Download 3 syntactic functions of gerund

UNIVERZITA KOMENSKÉHO V BRATISLAVE
PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA
KATEDRA ANGLICKÉHO JAZYKA A LITERATÚRY
THE ENGLISH GERUND AND ITS SLOVAK EQUIVALENTS
DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCA
RASTISLAV DURIŠ
2006
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THE ENGLISH GERUND AND ITS SLOVAK EQUIVALENTS
DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCA
RASTISLAV DURIŠ
UNIVERZITA KOMENSKÉHO V BRATISLAVE
KATEDRA ANGLICKÉHO JAZYKA A LITERATÚRY
Študijný odbor: Učiteľstvo všeobecno-vzdelávacích predmetov
Špecializácia: Anglický jazyk a literatúra
Vedúci diplomovej práce: Prof. PhDr. Richard Repka, CSc.
BRATISLAVA 2006
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ABSTRACT
Duriš, Rastislav: The English Gerund and Its Slovak Equivalents (Anglické
gerundium a jeho slovenské ekvivalenty). Diplomová práca, Univerzita Komenského.
Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry. Vedúci diplomovej
práce: Prof. PhDr. Richard Repka, CSc. Bratislava: Pedagogická fakulta UK, 2006
This diploma work aims to explain, interpret and illustrate a complex issue of the
English gerund and its Slovak equivalents. It is divided into two main parts:
theoretical and practical. The theoretical part, which is composed of two chapters,
attempts to elucidate English non-finite verb forms, especially by focusing on their
syntactic and functional features, and also by contrasting them to the system of Slovak
non-finites. Naturally, the bulk is dedicated to individual characteristics of the English
gerund and its different patterns within a sentence. Also made up of two chapters, the
practical part seeks to demonstrate usage of the gerund in language context and its
translation into Slovak by excerpting from the original as well as the translated
version of the American novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The selected
extracts and lists of examples in the third chapter provide an insight into the status and
operation of the gerund in contemporary (American) English. The fourth and the final
chapter, which is concerned with the translation of the gerund into Slovak, explores
the existing ways of transferring the meaning conveyed by the gerund into the Slovak
language which does not operate with an identical or closely similar non-finite verb
form. The conclusion of the work discusses main outcomes of the theoretical as well
as the practical analysis, and attempts to identify those areas of the phenomena that
deserve further attention.
Key words: English verb, non-finite verb forms, non-finites, -ing forms, gerund,
participle, infinitive, verbal noun, translation of gerund, The Da Vinci Code
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ABSTRAKT
Duriš, Rastislav: The English Gerund and Its Slovak Equivalents (Anglické
gerundium a jeho slovenské ekvivalenty). Diplomová práca, Univerzita Komenského.
Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry. Vedúci diplomovej
práce: Prof. PhDr. Richard Repka, CSc. Bratislava: Pedagogická fakulta UK, 2006
Cieľom tejto diplomovej práce je vysvetliť, interpretovať a ilustrovať komplexnú
problematiku anglického gerundia a jeho slovenských ekvivalentov. Práca pozostáva
z dvoch častí: teoretickej a praktickej. Teoretická časť, ktorá obsahuje dve kapitoly, sa
zameriava na objasnenie anglických neurčitých slovesných tvarov, pričom zvláštnu
pozornosť venuje ich syntaktickým a funkčným vlastnostiam, ako aj ich porovnaniu
so
slovenskými
ekvivalentmi.
Prirodzene,
najviac
priestoru
autor
venuje
charakteristike samotného gerundia a jeho rôznym spôsobom fungovania vo vete.
Úlohou praktickej časti diplomovej práce, ktorá taktiež pozostáva z dvoch kapitol, je
prostredníctvom excerpcie z pôvodnej a preloženej verzie amerického románu Da
Vinciho kód od Dana Browna ukázať, ako gerundium funguje v jazykovom kontexte
a ako sa prekladá do slovenčiny. Vybrané úryvky a ďalšie zoznamy príkladov v tretej
kapitole poskytujú pohľad na postavenie a fungovanie gerundia v súčasnej
(americkej) angličtine. Štvrtá a posledná kapitola, zaoberajúca sa prekladom gerundia
do slovenského jazyka, skúma existujúce spôsoby prenosu významu obsiahnutého
v anglickom gerundiu do slovenčiny, ktorá vo svojom gramatickom systéme
nedisponuje s rovnakým, respektíve veľmi podobným neurčitým slovesným tvarom.
V závere práce sa nachádza diskusia hlavných výsledkov teoretickej i praktickej
analýzy a autor tu zároveň poukazuje na tie oblasti skúmaného javu, ktoré si zasluhujú
ďalšiu výskumnú pozornosť.
Kľúčové slová: anglické sloveso, neurčité/nefinitné slovesné formy, anglické -ing
tvary, gerundium, príčastie/particípium, neurčitok/infinitív, slovesné podstatné meno,
preklad gerundia, Da Vinciho kód
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POĎAKOVANIE
Rád by som sa aj touto cestou poďakoval Prof. PhDr. Richardovi Repkovi, CSc.,
vedúcemu mojej diplomovej práce, za všestranné odborné vedenie, cenné rady,
pripomienky, poznámky a komentáre, ktoré mi poskytoval vo všetkých fázach jej
vypracovávania.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. 3
ABSTRAKT .............................................................................................................. 6
CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. 8
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .............................................................. 10
0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 11
1 THE SYSTEM OF ENGLISH NON-FINITES ..................................... 13
1.1 Category of verbs in English ........................................................................... 13
1.1.1 Functions of verb forms .............................................................................. 14
1.2 Finite versus non-finite verb forms ................................................................ 15
1.2.1 Finite verb form ........................................................................................... 15
1.2.2 Non-finite verb form .................................................................................... 17
1.2.3 Finite, non-finite and verbless clauses ......................................................... 19
1.2.4 Nominalization in English: Non-finites as nominal sentence condensers ... 20
1.2.4.1 Condensing function of the English infinitive ....................................... 21
1.2.4.2 Condensing function of the English participle....................................... 22
1.2.4.3 Condensing function of the English gerund........................................... 22
1.2.5 Non-finite forms as other word classes ........................................................ 23
1.2.6 English non-finites and their Slovak equivalents......................................... 24
2 THE ENGLISH GERUND ........................................................................... 27
2.1 Gerund versus participle ................................................................................. 27
2.2 Gerund: basic characteristics ......................................................................... 29
2.2.1 Verbal function of the gerund ...................................................................... 30
2.2.2 Nominal function of the gerund ................................................................... 32
2.2.2.1 Gerund as a nominal element ................................................................. 33
2.2.3 Gerund in adverbial clauses (‘preposition + gerund’) ................................. 35
2.3 Gerund versus verbal noun ............................................................................. 38
2.4 Use of gerund .................................................................................................... 39
2.4.1 Catenative verbs ........................................................................................... 39
2.4.2 The pattern ‘verb + gerund’ ......................................................................... 40
2.4.3 The pattern ‘verb + gerund/infinitive’ ......................................................... 41
2.4.4 The pattern ‘verb + preposition + gerund’ ................................................... 49
2.4.5 The pattern ‘verb + object + preposition + gerund’ ..................................... 50
2.4.6 The pattern ‘adjective + gerund’ .................................................................. 51
2.4.7 The pattern ‘noun + gerund’ ........................................................................ 52
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EMPIRICAL PART
3 SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF GERUND: EXEMPLIFICATION
...................................................................................................................................... 54
3.1 Gerund in the role of SUBJECT..................................................................... 54
3.2 Gerund in the role of OBJECT....................................................................... 55
3.3 Gerund in the role of APPOSITIVE .............................................................. 56
3.4 Gerund in the role of COMPLEMENT ......................................................... 57
3.5 Gerund in the role of ADVERBIAL............................................................... 58
3.6 Gerund following SUBSTANTIVES .............................................................. 59
3.7 Gerund following ADJECTIVES ................................................................... 60
3.8 Gerund following VERBS ............................................................................... 61
3.9 Gerund following PREPOSITIONS ............................................................... 62
3.10 VERBAL NOUN in The Da Vinci Code ...................................................... 62
4 GERUND AND ITS SLOVAK EQUIVALENTS ................................. 65
5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 71
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 73
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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1
Functions of verb forms……………...……………………….. ..12
Table 2
Non-finite verb forms…………………………………………….16
Table 3
Patterns of catenative verbs………………………………………38
Figure 1
System of Slovak non-finites…………………………………….23
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0 INTRODUCTION
The diploma work to be presented here deals with the issue of English gerund,
one of the non-finite verb forms. The English gerund represents a complex linguistic
issue, because it displays a variety of different morphological, syntactic and functional
properties. The gerund as such is a topical phenomenon and is still a challenge for
many linguists.
The topic is also very useful, because it has not been sufficiently treated in
Slovakia (but for few articles, e.g. by Poldauf or Repka), and English language
teachers as well as their students have difficulty with interpreting non-finite verb
forms in general, and the gerund in particular. These grammar phenomena can be
found in all English language textbooks for primary and secondary schools, and their
practical interpretations vary greatly. Our aim in this work is to elaborate on the
theoretical interpretation of the –ing forms, to determine and specify a system of
gerundial constructions, and, finally, to show possible ways of translating the gerund
into the Slovak language.
As far as the methods are concerned, we draw from a theoretical (content)
analysis of available resources on one hand, but we also excerpt from the selected
novel by an American author and its Slovak translation. More specifically, we have
chosen now very popular The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. In this book Brown uses
language rich in various means of expression as well as grammar phenomena, not
excepting gerundial constructions.
In the theoretical part of our diploma work we focus on prominent foreign
grammarians (e.g. Randolph Quirk, Sylvia Chalker and others) and their works, but at
the same time we do not neglect outstanding Czech and Slovak linguists and anglicists
(e.g. Josef Vachek, Eugen Pauliny and others), many of whom were members of the
famous Prague linguistic school (or Prague school of linguistics) founded by Vilém
Mathesius. We dedicate a lot of space to and draw from the structural and functional
linguistic principles promoted by this school, since its tradition has had a significant
impact on general linguistics and on manifold areas of language research.
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Vachek (1974) aptly details why the mentioned linguistic approach is labelled
as structuralist and functionalist and what its main features are in this respect. “First,
the use of the term ‘structuralist’ stresses the fact that no element of language can be
duly understood and adequately evaluated unless one examines the relation of this
element to all other elements of the same system of language. … As regards the term
‘functionalist’, its use wants to point out the fact that the primary function (i.e. the
primary task) of language is to serve the mutual communication within the language
community using it. Language thus has to satisfy all the needs of communication
existing within that community. ... From this it follows that the elements of language
cannot be duly understood unless one takes into consideration the functions, the tasks,
performed by them. (p. 2-3)“ Thus, in connection with our issue, it is important to add
that the gerund cannot be viewed as an isolated construction, but rather as a unit with
a unique function in the system of English language.
In terms of the structure, the diploma work is divided into four separate
chapters – two theoretical and two empirical. The first one entitled ‘The system of
English non-finites’ focuses on different types of non-finite verb forms existing in the
English language. We first briefly characterize the category of verbs in general and
then the system of English non-finites in detail. The system of Slovak non-finites is
outlined here, too.
The second chapter named ‘The English gerund’ deals specifically with the
gerund as one of the three English non-finites. Its formal and functional properties as
well as its usage are expounded, especially on the background of or in the contrast
with the participle and the infinitive.
The third chapter ‘Syntactic functions of the gerund: exemplification’
practically illustrates different syntactic functions of the English gerund by excerpting
from Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. The last section of this chapter is dedicated to
verbal nouns found in the book in order to demonstrate a difference between the
gerund and the verbal noun.
The last, fourth chapter called ‘The gerund and its Slovak equivalents’
explores the translation of this English non-finite verb form into the Slovak language
(since there is no ‘Slovak gerund’). In elaborating on it, the chapter draws from the
Slovak translation of the Da Vinci Code.
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1 THE SYSTEM OF ENGLISH NON-FINITES
1.1 Category of verbs in English
In our attempt to describe and explain the English gerund, it is necessary to start
with a broader category to which it belongs. Since the gerund is an English verb form
we first move our attention to English verbs. Although the gerund is not necessarily a
typical verb, it is normally classified under the category of verbs. This is the reason
why we start our analysis of gerund with elaborating on English verbs.
The term grammatical category is often used by linguists to denote a certain group
of elements recognized in the description of particular languages. There are differing
views on what grammatical categories really stand for, how many of them there are,
or how to classify them. Still, most grammarians have for a long time operated with
nine word classes as main grammatical categories, which are also called parts of
speech: noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, article and
interjection. (Štekauer, 2000)
Morphologically, verbs can be characterized by the categories (sometimes called
the secondary grammatical categories) of:

