootings in
.
insist
.
.
hands.
military
on
the
keeping
investigation
Times, No. 2303,
Pool aunt J, she was in a regular cut Paste, II. c:h. II, 133.
or
Agn. \m
taking.
Mallow
the
13.Sd.
hi,
Diam.
He's a man of an excellent understanding. Goldsmith, She Stoops, I, (170). The complete fulfilment of British undertakings is not likely to be delayed when the people of India have fully proved their capacity in the art of
government.
Time v.
2301,
"'Sd.
HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE RISE OF THE GERUND. 58.
The
origin of the
and the
lation,
which
is
it
gerund has been the subject of much specu; of some of the syntactical applications of
rise
capable has not yet been satisfactorily cleared up. is not based upon any independent
The following exposition investigation,
but rather intended as a
by various
ventilated
summary
views
of the
scholars.
owe Many of the following quotations my friend Dr. \Y. v. d. Gaaf, to whose
to the courteous assistance of
knowledge of Old and Middle English
have great pleasure in paying
I
I
extensive
reading and sound
a grateful tribute.
59.
The main source of English, is the noun unge or
the in
gerund,
ung or
as
ing,
we know or
its
it
Present
in
inflected
form
in
inge.
to Einenkel (Die Entwicklung des englischen Gerundiums, Anglia, XXXVIII, 5), ung was the ordinary
According
ending in Old English, ing appearing but occasionally. however, Deitschbein, System, § 60, 1.
See,
Nouns in ung (or ing) seem to have been formed originally rrom nouns in a way which has its analogue in the formation of such words as schooling, shirting, stabling, etc. in Modern English. As some of the nouns from which such words in ung or ing were derived, were also used as weak verbs, the latter
came
to
led to
be regarded as the stems of these derivatives.
This
words from other weak
verbs,
the formation of similar
even including such as were of French origin. Gradually the was extended to strong verbs, and towards the beginning
practice
of the sixteenth century words in ing, which had become the usual termination, or yng, which towards the end of this period was used as a frequent variant,
could be formed from practically any verb.
160
It
be interesting to the Dutch student to observe that the
may
ing^nouns were, originally, as limited in number as similar formations in Dutch, which has verkooping, verspreiding,
wandeling, ontroering, "'looping, *roering, 60.
etc.,
but not *ko oping,
:::
spreiding,
etc.
The process described above may have been accelerated by the present participle becoming uniform with the mg=noun. It may be assumed that this levelling commenced in those dialects in which the suffix of the former was inde; i. e. in those spoken in the south and some of the adjacent Midlands. With persons speaking any of these dialects it may have become a habit to drop the oral dental d after the nasal dental n, i. e. to change inde into inne. The latter suffix could not fail to be frequently confounded with that of the verbal nouns in inge, the point nasal being often replaced by the back nasal, and vice versa, in
unstressed
after
syllables
These substitutions may
many
heard to say
kitchen,
capting,
etc.
hitching,
and conversely puddin, nothin,
etc.,
midsfront vowels.
be observed in the language of speakers of the present day, who may be con*
illiterate
stantly
or
highsfront
still
of pudding, nothing, reading, etc. The stressless positions of the suffixes
occasioned a frequent dropping of the of time became regular.
instead of readin,
must, final
e,
captain,
etc.
instead
moreover, have
which
in course
The confusion was, no doubt, aggravated by the futile attempts at accuracy of some precisians, who, objecting to the back nasal being replaced by the point nasal, made a point of re-establishing the former, and, being often ill*informed, effected this so-called correction in the
Some
wrong
comment on
further
place.
the endings of the present participle in Middle
English may be acceptable. a) In the Southern dialects the normal ending was inde.
+
1280.
Idul nolde he neuere beo: ake euere doinde he was.
Legendary,
116,
557.
(=
Idle
South Eng.
he would never be, also he was always
active.)
At pio holi mannes toumbe. fastinde he lay he lay at the tomb of that holy man.) Swete lorde Ich am cominde to pine feste. al
|
.
lord,
I
.
am coming
1272 — 1307.
Spec.)
.
(=
Selde
ib.,
ib.,
(=
173, 2545.
416,
469.
Fasting
(—
Sweet
to thy feast.)
comep lone lahyndc
horn.
Hendvnc;, Pro
Seldom cometh loan laughing home.)
v.,
XXV
(Skeat,
1M 1340.
Wider oure b ct
riche.
