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 (