tense

person

number

mood

voice

aspect.
Syntactically, verbs can be defined as words functioning as the head of the so-called
verb phrase. A verb phrase consists of one or more verbs, and operates as the verb in
the clause. Each verb may appear in such a phrase in several different forms:

a base form (e.g. pay)
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
an –s form (pays)

a past form (payed)

an ing-form (paying)

a past/passive (-ed) participle (payed).
1.1.1 Functions of verb forms
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1992:70) indicate all possible
functions of the English verb forms (which we have talked about in connection with
full verbs) in a tabular form:
Table 1
Functions of verb forms
FORM
(1) base
EXAMPLE
FUNCTIONS
call
(a) all the present tense except 3rd person
drink
singular: I/you/we/they call
put
(b) imperative: Call at once
(c) subjunctive: He demanded that she call
him
(d) infinitive; the bare infinitive: He may call;
and the to-infinitive: He wants her to call
(2) –s form (3rd person calls
3rd person singular present tense: He/she/it
singular present)
calls
drinks
puts
(3) past
called
past tense: He called yesterday
drank
put
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(4)
–ing
participle calling
(present participle)
(5)
–ed
drinking
(b)non-finite –ing clauses: Calling a spade a
putting
spade
participle called
(past participle)
(a) progressive aspect: He’s calling you
drunk
(a) perfective aspect: He has drunk the water
(b) passive voice: He is called
put
1.2 Finite versus non-finite verb forms
Finiteness as a category of English verbs expresses the ability of a verb to
function as a predicate in a sentence. Finite verb forms can occur in independent
clauses, which is not the case of non-finite verb forms. Moreover, as Jacobs (1995)
points out, there is often a significant semantic distinction corresponding to the
grammatical contrast between finiteness and non-finiteness. While the situation
expressed in a finite clause may or may not be a real situation, one expressed in a nonfinite clause is typically assumed not to have happened, at least, not yet.
The specific verb forms differ in terms of finiteness. The –s form and the past
form are always finite, whereas the –ing form and the past/passive participle are
always non-finite. The base form (the form which has no inflection) is sometimes
finite, and sometimes non-finite.
1.2.1 Finite verb form
According to Hais (1978), the finite verb form expresses all grammatical
categories mentioned before, i.e. person, number, aspect, tense, voice and mood.
Quirk (1990) elaborates on finite verb phrases. A finite phrase is a verb phrase in
which the first or only word is a finite verb, the rest of the verb phrase (if any)
consisting of non-finite verbs. Finite verb phrases can be distinguished as follows:
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a) Finite verb phrases can occur as the verb phrase of independent clauses.
b) Finite verb phrases have tense contrast, i.e. the distinction between present and
past tenses:
He is a teacher now.
He worked as a sanitary engineer for a long time.
c) There is person concord and number concord between the subject of a clause
and the finite verb phrase. Concord is particularly clear with the present tense
of be:
I am
You/You are
He/She/It is
We/They are
But with most full verbs overt concord is restricted to a contrast between the
3rd person singular present and other persons or plural number:
He/She/John reads it these days.
I/We/You/They read it these days.
With modal auxiliaries there is no overt concord at all:
I/You/She/We/They/ could visit that place.
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d) Finite verb phrases have mood, which indicates the factual, nonfactual, or
counterfactual status of the predication. In contrast to the ‘unmarked’
INDICATIVE mood, we distinguish the ‘marked’ moods IMPERATIVE
(used to express commands and other directive speech acts), and
SUBJUNCTIVE (used to express a wish, recommendation).
A clause with a finite verb phrase as its verb element is called a ‘finite verb
clause’ or a ‘finite clause’. Similarly, a clause with a non-finite verb phrase as its verb
element is called a ‘non-finite (verb) clause’.
1.2.2 Non-finite verb form
Non-finite verb forms are those forms that preserve some verbal characteristics
but at the same time can function as a different word class. We distinguish three basic
non-finite verb forms:
1. the participle – e.g. living, being spoken, played, having done, having been
gone;
2. the gerund – e.g. living, being spoken;
3. the infinitive – e.g. to live, to have spoken, to be done, to have been gone.
They do not express all grammatical categories normally associated with finite
verb forms. The core verbal category they preserve is voice and they also relatively
express tense – present or past (but only in relation to the action expressed by a finite
verb). If derived from a transitive verb, they may take an object and be modified by an
adverb (Hais 1978). Since modal auxiliaries have no non-finite forms they cannot
occur in non-finite verb phrases. However, the meanings of the modals can be added
to them through the use of semi-auxiliaries (e.g have to, be (un)able to, be allowed to,
be about to). Let us now take a look at all theoretically possible non-finite verb forms:
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Table 2
Non-finite verb forms
ACTIVE
NONFINITES
Simple
Progressive
Present
attacked
Participle
Perfect
Participle
Present
Simple
attacked
having
having been
having been
attacked
attacking
attacked
attacking
Present Gerund
Perfect Gerund
PASSIVE
having
attacked
being
attacked
having been
being attacked
†
being attacked
x
having been
x
attacked
to attack
to be attacking
to be attacked
Perfect
to have
to have been
to have been
Infinitive
attacked
attacking
attacked
Infinitive
Progressive
to be being
attacked †
to have been
being attacked
†
Some people deny forms marked † exist. They are avoided by careful speakers and
writers.
Any phrase in which one of these verb forms is the first or only word
(disregarding the infinitive marker to) is a non-finite verb phrase. Such phrases do not
normally occur as the verb phrase of an independent clause. It happens often, though,
that there are two verb phrases together, a finite one and then a non-finite one.
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1.2.3 Finite, non-finite and verbless clauses
In the traditional grammar, a clause is defined as a group of words containing a
subject and a finite verb form. In such a way it is synonymous with a simple sentence.
Modern grammar, however, has widened the term ‘clause’, and thus it now covers:
a) finite clauses <Although I usually enjoy that genre, I didn’t like it this time.>;
b) non-finite clauses <When feeling sick, I only need some fresh air.>;
c) verbless clauses <If possible, I prefer to stay with her.>.
Generally speaking, finite clauses can be both main and subordinate, while nonfinite and verbless ones can only be subordinate. Nevertheless, there are semantic
exceptions to this rule. Chalker (1984) points out that while some non-finite clauses
are usually analysed as subordinate, sometimes –ing clauses seem to have more of a
coordinating meaning:
<Mr Harold Evans finally resigned as editor of the Times last night, ending days of
confusion.>
<The lenses compensate for the natural variations in intensity of daylight, protecting
your eyes from the strain of constant adjustment.>
<A plane has crashed on an internal flight, killing all 137 people on board.>
We recognize non-finite and verbless structures as clauses because we can
analyse their internal structure (for this analysis see the next page) into the same
functional elements that we distinguish in finite clauses. Moreover, one structural type
of clause may be embedded within another.
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1.2.4 Nominalization in English: Non-finites as nominal sentence