Dan Michel
art
ine heuenes
The same form of the present A ven bite of In wit (1340)
by
y=haljcd
|
Sermon
of NoRTiicArt,
b'
ccminde
name,
Spec,
(Skeat,
\>i
105).
is to be found in the Kentish Remorse of Conscience) and many
participle
(or
other texts. b)
most Midland dialects the normal ending through Southern influence, mostly have
In the early texts of
is
but the later
inde.
texts,
entie
coman ridend to an tun, al ban fcinge
of pan pinge
:
j^at
about the things that are
pe me
•
me beop
to
to
as
showing
cumen sonden.
comende.
different
LaJamon, A, 1643 B.
LaJamon,
(=
me
tell
come (i. e. to happen) to me.) and gon him to charren. ib., A, 21 266 £>is isaeh Childric pis i*seh Childric and gan him to flende. ib. B. (^= this saw Childric and began to turn himself to
=
!
=
to flee.)
fiftene to
pusend anan! prafte
blowend.
to
(= fifteen
B.
ib.
Confusion of
final
=
blawcn. ib., A, 27 815. thousand anon thronged
infinitives
with
final
•
fiften
to
pousende
'
prafte
blow.)
gerunds will appear
enough on comparing the above with the following quotations given by Curme, E. S., xlv, 379.
natural
pa steorran of Alfric,
sint
mannum
28.
(= the
summe nolden Horn.,
his
lihtunge gesceapene.
Sweet's Sel. Horn,
to
men at night.) Twelfth Cent. rihtunge.
did not desire to receive His
teaching for the purpose of
lare
(= Some
8.
to nihtlicere
stars are created to
heom
underfon
give light to
sylfe
reforming themselves.) pe Haslend to heom spasc swiSe ilome on moni3e bijspellum,
trymynge.
ib.,
18.
(=
the Lord had spoken to
Curme
in order to strengthen their minds.)
for the dative
of
nouns
is
would be mode.
The
mod
heorae
to
them very often
observes that
mod
is
in many parables here an accusative,
between the dative and accustive
distinction
well preserved throughout this book.
Similar final gerunds are found in:
Swa swa we awriton
zt 1000. Aelfr.
De
Vet. Test., 4.
seror
(=
15.
for the strengthening of the faith.
Cf.
as
to geleafan trimminge written before in other homilies
we have
Dutch
.
.
.
ter
Gode betashte him and (— The King dedicated the
Se cyning Set msere hus
578, 22. edification of himself and his people.)
Horn.,
on oSrum larspellum
II,
versterking des geloofs.) Thorpe,
his folce to trymminge.
glorious edifice to
God
for the
Observe also that the gerund is sometimes used in Shakespeare where Present English would have a passive infinitive. Thus in: Behold what honest clothes you send forth to bleaching! Merry Wives, IV, 2, 126. (=to be bleached). Throw
(=
foul linen
to be
The gerunds Put the
upon him,
as
if
it
were going to bucking,
ib.,
Ill,
3,
140.
washed.)
in the following quotations
Merch., II, 2, 124. making. I Iappy are they that hear their detractions and Much ado, II, 3, 238.
have a similar function:
liveries to
can
put them
to
mending.
169
65.
The change of the infinitive in en into one in ing may have come about through the same cause as that which affected the e. one with which Old English participle in ende or inde, i.
every Englishman of the present day moment may hear chicken, children,
pronounced
chicking,
childring, garding,
also the archaic beholding for beholden.
is
garden,
who
at
any
luncheon,
etc.
familiar,
lunching, etc.
Compare-
THE PARTICIPLES
ORDER OF DISCUSSION. Name, Tense and Voice Syntax The Verbal and Adjectival Character of The Present Participle in Detail The Past The
the Participles
Participle in Detail
Participles
compared with
allied
Verbal Forms
...
§§
1-6
§§
7—44
§§
7
— 18
§§
19—27
§§
28—40
§§41 — 44
174
NAME, TENSE AND VOICE. 1.
Participles are those forms of the verb which partake of the nature of both verbs and adjectives. For a comparison of the verbal and adjectival features in par?
see 7.
ticiples
2.