condensers
Put simply, nominalization means expressing an idea in a noun phrase rather
than a clause. Vachek (1974) in his Selected Chapters of English Syntax dedicated a
single chapter to nominal trends in a ModE sentence. The tendency towards
nominalization in the ModE predication is also very relevant for our study of the
gerund as well as other non-finites. In elaborating on this topic we will draw heavily
from the author mentioned.
This ascertainment of the presence of strong nominal tendencies in the ModE
predication should of course not be misinterpreted in the sense that verbal predication
should be something unusual or unknown in the present day English. Verbal
predication is fairly common in contemporary English, too, but on the basis of
linguistic analyses made by Vachek and other linguists we may conclude that, unlike
in ModSlk, the old Indo-European function of the verb, i.e. to denote some action, has
in ModE been most perceptibly weakened. The most important feature of such ModE
predications is of course the frequent shift of the semantic centre of gravity from the
finite verb form to some nominal element of the given sentence (e.g. She is getting
ready for her evening visit to the Smiths.) There are many instances in which the
lexico-semantic content of the finite verb form has become so vague that this verb
form is very much reminiscent of a sort of copula.
The nominal trends found in the ModE sentence will stand out with particular
prominence if more complicated ModE sentences are subjected to comparison with
their ModSlk counterparts. Very frequently one can ascertain that the equivalent of a
simple ModE sentence is the ModSlk complex sentence, in some cases, though less
frequently, a compound sentence. This means that the information transmitted in
Slovak by the dependent clause (or, by another main clause) becomes in ModE
squeezed into the sentence by means of another sentence element added to it, the
character of such an additional element being, of course, nominal. Thus, the ModE
sentence appears to be syntactically more condensed if compared with its ModSlk
equivalent. The fact that English tends to express by non-sentence elements of the
main clause such circumstances that are in Slovak, as a rule, denoted by subordinate
20
clauses Mathesius (1975) calls complex condensation. Vachek (1974) denotes this
phenomenon as sentence condensation, and the elements participating in it sentence
condensers. Quirk et al. (1990) speaks about syntactic compression, since “non-finite
clauses lack tense markers and modal auxiliaries and frequently lack a subject and a
subordinating conjunction.” Furthermore, it is possible to recover meanings associated
with tense, aspect and mood from the sentential context. It is important to note here,
however, that in some cases there arises a danger of ambiguity. The absence of a
subject leaves doubt as to which nearby nominal element is notionally the subject (e.g.
We saw you (when you?/we? were) coming back.).
The most important part in this condensing activity is played by nominal forms
derived from verbal bases. We distinguish three such grammatical forms, namely the
Infinitive, the Participle and the Gerund. In other words, all non-finite forms play an
essential role in English nominalization.
1.2.4.1 Condensing function of the English infinitive
The ModE infinitive functions as a condenser mainly in the final clauses. For
example, in a sentence “He works hard to earn his living”, by using the infinitive we
save one dependent clause. If we attempted to translate this statement into the Slovak,
we would need to use a corresponding dependent clause: “Ťažko pracuje, aby sa
uživil.” Here, we can notice the identity of the subjects in the main and the dependent
clause of the adduced translated example. Still, in some instances one can use the
ModE infinitive in such a function even if the two subjects in Slovak original are not
identical; in such cases the ModE infinitive should be preceded by the preposition
‘for’ and the potential subject of the omitted clause (e.g. “It is not appropriate for you
to participate”; “Nie je vhodné, aby si sa zúčastnil”).
But the condensing infinitive may be found to occur also in other syntactical
functions, such as in exclamatory sentences (e.g. “To think that I have helped him”).
Its condensing capacity is greatly increased by its differentiation according to tense,
i.e. by the existence aside of the present infinitive, also the perfect infinitive in all its
forms. There can even be found, as a postponed attribute, an infinitive with future
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passive meaning (e.g. the goods to be exported, the homework to be done, etc., i.e. the
goods which should be exported in the near future, etc.).
1.2.4.2 Condensing function of the English participle
The second instrument of the syntactic condensation, the participle, is very
much popular in ModE, and, unlike in many cases in ModSlk, there is no trace of any
archaic or bookish flavour clinging on to it. Another important feature of the ModE
participles is their use in other than temporal meanings: such use in Slovak would
sound fairly archaic but in ModE is still common. Still other noteworthy feature of
ModE participial constructions is the circumstance that they can also condense such
complex sentences found in Slovak, in which the subject of the dependent clause is
not identical with that of the main clause. This situation may be found, e.g., in the
following condensed sentence: “All precautions having been taken, no one could be
blamed for the accident; “Pretože sa urobili všetky opatrenia, nikoho nemohli viniť
z tejto nehody.“ In ModSlk such constructions are practically inadmissible.
Here again it should be noted that, just as the ModE infinitive, also the ModE
participle is richly differentiated according to tense and voice. This differentiation,
naturally, considerably increases the condensing capacity of the ModE participles.
1.2.4.3 Condensing function of the English gerund
The third of the ModE condensers to be discussed here is the gerund. It is a
grammatical category quite unknown to Slovak, and it will be analysed later in detail.
For the purpose of the discussion of the syntactic condensation and nominalization in
relation to non-finites, it should again be emphasized as particularly important that
also the use of gerund enables the ModE sentence to save the use of one finite verb
form, and in consequence of this the use of one dependent clause.
Moreover, just as the infinitive and the participle, also the gerund can be
differentiated according to tense and voice, and so its condensing capacity is greatly
increased, too.
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1.2.5 Non-finite forms as other word classes
Some –ing forms (participles or gerunds), derived from verbs, are firmly
established as other word classes/parts of speech. Here we provide a list of them taken
from Chalker (1984):

Conjunctions considering (that), providing (that), seeing (that), supposing
(that), granted (that), provided (that):
<Seeing that he was innocent, we did all we could for him.>
<Granted that she is different alone, I still don’t want to meet her.>

Prepositions concerning, excepting, including, regarding:
<I don’t see anything wrong concerning my actions.>
These conjunctions and prepositions can also have verbal uses. Contrast the
following examples:
1.
(a) <Blankets provided, they could sleep in the warm.>
(b) <Including two more professionals into his plan, he will do better
than ever before.>
(c) <Supposing her to be a neighbour, John let her in.>
2.
(a) <I was including VAT in the cost.> [progressive tense]
(b) <The price including VAT is $8.50.>
As Chalker (ibid) aptly notes, in (2), it is easy to see how one word class can
merge with another. Is including VAT in (2b) a reduced relative clause
(meaning ‘the price that includes…’) or is it the equivalent of ‘with VAT’ and
therefore like a prepositional phrase?

Nouns
We will analyze nominal characteristics of –ing forms in detail in next
chapters dealing with the gerund and the participle.
23

Adverbials
Occasionally a participle form is used like an adverb:
<boiling hot, hopping mad [very angry], raving mad [crazy], etc.>
1.2.6 English non-finites and their Slovak equivalents
We deem it appropriate in this connection to shortly outline the system of
Slovak non-finites in order to fully grasp the issue of gerund. As has been already
noted, the gerund is a category quite unknown to Slovak language, and thus remains
strictly an English phenomenon. It is sometimes compared to our verbal noun, but, of
course, they differ in both morphological and syntactical aspects. The situation is,
nonetheless, different with the participle and the infinitive that both exist in Slovak,
too.
Pauliny (1981) classifies Slovak verb forms in two broad categories: by means
of the first group we predicate; by means of the second we do not. Thus, all
predicative verb forms are called finite verb forms, the rest we denote as non-finite
verb forms. Moreover, non-finite verb forms are further divided into those which are
related to a predicative syntagma and those which are not. Only by the so-called
transgressive (Slovak ‘prechodník‘ – a special type of participles) we express a
relation to the predication. The second set is again subclassified into non-finites
(Slovak ‘príčastia’ – participles other than ‘prechodník’) that are related to
substantives (i.e. including the subject) and non-finites (Slovak ‘infinitív’ – the
infinitive) that do not express a concord with substantives in a sentence. Pauliny (ibid)
provides the following diagram, which clearly shows the aforementioned
classification of the Slovak non-finite verb forms in a tree form:
24
expressed
finites
predication
transgressive
unexpressed
participles
concord
Figure 1
System of Slovak non-finites
no
with substantives
yes
no
predicative
syntagma
yes
related to
non-finites
infinitive
Repka (1995) in his elaborate scholarly article called “The English participle
and its Slovak equivalents” made a detail contrastive analysis of the system of English
and Slovak participles, and discussed a wide range of problems connected with these
linguistic phenomena. As he puts it in the summary: “The system of participles in
English is based on the opposition present participle – past participle. Both the forms
can be modified as to the voice and perfective aspect. In Slovak the system of
participles is different. It is formally clearcut and functionally differentiated. Slovak
has one element in the system of participles that does not exist in English. It is the socalled transgressive (prechodník) which can occur both in the active voice (e.g.
volajúc) and the passive voice (e.g. súc volaný). This Slovak non-finite verb form is
rendered in English by participles functioning as adverbials.” (p.37-38).
Repka (ibid) first enumerates all types of Slovak participles. There are four of
them (the Slovak suffix they end in is given in the brackets):
1. prechodník (-c: -úc, -uc, -iac, -ac) / the transgressive
2. činné príčastie prítomné (-úci, -iaci) / the active present participle
3. činné príčastie minulé (-vší) / the active past participle
4. trpné príčastie (-tý, -ný, -aný) / the passive participle
Furthermore, Repka also lists Slovak counterparts of English participles:
1. the English present participle corresponds to Slovak:
25
a. the transgressive of imperfective verbs (volajúc, vidiac)
b. the active present participle of imperfective verbs (volajúci,
spiaci)
c. the adjectivized active present partciple (vzrušujúci, baliaci,
holiaci)
2. the English past participle corresponds to Slovak:
a. the passive participle/verbal adjective (žiadaný, počutý,
namaľovaný)
3. the English perfect participle corresponds to Slovak:
a. the transgressive of perfective verbs (požiadajúc, uvidiac).
26
2 THE ENGLISH GERUND
2.1 Gerund versus participle
The gerund and the participle in English are formally almost identical, and it is
very hard, if not impossible, to differentiate between the two in some cases.
Nevertheless, Repka (1995) rightly points out that formal identity of the gerund and
the participle does not mean that these two should be considered the same. The
distinguishing criterion here is their function. More specifically, the gerund and the
participle differ in semantic features. The gerund does not form a progressive. These
two should be also strictly differentiated according to their syntactic functions. The
gerund shares the syntactic functions of the substantive, and what is more, it can be
used after prepositions. The participle on the other hand, appears in the same
functions as adjectives or adverbs. While both the gerund and the participle may be
found in a noun phrase and postposition, the participle operates as a modifier of the
substantive, the gerund functions as an apposition related to abstract nouns and,
naturally, is preceded by a preposition. Moreover, the participle only can be converted
into an adjective and take a negative affix such as un- (e.g. unceasing, unfailing), and
it is also the participle which follows after conjunctions (e.g. when, while, etc.). In his
other article about the use of gerund, Repka (1996) also mentions that: “The gerund
has also another property which, in our opinion, deserves attention. It is more or less
sentence - oriented, having only some cohesive properties (if we go beyond the
sentence). This, however, cannot be said about the participle. Since it implies
various conjunctions, it can be, and usually is, a very effective cohesive device. (p.
117 – 118)”
There are two basic groups of linguists as regards the English gerund: The first
one (Curme, Dušková, Joos, Lees, Mathesius, Poustma, Spitzbardt, etc.) strictly
differentiate between the gerund and the participle, while the second (Trnka,
Schibsbye, etc.) does not recognize the gerund, and speaks only about different
functions of the –ing form.
27
In this connection Quirk et al. (1990) in the chapter about nominalization in
English provides a fascinating set of sample sentences that specifically show a
gradience from concrete count nouns ending in –ing (called deverbal or verbal nouns
by some authors), through gerundial constructions, to the purely participial form in a
finite verb phrase:
[1]
<Some paintings of Brown’s (i.e. some paintings that Brown owns)>
[2]
<Brown’s paintings of his daughter (i.e. paintings owned by Brown, depicting
his daughter but painted by somebody else)>
[3]
<Brown’s paintings of his daughter (i.e. they depict his daughter and were
painted by him)>
[4]
<The painting of Brown is as skilful as that of Gainsborough. (i.e. Brown’s (a)
technique of painting or (b) action of painting)>
[5]
<Brown’s deft painting of his daughter is a delight to watch (i.e. It is a delight
to watch while Brown deftly paints his daughter)>
[6]
<Brown’s deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. (= [4b] and [5] in
meaning)>
[7]
<I dislike Brown’s painting his daughter. (i.e. I dislike either (a) the fact or (b)
the way Brown does it)>
[8]
<I disliked Brown painting his daughter. (= [7a])>
[9]
<I watched Brown painting his daughter (i.e. either I watched Brown as he
painted or I watched the process of Brown(‘s) painting his daughter)>
[10]
<Brown deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. (= [4b] and [5])>
[11]
<Painting his daughter, Brown noticed that his hand was shaking. (i.e. while
he was painting)>
[12]
<Brown painting his daughter that day, I decided to go for a walk. (i.e. because
Brown was painting)>
[13]
<The man painting the girl is Brown. (i.e. who is painting)>
[14]
<The silently painting man is Brown. (i.e. who is silently painting)>
28
[15]
<Brown is painting his daughter.>
Nevertheless, Quirk et al. (1990, also 1992) otherwise operates with terms ‘the
–ing participle’ and ‘the –ed participle’ only, and he does not normally refer to the
former as ‘gerund’. The same is true of Chalker (1984) who writes: “A distinction is
often made between gerunds (‘verbal nouns’) and participles, which are more like
verbs or adjectives. In fact, the –ing form cannot be quite so neatly divided. (p. 147)”
Eastwood (1994) makes a clear distinction between the gerund and the participle, and
he dedicates different chapters to the both phenomena. Still, this author does not really
differentiate between the gerund and the verbal noun. Mathesius (1975) considers the
gerund only as a subcategory of the verbal noun: “However, the substantival use of
the verbal noun is not its sole function. As is well known, the English verbal noun
also displays verbal features; in this function it is usually called the gerund. (p. 150)”
On the other hand, Vachek (1974) or Hais (1978) clearly separate these two
categories. Yet another opinion on our issue is expressed by Poldauf (1955) who
subsumes the participle into the sphere of the gerund.
To sum up, different views on the delimitation of the gerund exist. Although in
very most cases it is clear with what kind of the non-finites we deal, it is not a rule. In
this connection Repka (1996) notes: “One thing remains unsolved in
connection with the delimitation of the gerund. There are a few cases when it
is simply impossible to distinguish between a gerund and a participle (e.g. they were
busy packing, she spent the afternoon writing letters, etc.). However, such cases are
not very frequent. In fact they belong to the periphery of the system of non-finite
verb forms. (p. 118)”
2.2 Gerund: basic characteristics
The gerund is a non-finite verb form that displays partly verbal and partly nominal
characteristics. In other words, it has two basic functions in a sentence:

the verbal function;