There are two
participles: the
present and
the past participle,
e.g.: speaking, spoken. The terms present and past,
as applied to the participles are objectionable, seeing that neither is capable of expressing the time=sphere (Zeitstufe) of an action or state. This is done by other elements of the sentence, (finite verb of the) predicate, sometimes by an adverbial Thus the timessphere of the action denoted by walking is, respecti= vely, expressed by meet, met, shall meet in Walking home I meet (met, shall meet) my friend. The adverbial adjunct some time ago indicates the timessphere of the action expressed by erected in A column, erected some
mostly by the
adjunct.
time ago, stands in front of the building. Also the terms active, instead of present, and passive, instead of past, which are used by some grammarians, are equally open to objection. The term passive cannot possibly be applied to the participle used in the perfect tenses of an intransitive verb as in / have walked a long way.
The terms imperfect and perfect would be
quite suitable as far as the
simple forms (walking, walked) are concerned, seeing that they are descrip* tive of the two characters or aspects implied by these verbals; but, as they are currently applied to express tense=distinctions in the finite verb, their employment gives rise to uncertainty in nomenclature, besides entailing difficulties in It
naming such complex forms
as
having walked, having been seen.
seems, therefore, advisable to retain the time-honoured terms present
and
Compare Den Hertog, Ned. Spraakk.,
past.
of
3. In virtue
Ill,
§ 97,
verbal character the present participle of exhibiting the distinction of: a)
its
is
Opm. capable
tense, but, as in the case of the infinitive and the gerund, only to show that its time*sphere is anterior to that of the imperfect predication with which it is connected, e. g. :
present participle walking, perfect present participle, having walked. Only the perfect present participle requires illustration. Society having ordained certain customs, society.
Thack.,
Snobs, Ch. I, struck, we had
men
are
bound
to
obey the laws of
16.
The clock having to go. Meicklejohn, The Eng. Lang., 91. Not having received an answer, I wrote again. Sweet, N. E. Gr., § 2344. Having seen all that was to be seen at Rome, we went on to Naples, ib.,
§
333.
175 b)
active present participle hearing, passive e. g. present participle being heard. Only the passive present
voice,
:
participle requires illustration.
The water plug being
Not being c)
seen
in
left
Dick., Cliristm. Car.,
overflowings suddenly congealed.
its
solitude,
I.
Swn
by any one, he escaped.
tense and voice combined,
e.
g.:
r,
N.
E. Gr., § 333.
perfect passive present
participle having been observed. comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy=and=water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea. Dick.,
These
injuries having been
paper, and Mr.
II, 6b. Walter Besant was in
Chuz.. Ch. Sir
August
14,
his
65th
year, having been born at
Portsmouth on
Times.
1836,
Note «) Like the infinitive and the gerund, the present participle is incapable of indicating that its time=sphere is posterior to that of the predication with which it is connected. It differs, however, from these two verbals in never or, at least, very rarely implying such posteriority. For some further comment see the Addenda and Corrigenda. Corns pare Infinitive, 57, b; Gerund, 9, Obs. I. As in the case of the infinitive and the gerund, certain phrases such as to be about, to be going, etc., are sometimes resorted to to supply the want.
The
train
,5)
The
9,
Obs.
being about to
start,
he took a hurried leave of his friends.
present participle also resembles the infinitive and the gerund in that it is not affected by a change of time«sphere in the predication with which it is connected. Compare Infinitive, 57, a; Gerund,
See also Tense,
II.
t
Being well=to=do,
!
I
he
is
12,
c.
a liberal protector of all charities.
he was a liberal protector of all he will be a liberal protector of
charities. all
charities.
Neither tense nor voice can be expressed by the present participle when used attributively, or when forming part of an undeveloped
}')
clause that has the value of a relative clause
nominal clause introduced by a 4.
The fect
relative
(i. e.
an attributive ad;
pronoun). Compare Ch. XX,
3.
not always expressed; i. e. the imperpresent participle sometimes has to do duty for the perfect.
distinction of tense
Apparently
this
is
applies chiefly to
complex sentences
the relation of the participle clause to
its
in
headssentence
which is
one
of pure time. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful 5 assembled. Dick., Christm. Car. II, 65. C— having passed.)
company
,
So spake the kindlyhearted Earl, and she With frequent smile and nod departHalf disarrayed as to her rest, the girl. TtN., Mar. of Ger., 515. ing found, |
|
(== having departed.)
176
Now
was very warm advocacy on the part of Mr. Tombey, who, being and bless, cursed with such extraordinary vigour. Rid. Hag., Mees. Will, Ch. VI, 59. (= having been called in.) The emperor Diocletian had thirty=three infamous daughters, who murdered their husbands, and being set adrift in a ship reached Albion, where they fell in with Cobham Brewer, Diet, of Phrase and Fable, s. v. a number of dragons. Gog and Magog. (= having been set adrift.) this
called in to console
5.