the nominal function.
29
The gerund is formed from a verb by adding the suffix –ing, e.g. playing, jumping,
being done, having gone, having been seen, etc.
2.2.1 Verbal function of the gerund
In its verbal function, the English gerund can express:
I. the active voice – e.g. dribbling, hurting:
<Stop dribbling, it’s time to score.>
<I am afraid of hurting myself there.>
II. the passive voice – e.g. being asked, being spoken:
<He was afraid of being asked that question.>
<You don’t like being spoken to, do you?>
There are several verbs in which the active gerundial construction actually expresses
the passive. These verbs include the following:
to want
<The coat wants shortening.> i.e. The coat needs to be shortened.
to require
<The dress requires altering.> i.e. The dress needs to be altered.
to need
<The walls need painting.> i.e. They need to be painted. etc.
to deserve
<The boys deserve thrashing.>
to merit
<Both our government and parliament merit reshaping.>
to stand
<Will it stand washing?>
to bear
<The eldest cannot bear shouting.>
Furthermore, the same is true when the gerund follows after:
worth (adj)
<The match is worth seeing.>
beyond (prep) <That’s beyond understanding.>
past (prep)
<That’s past understanding.>
30
III. the tense – the gerund may convey tense distinctions but only relatively compared
to finite verb forms.
a. Action expressed by the present gerund (also called simple or
indefinite gerund) is in terms of tense either neutral and thus valid
in general, or is parallel with action expressed by a sentence finite
verb and as such points either to the past, the present or even the
future, if the sentence context and the semantics of the finite verb
permit so. For example:
<Writing effectively means writing clearly, correctly and
compactly.> general
<We are tired of standing here.> present
<She couldn’t help laughing.> past
<I am looking forward to doing completely nothing for a week.>
future
b. Action expressed by the perfect gerund (i.e. having + past
participle) precedes action expressed by a sentence finite verb:
<I didn’t like his having taken part in a fighting competition.>
<It seems like they’ve refused having paid the ransom.>
The present gerund can be used instead of the perfective one after the
prepositions on, upon and after, since the anteriority is expressed by the preposition
itself. Consider, for instance:
<Upon entering the cabin, he buckled up.>
<On thinking it over, he didn’t consider it so important as before.>
<After hanging up on Barbara, he poured himself a shot of whiskey.>
Sometimes it is not necessary to stress that action expressed by the gerund had
happened before another one in the past (i.e. it is clear from the context), and hence
we also use the simple gerund. This is especially the case when the gerund follows
these verbs:
31
to thank
<Thank you so much for coming today.> i.e. for your having come...
to apologize <I would like to apologize for being late.> i.e. for my having been...,
etc.
to excuse
<Could you excuse her misbehaving at the table?>
to remember <I clearly remember posting the letter today.>
IV. The gerund, like a finite verb, can be modified by an adverb.
<He grumbled at being left alone.>
<Eating slowly is a requirement in this diet.>
V. The gerund formed from a transitive verb can take an object.
<I am not good at drinking beer, but let’s try the spirits.>
<Will you try playing the game, too?>
2.2.2 Nominal function of the gerund
Apart from the verbal function, the gerund can also behave like a noun:
I. The gerund can function as a nominal part (element) of a sentence. This
function will be described in detail below.
II. The gerund can be premodified by a preposition, e.g.:
<We came in hope of meeting him.>
<They couldn’t get used to getting up early.>
<John apologized for coming late.>
<Marilyn would never leave without saying a word.>
III. The gerund can be premodified by an adjective, a possessive pronoun or the
genitive case of a substantive. We can also use the objective case of a personal
32
pronoun or the common case of a substantive instead of the possessive
pronoun.
<Deft painting requires much skill.>
<Dad was against my/me going to the trip.>
<Would like their/them participating?>
<I don’t approve of Mike’s/Mike studying abroad.>
2.2.2.1 Gerund as a nominal element
As has been already mentioned, it is possible for the gerund to take over the role
of a substantive in a clause. In this role it can operate as a:
1. subject:
<Singing in a choir may well be a mission.>
<There’s no use knocking on the door again, they are simply not at home.>
<Marginalizing this problem can pose a threat for the whole population.>
<It was great honour meeting Sir Henry at the theatre.>
2. complement:
<The only alternative that remains is going there in person.>
<Listening carefully means paying utmost attention to the speaker.>
<Waste of time is playing computer games and watching TV!>
<Calling such conduct eccentric is putting it mildly.>
33
3. object:
<Have you tried calling back?>
<If you keep cheating like this, you’ll be soon disqualified.>
<I hate coming to the classroom just few moments after the lecture has
started.>
<He escaped being punished.>
<Did you mind my having used your typewriter?>
<Alison was right about the movie not being interesting.>
<Professors are all looking forward to hearing about the issue again.>
<The wet weather discouraged us from going for a walk.>
4. appositive:
<Peter doesn’t think they have a chance of surviving.>
<They are in danger of being sent to the front.>
<The standard of living in Somalia can’t be compared with that of Cuba!>
<There are certain advantages in living alone.>
<It is a matter of contributing to the charity.>
<His current research, investigating attitudes to racial stereotypes, takes up
most of his time.>
<Our intended project, creating equal educational opportunities for ethnic
minorities in the region, has failed because of the lack of funds.>
34
2.2.3 Gerund in adverbial clauses (‘preposition + gerund’)
The gerund with a preposition can substitute several types of adverbial clauses,
namely the:
1. adverbial clauses of time after the prepositions on, upon, before, in, after:
<On my entering the room all conversation stopped.>
<After living some time in New York she felt being a stranger in her
hometown.>
<Think twice before saying ‘yes’.>
<We all have to participate in providing help for the poor in the third world.>
2. adverbial clauses of reason and cause, mainly after the preposition for,
sometimes after through and owing to:
<He apologized for having been discourteous.>
<He swore at me for being in his way.>
<Owing to their instant calling the police the burglar was arrested before he
even entered the premises.>
<George was never himself again through having lost his family in the
accident.>
3. adverbial clauses expressing circumstance after the prepositions besides,
instead of, without, in addition to, far from, apart from:
<Besides being an outstanding student, Mark is also good at sports.>
35
<Instead of having congratulated him, Julie just said ‘hi’.>
<Without knowing the right decision he checked the letter ‘a’.>
<Often, extra shifts are taken without the management being informed.>
<In addition to commemorating this important anniversary of our school
during the day, we would like to organize a dinner party for all our teachers
and employees.>
<Sunday, far from being a day of rest, was in some ways tougher than a
weekday.>
<Apart from being aesthetically pleasing, these perforations absorb some of
the vehicle noise.>
4. adverbial clauses of purpose after the prepositions for, for the purpose of,
with the intention of, with a view to, by the way of, with the object of, mainly
in formal language:
<The motor serves for driving the shaft.>
<They have set up a working group for the purpose of speeding up the
whole process.>
<He had trained every day with the intention of once becoming a
professional kickboxer.>
<Steve did it with a view to appeasing her.>
<”Are you going out this evening?” she asked by the way of hinting that she
wanted to see me alone.>
<Sue did it with the object of gaining publicity.>
36
5. conditional clauses after the prepositions without, in case of, in the event of,
mainly in written language (literary contexts):
<You can’t get well without following your doctor’s advice.>
<In case of my seeing her again I’ll let her know.>
<They have taken all possible precautions in the event of the bank being
broken into.>
6. clauses of manner after the preposition by, as, than:
<The psychologist can provide insights about the nature of human mind and
behaviours by describing it accurately and comprehensively.>
<By having been careful about small sums our savings would grow.>
<It’s quicker than going by bus.>
<It wouldn’t take so long as going by bus.>
7. clauses of means after the prepositions by, through, by means of:
<William makes a living by working at a book store.>
<We lost ourselves through not knowing the way.>
<He managed to keep living by means of having been so strongly attached
to his daughter.>
8. clauses of result after the preposition into:
<I talked him into participating in the game.>
37
2.3 Gerund versus verbal noun
As has been mentioned several times, there are differing views as what the gerund
is and whether it is identical with a verbal noun in English. Hais (1978) is one of the
authors that clearly separate the gerund and the verbal noun. The verbal noun is
formally identical with the gerund but it displays features of an English noun. It is
normally used to denote a verbal action interpreted substantively. Thus it does not
denote an activity but a certain thing or object resulting or originating from that
activity, especially in those cases when there is no purely nominal equivalent to a verb
it is derived from. Its Slovak equivalent is usually also the verbal noun (slovesné
podstatné meno), although it may be expressed by other regular nouns, too. The
English verbal noun can be characterized as follows:
1. It is determined by an indefinite, definite or zero article.
<You deserve a good talking-to.>
<He combines wide reading and a sensitive taste with a knowledge of the
world.>
<Did you attend the meeting last night?>
2. The verbal noun can form the plural.
<The variant readings are given at the foot of the page.>
<Mind your endings.>
<All his comings and goings are known to his family.>
<His savings were gone.>
3. It may be further modified by an adjective.
<He combines wide reading and a sensitive taste with a knowledge of the
world.>
38
4. If derived from a transitive verb, it cannot be combined with an object in the
objective case but only with an object preceded by the preposition of (the
prepositional case): e.g. the keeping of accounts, holding of the captured
position, the reading of linguistic periodicals, etc.
5. The verbal noun does not express the categories of tense and voice.
To be exhaustive, we should also add that even the following substantives can be
considered verbal nouns: beginning, being, building, cutting, ending, feeling, heading,
hearing, meaning, opening, painting, savings, saying, suffering, sweepings, writing
and many others.
2.4 Use of gerund
As has been noted many times in this work, the gerund – owing to its unique
combination of verbal and nominal features – can be used in multiple language
situations. Naturally, the gerund, as it is with all other finite or non-finite forms, is not
universal in its character. There are many verbs that must be followed by a gerundial
construction, but at the same time there are verbs that can be followed by both the
gerund and the infinitive or the infinitive only, not excepting verbs that require a
participle. Thus we see that in the domain of non-finite verb forms there exists a
competition as it were between the three non-finites, especially between the gerund
and the infinitive.
2.4.1 Catenative verbs
Elaborating on the pattern ‘verb + gerund’, let us first take a closer look on the
category of verbs that can be followed by a verbal (non-finite form). Chalker (1984)
dedicated a single chapter to this type of verbs in her Current English Grammar.
Ordinary verbs (i.e. not auxiliaries or modals) that can be followed by another
39
ordinary verb are called catenatives. They are grouped into four main types according
to which non-finite form the second verb takes. And which form (bare infinitive, toinfinitive, -ing or –en) comes second in these complex groups depends on the
meaning of the catenative.
Some catenatives also occur in similar patterns but with an intervening noun or
pronoun. Whereas in 1-4 the subject of the sentence is also the subject or ‘doer’ of the
second verb, in 1a – 4a we find that the grammatical object of the first verb is the
‘subject’ of the second verb:
Table 3
Patterns of catenative verbs
1
Verb + bare infin
Please let
go.
2
Verb + to-infin
I want
to sleep.
3
Verb + -ing
She dislikes
dancing.
4
Verb + -en
He got
paid.
1a
Verb + object + bare infin Please let
me
go.
2a
Verb + object + to-infin
I want
everyone
to sleep.
3a
Verb + object + -ing
She dislikes
the children
dancing.
4a
Verb + object + -en
He got
the money
paid.
2.4.2 The pattern ‘verb + gerund’
There are many verbs that can be followed by the gerund only. It should be
noted that it is possible to insert an object in between the verb and the gerund. Here is
the list of these verbs (it is by no means complete):
40
admit
appreciate
avoid
be/get used to
burst out (laughing, crying)
carry on
come consider contemplate can’t help defer delay deny detest (dis)approve
of dislike enjoy entail escape excuse face fancy favour feel like finish
forgive give up go go on have done with imagine insist on involve justify
keep (on) leave off lie look forward to mention mind miss necessitate need
object to pardon postpone practise put off recollect report require resent
resign oneself to resist risk save spend/waste time/money stand suggest stop
tolerate understand
For example:
<He can’t help making speeches.>
<John burst out crying.>
<I dislike watching television.>
<They can’t imagine anyone refusing you.>
<I don’t understand her lying to me.>
<Please forgive my asking.>
<Stop putting ideas into my head.>
2.4.3 The pattern ‘verb + gerund/infinitive’
Some verbs can be followed both by the gerund (ger) as well as the infinitive
(inf), but usually with a difference of meaning. The most common cases are:
advise agree allow attempt begin can’t bear cease continue dread forbid
forget go on hate intend leave like love mean omit permit prefer propose
regret remember start stop try
41
The same is true about certain adjectives:
accustomed afraid certain interested sorry sure used
1. with REMEMBER, FORGET, STOP, GO ON and REGRET, the difference is
connected with time:

the gerund refers to things that happen earlier (i.e. before the remembering,
stopping, forgetting, etc. take place)

the infinitive refers to things that happen later (i.e. after the remembering,
stopping, forgetting, etc.)
a) remember + ger = remember what one has done, or what has happened.
<I shall always remember having spent these three months with you.>
remember + inf = remember what one has to do
<Remember to go to the Smiths’, won’t you?>
b) forget + ger = forget what one has done, or what has happened
<I shall never forget meeting Prince Charles.>
forget + inf = forget what one has to do
<She usually forgets to do her math homework.>
c) stop + ger = what one is doing or does
< I simply don’t want to stop smoking!>
42
stop + inf = make a break or pause in order to do something
<Every two hours I stop work to smoke a cigarette.>
d) go on + ger = continue what one has been doing
<How much longer do they want to go on wasting their time like this?>
go on + inf = change; move on to something new
<He greeted her and went on to usher her into the conference hall.>
e) regret + ger = be sorry for what has happened
<Why should he regret having broken off with Jane?>
regret + inf = be sorry for what one is going to say
<We regret to inform you that there are no vacancies for a secretary at
the present time.>
2. LIKE

like + ger = enjoy
<I like looking at the sea during the storm.>

like + inf = choose to; be in the habit of; think it right to. This is typical for
American English.
<I like to get up early so that I have a plenty of time in the morning.>
<They were inside and we didn’t like to enter.>

would like means wish or want, and is always followed by the infinitive.
43
<What would you like to do there?>
<Would they like to leave a message?>
3. The adjective INTERESTED followed by:

the gerund refers to what will/may happen

the infinitive refers to what has happened

interested + ger = interested by the idea of doing something
<I am interested in participating. Where can I get a registration form?>

interested + inf = interested by what one learns or experience
<I was interested to read in the paper that a team of researchers have
discovered a new species of monkeys in Africa.>
4. With LOVE, HATE and PREFER there is not much difference between the two
structures – the gerund and the infinitive. Consider the following examples:
<I love eating/to eat any cake with maraschino cherries on it.>
<Some programmers hate working/to work during the day.>
<We prefer going/to go by train rather than by car.>

Nevertheless, when we are referring to one particular occasion, it is preferable
to use the infinitive. Here are several examples:
<I would love to go with you, yet this time I can’t.>
<I hate to tell you, but it’s time to leave.>
<He offered her a lift home, but she preferred to walk.>
44
<We would prefer to see your project on paper.>
5. ALLOW, ADVISE, FORBID and PERMIT
 are followed by the gerund when there is no personal object mentioned
 if there is a clear reference to a particular person or particular group of people,
we use the infinitive
<Sorry, we do not allow eating, drinking or smoking in the lecture
room.>
<The Lake Erie College advises staying on the campus this night.>
<The newest directive forbids using the fax but permits making phone
calls.>
<My doctor has forbidden me to eat sweets.>
<We don’t allow anybody to eat, drink or smoke in here.>
<They wouldn’t advise taking the car in this weather.>
<They wouldn’t advise people taking the car in this weather.>
6. TRY
 try + ger = make an experiment; do something to see what will happen
<I tried sending her a bouquet of flowers but it didn’t work.>
<Try speaking to her in person then.>
 try + inf = make an effort; attempt to do something difficult
<Why don’t you try to understand my point of view?>
<Try to finish it until tomorrow – that way we could still make it.>
45
7. With AFRAID OF the gerund as well as the infinitive (without of) can often be
used with little or no semantic difference:
<I am afraid of going/to go abroad.>
<We are afraid of leaving/to leave the house.>

However, when we talk about things that happen to us unexpectedly, without
our wanting or choosing them, only the gerund is possible:
<I am afraid of falling down.>
<I don’t like to learn foreign languages because I am afraid of making
mistakes.>
<In my dreams I am always afraid of being motionless and speechless
while someone is going to hurt me.>
8. BEGIN and START can be followed by the gerundial or infinitival constructions,
usually with no real difference in meaning. It is just perhaps more common to use
the gerund when we are mentioning the beginning of a long or habitual activity.
<How old was Ken when he first started skateboarding?>

Nonetheless, the gerund is not used after a progressive form of begin or start:
<I was beginning to get impatient.>
<A group of policemen was starting to clear the area.>
46

After begin and start, the verbs understand and realize are only used in the
infinitive
<She’s started to realize that it was all a great mistake.>
9. After PROPOSE, ATTEMPT, INTEND, CONTINUE, CAN’T BEAR and BE
ACCUSTOMED TO, both structures are possible with little difference of
meaning, but the infinitive is probably more common after propose, attempt,
intend.
<I can’t bear listening/to listen to a boring speaker.>
<They will probably continue developing/to develop the site further
after the winter.>
<Mike intends to buy shares of several big computer companies.>
<She attempted to commit suicide.>
10. SORRY is used with an infinitive when we apologize for something that we are
doing or about to do.
<I am sorry to interrupt you, Sir, but the police inspector is here to
speak to you.>
<Sorry to disturb you – have you got a minute for me?>
 When we apologize for something that we have done, we use a perfect
infinitive, or for + ger, or a that-clause
<We are really sorry to have woken you up yesterday.>
<We are really sorry for waking/having woken you up yesterday.>
47
<We are really sorry that we woke you up yesterday.>
11. CERTAIN and SURE

if we say that he is certain of doing (certain + ger) something, we mean that
the person feels certain that he will do it, but that he could be wrong. Here we
describe the person’s state of mind.