The
active present participle
often used in a passive meaning,
is
especially: a)
when modifying the or
is i.
subject of a sentence or clause with (there)
variations.
its
I guessed there was some mischief contriving. Swift, Gul., II, Ch. II., 143a. There is nothing doing. Dick., Domb., Ch. IV, 29. Sheets of ham were there, cooking on the gridiron; half=a=dozen eggs were there poaching in the frying=pan. id., Chuz., Ch. XLIII. 333a.
Whenever Kew and Charles
Belsize
are
know
I
together,
wickedness planning. Thack., Newc, I, Ch. X, 123. There is an answer waiting. Sweet, N. E. Gr., § 332. There is a glorious dish of eggs and bacon making ready. ii.
In the
Golden Days,
In
ashpit was
the
a
Madding Crowd,
heap of potatoes Ch. XV, 117.
there
is
Edna
some
Lyaix,
Hardy, Far from the
roasting.
All round the present town the ruins of Kilkenny's former greatness testify to the decay. Nothing doing. Eng. Rev., No. 106, 273.
Similarly in
:
There can hardly be much doing. Ch. XVI, 145.
b)
when used Well,
my
detecting,
in the function of
lord: I
Edna
will
If
|
he
steal
pay the
Lyaix,
A Hardy Norseman;
nominal part of the predicate. And 'scape is playing,
aught the whilst this play
theft.
Shak.,
Ha ml.,
Ill,
|
2,
93.
they do so much labour after and spend so many tears for the things of this present life, how am I to be bemoaned, pitied and prayed for! My soul is dying, my soul is damning! Bunyan, Grace Abounding, 320. ') If
While this ballad was reading. Goldsmith, Vic, Ch. VIII, (281). The horses are putting to. id., She Stoops, IV, (218). A part of the game was cooking for the evening's repast. Wash. Irv., Dolf
Heyl. (Stof., Handl., I, 130). Preparations were making to receive Mr. Creakle Ch. VI, 40 Let
and the boys.
Dick., Cop.,
b.
them look abroad, and contemplate the scenes which were enacting around
Stage = coaches were upsetting in all directions; horses were bolting, Ch. I, 3. boats were overturning and boilers were bursting, id., Pickw., asked him if he knew what was doing in it. id., Bleak House, Ch.LXV, 531.
them.
We
"Have you
seen any numbers of
then publishing in parts).
The Pickwick Papers?"
"Capital thing!"
said he (they were I, 21.
Mrs. Gask., Cranf, Ch.
While these preparations were making in Scotland, James called into his closet Arnold Van Citters, who had long resided in England as Ambassador from the United Provinces. ')
Franz, Shak.
Gram.
Mac,
Hist.,
II,
Ch. V,
.116.
The King
had received from unquestionable sources intelligence his throne by his banished sub
said lhat he
designs which were forming against 117. I lolland. ib.,
in
While dinner was
preparing',
he sat in the arbour to read
a
hook.
v
-
Similarly in: How little the things actually doing around us affect the springs ot our sorrow or joy. LyTTON, My Novel, II, XII, Ch. X, 412.
she looked
a
trifle
hovden taming
c)
2S0.
II.
Egoist,
in
gauche, it struck me; more like a country girl with the her than the well; bred creature she is. Mered., The
2 )
when modifying
the
of
object
occasionally other verbs
that
of perceiving and take an accusative with
verbs
may
infinitive. i.
hear some
I
fiddles
say how went to look at.
can
I
t
I
was
it
Const. Couple, V,
Farcjuiiar,
funing.
knew
I
my
dear mother's
dear,
had never heard one making.
Dick.,
coffin
H27)
3,
that they
Cop., Ch. IX, Co
When
Joe and I got home, we found the table laid, and Mrs. Joe dressed, and the dinner dressing, id., Great Expect., Ch. IV, 30.
Annie seem'd
Arden, "Simon, id.,
to
hear
|
Her own
Tins-. son,
Enoch
saw the covers
laying".
deatfuscaffold raising.
175. is
—
supper ready?"
Queen Mary,
III,
my
"Ay,
liege,
I
(625a).
6,
I have read of such things in books of the ancients, and I have watched them making continually. KlNGSLEY, II ere ward, Ch. XXV, 106 a.