when we say that somebody is certain to do (certain + inf) something, we
mean that he will definitely do it. We talk here about what will happen.

sure is used in the same way
<Blackburn Rovers are certain/sure to win: the other team have not got
a chance to win.>
<Before the game started Alan felt quite sure/certain of winning, but
after the first five minutes he began to lose confidence.>
12. BE USED TO can be followed by a noun or the gerund. It has quite a different
meaning from used to + infinitive. If we say that somebody is used to (doing)
something, we mean that we have done it or experienced it so often that it is no
longer strange to us.
<I’ve lived in London for ten years now, so I’m quite used to the
traffic.>
<It’s difficult to understand Scottish people if you’re not used to their
accent.>
<However long the trip will be, I don’t care, since I am used to
hiking.>
48

The structure used to + infinitive only exists in the past. It refers to past habits
and states. If we say that somebody used to do something, we suggest that
some time ago he did it habitually, but that he does not do it now.
<We used to visit Congins’ a lot.>
<When I was at high school I used to gamble.>
2.4.4 The pattern ‘verb + preposition + gerund’
A gerund often comes after a verb + preposition, an adjective + preposition or
a noun + preposition. We do not use a to-infinitive in these patterns. To start with
verbs, the gerund is used after these verbs with prepositions:
accuse of
admit to
ashamed of
be afraid of
believe in
benefit from
agree with
care for
depend on be engaged in feel like be fond of
apologize for
confess to
approve of
consist in
be
count on
get on with hear of help with
insist on be interested in look forward to object to prevent from be proud of
rely on
resign oneself to resort to
result in
set about succeed in
suspect of
take to think of vote for
For instance:
<Kyle is thinking of selling his car.>
<Mike helps with chopping the wood and carrying the coal in.>
<Let’s go on with addressing the envelopes.>
<She is as boring as a talker who insists on monopolizing the conversation.>
<We always benefit from having partners like you.>
49
With most of these verbs the gerund can have a subject, but this is optional.
Nevertheless, there are verbs that require the subject in the pattern ‘verb + object +
preposition + gerund’ (see below). It should be also noted that most of these verbs
admit the infinitive, too, however, with different sentence semantics. Confront the
following pairs of sentences in terms of meaning:
<She was afraid to wake her husband up.> vs.
<She was afraid of waking her husband up.>
<He is ashamed to be late.> vs.
<He is ashamed of being late.>
2.4.5 The pattern ‘verb + object + preposition + gerund’
The gerund can also follow the pattern indicated when used after the following
verbs:
accuse of blame for charge with congratulate on deter from discourage from
excuse for excuse from forgive for prevent from punish for remind of stop from
strike as thank for use for
For example:
<Then they accused him of stealing.>
<Why don’t we stop neonacists from spreading their evil ideology among our
youth?>
<Thank you for helping us.>
50
2.4.6 The pattern ‘adjective + gerund’
Besides others, a gerund can follow miscellaneous adjectives (adjective +
prepositions):
afraid of amazed at angry about/at annoyed about/at anxious about ashamed of
averse to from aware of bad at/enough bored with capable of clever at content
with
dependent on
different from/to
excited about/at
famous for
fed up with
fond of good at grateful for guilty of happy about/with interested in keen on
nervous of pleased about/with
proud of ready for responsible for
right about
satisfied with
successful in
thankful for
sorry about/for
sure of surprised at
used to worth wrong in/with
For example:
<It is bad enough for our country having to depend on gas from Russia.>
<William is capable of achieving what he deserves, but he is too lazy for it.>
<The article is not worth reading.>
<Why was she so sure of passing the exam?>
Some of the adjectives listed above can also take an infinitive, e.g.:
<Jeff was amazed at having seen/to have seen Jessica playing tennis.>
<Peter would be angry at finding/to find me with her.>
<They have been ready for leaving/to leave Iraq for months.>
<I was surprised at seeing/to see Tanya hanging out with those junkies.>
51
2.4.7 The pattern ‘noun + gerund’
The only way to attach a verb to a noun (noun + preposition) is by means of
the gerund (although in few cases it may also be the infinitive – see below). Most
common nominal constructions connected with the gerund are:
advantage of aim of/in amazement at annoyance about/at anxiety about apology
for
art of
astonishment at
awareness of
belief in
boredom with
chance of
danger of difficulty in disappointment at effect of excitement about/at expense
of/in experience in fear of habit of hope of idea of importance of insistence
on interest in job of matter of
necessity of objection to opportunity of plan
for pleasure in possibility of preparation for problem of/in process of prospect
of
question about/of reason for satisfaction with skill in surprise at task of
way of work of worry about
For example:
<These plants are in danger of becoming extinct.>
<There is no possibility of our coming to Texas sooner than on Saturday.>
<The plan for restructuring the company has been accepted by the board of
directors.>
<We expressed our gratitude for having had the opportunity to participate.>
As has been mentioned there are few exceptions to this pattern. Some nouns may be
followed by both the gerund as well as infinitive
(to have +) chance/opportunity
<You will have a chance/an opportunity of meeting her later.>
52
(to be +)
chance/opportunity
<It was a good chance/opportunity for them to borrow some magazines.>
Still some other nouns can be followed by the infinitive only:
incentive inclination occasion tendency
For instance:
<There was little incentive to give up smoking.>
<We hoped we wouldn’t have occasion to use force.>
<All members had a tendency/an inclination to quarrel every time they gathered.>
53
3 SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF GERUND:
EXEMPLIFICATION
This chapter aims to exemplify the English gerund in its different functions
and positions in the English sentence. First of all, from the syntactic point of view, the
gerund as a nominal element appears in the role of the subject, object, complement,
adverbial or apposition. Then, from the point of view of word classes or primary
grammatical categories, the gerund can follow nouns, verbs, adjectives as well as
prepositions.
The chapter is purely practical and draws its examples from the novel The Da
Vinci Code by Dan Brown and also its Slovak translation. Although we do not
assume any major differences in the use of the gerund between the British and
American variety of English, note that Brown is an American author, so it is obvious
that the examples given below will be more characteristic for the American English.
We will first adduce examples of the gerund functioning as a different
syntactic element. It will be also demonstrated that the gerund can follow specific
word classes. Finally, in order to contrast and uphold a difference between the gerund
and the (de)verbal noun, we will also exemplify some instances of the latter.
3.1 Gerund in the role of SUBJECT
Finding Langdon at the Ritz had probably taken all of five seconds. (p. 32, Chapter
3)
To, že je Langdon ubytovaný v hoteli Ritz, im mohlo trvať takých päť sekúnd. (str.
22)
Admitting you liked the pyramid made you a tasteless American, and expressing
dislike was an insult to the French. (p. 36, Chapter 3)
54
Keď poviete, že sa vám pyramída páči, akoby ste povedali, že nemáte vkus, a keď
poviete, že sa vám nepáči, Francúzov urazíte. (str. 24, 3. kapitola)
Researching the symbols of secret societies is a specialty of mine. (p. 157, Chapter
23)
Špecializujem sa na skúmanie symbolov tajných spoločností. (str. 122, 23. kapitola)
Staring into the barrel of yet another gun tonight had given him a second wind. (p.
290, Chapter 51)
Pohľad do dnes v noci už druhej hlavne mu akoby dal druhý dych. (str. 227, 51.
kapitola)
And yet, I am curious if you understand that successfully unlocking the keystone
will bring with it a far greater trial. (p. 391, Chapter 69)
No chcel by som vedieť, či chápete, že otvorenie záverového kameňa prinesie oveľa
väčšie problémy. (str. 309, 69. kapitola)
Kidnapping Teabing had not been part of the plan, and deciding what to do with
him posed a new problem. (p. 492, Chapter 91)
Teabingov únos nebol súčasťou plánu, takže vznikol problém, čo s ním urobia. (str.
388, 91. kapitola)
3.2 Gerund in the role of OBJECT
The past year had taken a heavy toll on him, but he didn't appreciate seeing proof in
the mirror. (p. 22, Chapter 1)