To-morrow I shall expect to hear your mother's goods unloading. Hardy, Tess, VI, Ch. LI, 461. Westm. Gar., No. 5277, 4b. I saw the thing shaping.
And any
ii.
or
HI,
Ch.
want
I
man, wherever placed, however far from other soucres of interest has this doing for him constantly. Rlskin, Mod. Paint.,
beauty,
II, iii.
Tn.
a
I.")
button sewing on.
want these (sc. No. 3995, 66b. I
rabbits)
Mason, Eng. Gram. sending
off
by
the
s *,
§
200,
first
train.
N Punch,
d) in constructions instanced by the following quotations, the active form of the present participle appearing to be archaic
and
Compare Ch.
rare.
Women
are angels,
That piano of ours
Religion, 6. Obs.
I.
is
II,
Siiak.,
a jolly
38,
Obs.
Troil.
&
I.
Cres.,
long time mending.
I,
2,
Zancw
512. ill,
The Next
91.
have been observed that among the above quotations there in which the active present participle in a passive meaning is connected with a word denoting a person. The following are the onlv instances that have come to hand: It
will
are
)
II.
wooing.
none
GOkih., Man., § 619. '.'». Aronstein, Die Periphr.
Form im
Eng.,
Anglia
Xi.!l.
17. i:
178 Coming home to=night, a drunken boy was carrying by our constable to our new pair of stocks. Pepys, Diary. ~,U, 66 ). Being a boy of fourteen, cheaply educating at Brussels when his sister's 1
befell,
expulsion
it
1
was some little time before he heard of I, Ch. II, 21.
it.
Dick.,
Our Mut. Friend, The
rareness of the above construction in connection with a person?
indicating word will create small wonder if it is borne in mind that in the majority of cases its use would involve ambiguity or
awaken incongruous notions.
In Late Modern English the passive voice has taken the place of the active (Obs. Ill), while in those days in which this passive construction had not yet established its footing in the language, the exceptionable active construction
would be avoided by the use of some other form of II.
As
to the construction
mentioned under
a)
it
expression.
may be observed
that substitution of the passive present participle would hardly be tolerated by idiom. Save for the forms with doing, the con* struction, III.
however, seems to be unfrequent.
As nominal passive
part of the predicate the active present participle with
meaning
is
now
getting
more and more unusual, modern
practice mostly substituting the passive present participle.
We I,
are always being complained
of and guarded
against.
Dick.,
Chimes,
11.
Whenever
fights
were being talked
of,
the small boys shook their heads
"Ah! but you should just have seen the fight between Slogger Williams and Brown". Hughes, Tom Brown, II, Ch. V, 286. His temper only failed him when he was being nursed. Sweet, N. E. wisely, saying,
Gr., § 2222.
The
festivities at Cagliari, where the King and Queen of Italy are being received with great enthusiasm by the people of Sardinia ... are attract* ing a good deal of notice in Italy and throughout the continent.
Times,
1899, 249a.
The work which
is being carried on appeals by colonial statesman of eminently practical capacity.
Despite
many
its
practical
Times,
side
to
a
1899, 265b.
adverse criticisms, the affairs of England in Ghina are not II. Lond. News, 1899, 421 C.
being neglected.
Twelve months ago the effects of the Westm. Ga'z. No. 6223, 2b. 'I
coal
strike
were
still
being
felt.
men holding first = class managers for not more than £ 200 a Twelve are being paid not more than £ 200 a year, ib., No. 8086, 5 a.
he public will be shocked to learn that three
certificates
year.
are being
employed
Substitution of the
as
passive for the active present participle
is,
however, impracticable after to be in the perfect and pluperfect tenses. See especially Storm, ring. Phil. 2 793. The birds were in blissful ignorance of the preparations which had been ,
making ')
Ph. Akonstein,
to astonish them.
Dick., Pickw., Ch.
XIX, 162.
Die Periphr. Form im Eng., Anglia, XLII,
16.
179 At length some supper, which had ban wanning up, w.is placed on the ib.. Ch. XVII, 153. He s.u down to the dinner that had ban hoarding for him bv the tire.
table.
id.,
hn stm.
(
Nor would
.ir
(
the
IV, 97.
.
present participle be
passive
possible after the
and the periphrastic conditional of to however, be added that also the active present future tense
be.
It
should,
participle with
passive meaning in like positions seems to be non-existent, no in; stances having come to hand of such sentences as ^The book will
(would) soon be printing.
The active voice is regularly retained to owe is still quite usual in that of to enough i.
the present participle of
in that of to build.
A
man's property and the sums owing to him are called his Assets; the sums owing by him, his Liabilities, Hamilton and Hall, Books
keeping,
5
(He) paid Similarly:
all
a ii.
in
do, and, apparently, frequent
.
that
When
farthing owing.
We
asked him
was owing. Cone. Oxf. Diet. Martha's wages and the rent are paid, Mrs. Gask.. Cranf., Ch. XIII, 250.
if
House, Ch. LXV,
he knew
Novel,
I,
Bleak
Dick.,
it.
all
that
was doing
at
London.
Lytton,
My
Ch. VIII, 317.
V,
peal and
gun gun gave notice, from three different once, that murder was doing. Mac, Hist., VII,
flash of
parts of the valley at
Ch. XVIII,
in
have not
531.
The good people knew The
what was doing
I
24.
after
T.
He
took for granted that nothing had been done in Glencoe beyond what was doing in many other glens, ib., 28.
iii
In this part of the world we are all so close together that everybody knows what is doing in the territory of everybody else. Times. At the end of March 1919. 4.183,523 tons were actually building.
Times, No. 2298, 25b. Similarly: The tonnage building
in the
United Kingdom
the end
at
of last year was 3.708,906 tons. The destruction of vessels now building would require a fairly large amount of money. Manch. Guard., V, No. 21, 408c.
Passiveness
is
more or
less
dimmed, passing into mere
sitiveness, in certain present participles
intran*
when they assume
the
character of adjectives or have the value of a preposition, either by themselves or in connexion with another preposition. Thus
missing,
as
in:
There
is
a
page
missing.
A
page
mis
is
Cone. Oxf. Diet.
He was
missing during the whole day.
Dick., Pickw.,
as in: All this was owing merely to ilbluck. Cone. Ou'/iig to the drought, crops are short, ib. wanting, as in: One of the twelve is wanting.
owing,
Ch
We
means, but the application
is
wanting.
XI, 89.
Oxf. Diet. have the
Webst. Diet.
Wanting common honesty, nothing can be done. Cone. Oxf. Diet.
He made
a
century
wanting one run.
12*
ISO IV. After the verbs that
take an accusative
may
infinitive the active
-j-
present participle with passive meaning varies with the passive present participle, the passive infinitive and the bare past participle,
There
is,
accordingly, a fourfold variety of construction, illustrated, by («) I want a button sewing on, (,5) / want a button
respectively,
being sewn on, (;0 a button sewn on.
want
I
To
sewn
a button to be
we may add
these
and
on,
a
fifth
(')')
I
want
construction,
consisting of a head=sentence and a subordinate statement introduced by that: I want that a button shall (more frequently should) be
sewn
on.
This
construction
last
common enough
is
after
most
commanding (Mood, 21, Obs. I), but is distinctly unfrequent after to want. The following are the only instances which have come to hand: verbs of wishing, (dis)liking or
She did not want
hand.
in
Here
Hudson,
Note
follow some
his aunt for her sake,
Harry should quarrel with
that
Thack., Virg., Ch. XVIII, 187. He seems to want that his wife should
Macb.,
to
quotations
struction «) already given higher
new crime he has
suspect the 3, 52.
Ill,
for
illustration,
few of con*
a
for
up being repeated
comparison
Verbs of perceiving. Construction Couple, V, 3, Construction
((()
I
:
hear
some
fiddles
Farqlhar,
tuning.
Const.
(127)
As to his title, (/•?): names in his old age. Hor.Walpole, Castle of Otranto, Introd., 4. the breakfast watched being removed with a sort of dumb anger. Marjory Mrs. Alexander, A Life Interest, I, Ch. VII, 117. The incidents which we see being debated at the end of this affair seem trivial and petty. Westm. Gaz., No. 6199, lb. T. P.'s Weekly At last Mr. Ismay saw the boats being launched. No. 499, 674 c. He was to watch us being drilled by the sergeant. Dos. Hankey, The he
he said that
felt
himself being
called
Beloved Captain, IV, 7. Construction (;'): instances non-existent. Construction (J): They had never seen a human The Cloister and the Hearth, Ch. X, 57. I
saw him thrown out of
Constructions
(«)
and
hix
(J)
trap.
being
killed.
Reade,
Swtft, N. E. Gr., § 531.
are both fairly
common, although not
nearly so usual as construction (