Minulý rok ho veľmi poznačil, ale Langdon neoceňoval, že mu to zrkadlo potvrdzuje.
(str. 14, 1. kapitola)
55
Agent Neveu insisted on speaking to you immediately, Captain. (p. 78, Chapter 9)
Agentka Neveuová trvá na tom, že chce s vami okamžite hovoriť, kapitán. (str. 57, 9.
kapitola)
Sophie stared a moment and then burst out laughing. (p. 194, Chapter 32)
Chvíľu na ne civela a potom sa rozosmiala. (str. 149, 32. kapitola)
Still, he could not justify removing the strap. (p. 266, Chapter 46)
Ale zatiaľ sa pás neodvažoval stiahnuť. (str. 208, 46. kapitola)
Before Sophie and Teabing could respond, a sea of blue police lights and sirens
erupted at the bottom of the hill and began snaking up the half-mile driveway. (p.
372, Chapter 65)
Kým mohli Sophie s Teabingom niečo povedať, úpätie kopca zaplavilo more
policajných svetiel sprevádzaných hučaním sirén. (str. 293, 65. kapitola)
The Church has a precedent of murder when it comes to silencing the Sangreal. (p.
534, Chapter 99)
Cirkev bola vždy schopná aj vraždiť, keď išlo o sangrealové dokumenty.
3.3 Gerund in the role of APPOSITIVE
Thirty seconds later, the crowd was grinning, and the woman showed no signs of
letting up. (p. 23, Chapter 1)
O chvíľu sa obecenstvo začalo uškŕňať, no nezdalo sa, že by tá ženská mienila
prestať. (str. 15, 1. kapitola)
56
Langdon, now having made it clear to Sophie that he had no intention of leaving,
moved with her across the Salle des Etats. (p. 164, Chapter 26)
Langdon, ktorý dal Sophie jasne najavo, že nemieni odísť, s ňou teraz kráčal po Sieni
národov. (str. 127, 26. kapitola)
As their armored truck roared down the highway, Sophie explained to Langdon that
the cryptex had been Da Vinci's solution to the dilemma of sending secure messages
over long distances. (p. 271, Chapter 47)
Ako sa pancierované auto hnalo po ceste, Sophie vysvetľovala Langdonovi, že
pomocou kryptexu vyriešil da Vinci problém posielania bezpečných správ na veľké
vzdialenosti. (str. 212, 47. kapitola)
Teabing sensed that if they were to have any chance of postponing confrontation
with the British authorities long enough to find the Grail, bold action had to be taken.
(p. 436, Chapter 80)
Teabing vycítil, že ak majú odsunúť konfrontáciu s britskou políciou tak, aby mali
dosť času nájsť svätý grál, treba podniknúť niečo odvážne. (str. 346, 80. kapitola)
Jacques, being a man of prominence, did not have the luxury of disappearing. (p.
579, Chapter 105)
Jacques bol významný človek, nemohol len tak zmiznúť. (str. 454, 105. kapitola)
3.4 Gerund in the role of COMPLEMENT
Telling someone what a symbol “meant” was like telling them how a song should
make them feel—it was different for all people. (p. 60, Chapter 6)
Vysvetliť, čo symbol znamená, bolo ako vysvetliť, ako pôsobí na človeka pieseň – na
každého ináč. (str. 41, 6. kapitola)
57
For the trained symbologist, watching an early Disney movie was like being
barraged by an avalanche of allusion and metaphor. (p. 349, Chapter 61)
Pre vedca zaoberajúceho sa symbolmi bol Disneyho film lavínou narážok a metafor.
(str. 275, 61. kapitola)
Sending someone to retrieve us would be considered aiding a fugitive of the French
government. (p. 202, Chapter 33)
Ak by niekoho poslali za nami, považovalo by sa to za poskytovanie pomoci
niekomu, kto je na úteku pred francúzskou vládou. (str. 155, 33. kapitola)
3.5 Gerund in the role of ADVERBIAL
One hour, he told himself, grateful that the Teacher had given him time to carry out
the necessary penance before entering a house of God. (p. 29, Chapter 2)
Hodina, povedal si s vďakou, že mu učiteľ poskytol čas na vykonanie pokánia
potrebného na to, aby vstúpil do domu Pána. (str. 20, 2. kapitola)
Sophie stood before him now, still catching her breath after doubling back to the
rest room. (p. 98, Chapter 12)
Sophie teraz stála pred ním lapajúc po dychu, lebo sa musela vracať a bežať k
toaletám. (str. 72, 12. kapitola)
Fache had looked distressed ever since talking to the director of Cryptology on the
phone. (p. 117, Chapter, 17)
Fache vyzeral nešťastne, odkedy telefonoval so šéfom kryptografického oddelenia.
(str. 89, 17. kapitola)
58
…admitting his initial skepticism on hearing of the alternate Holy Grail story, then
describing how years of research had persuaded him that the story was true. (p. 295,
Chapter 51).
Pripustil, že spočiatku o jeho nezvyčajných názoroch na Svätý grál pochyboval, no
dlhoročný výskum ho presvedčil, že sú pravdivé. (str. 230, 51. kapitola)
They both passed through without setting off the alarm and continued to the abbey
entrance. (p. 518, Chapter 97)
Bez problémov ním prešli a pokračovali smerom k hlavnému vchodu do opátstva. (str.
408, 97. kapitola)
Looks like he got kicked out of university for rewiring phone jacks to get free
service. (p. 478, Chapter 87)
Zdá sa, že ho vyhodili z univerzity za to, že si pripojil telefónny kábel, aby mohol
volať zadarmo… (str. 377, 87. kapitola)
The Templars honored Baphomet by encircling a stone replica of his head and
chanting prayers. (p. 419, Chapter 76)
Templári uctievali Baphometa tak, že stáli v kruhu okolo jeho kammenej hlavy a
spievali modlitby. (str. 332, 76. kapitola)
3.6 Gerund following SUBSTANTIVES
We have found multiple instances of this type. Since normally a verb cannot
modify a noun, the use of gerund is the only way to achieve this modification. The
gerund in this role functions as an appositive. According to our analysis of The Da
Vinci Code the gerund modified the following substantives (shown together with a
prepositional phrase containing the gerund):
59
brunt of ribbing, sign of letting, reputation for being, meditation for doing, vow of
tithing, danger of joining, something about using, means of funding, code for picking,
sound of shouting, fear of being, way of knowing, property of approaching, style of
painting, intention of leaving, way of saying, memory of seeing, purpose of protecting,
hope of unearthing, probability of being, intention of discussing, process of accessing,
intention of leaving, intention of allowing, key to opening, odd of being, dilemma of
sending, concept of navigating, technique for building, intention of turning, intention
of letting, peril of speaking, gravity of being, possibility of finding, rationale for
including, hope of finding, thought of helping, apology for waking, act of Godeating,
show of seeming, concern at having missed, task of founding, charge of protecting,
key to finding, stranger to being awoken, job of manoeuvring, intention of answering,
key to protecting, way of knowing, intention of printing, side of making, inch of
possessing, responsibility of revealing, manner of speaking, excitement of
deciphering, intention of making, password for opening, chance of postponing,
exchange for turning, rubbish about avoiding, trace of hiding, pain of being bound,
verge of losing, plan of stopping, thought of coming, chance of helping/seeing,
intention of being, way of saying, key to getting, key to finding, key to learning,
prerequisite for finding, matter of applying, intention of being, importance of
finding/releasing, verge of unveiling, mistake of showing, prize of obtaining, luxury of
disappearing, hope of seeing, rationale for fusing, goal of bettering, risk in turning,
product of growing up, tradition of perpetuating, practice of using, punishment for
partaking, hope of claiming, credit for finding, penchant for spreading, task of saving,
wish of sharing, potential of making/restoring, hope of bartering, way of
waving/arranging/drawing, sound of sobbing.
3.7 Gerund following ADJECTIVES
According to our analysis of The Da Vinci Code the gerund followed these
adjectives (shown together with a prepositional phrase containing the gerund):
relevant to handling, intent on hiding, intent on possessing, intent on containing,
responsible for overseeing/hiring/securing/ordering, renowned for womanizing,
60
responsible for filling, worth obeying, capable of delivering, critical of overbudgeting,
prone to chatting, used to hearing, skilled at painting, capable of discovering, capable
of uncovering, incapable of thinking, intent on finding, happy about making, guilty of
defiling, intent on pinning, accustomed to walking/taking.
3.8 Gerund following VERBS
According to our analysis of The Da Vinci Code the gerund followed these
verbs (shown are the infinitival forms with the gerund):
finish speaking, appreciate seeing, begin reading, look forward to picking, look
forward to learning, forget keeping, nod understanding, begin vibrating, continue
walking, dream of seeing, dedicate to studying, insist on speaking, begin chastising,
look forward to finding/giving, keep running, begin pounding, appreciate knowing,
look forward to firing, begin wondering, stop moving, begin unfolding, despise not
understanding, begin ringing, stop walking, keep walking, begin racing, forget about
trying, stop calling, begin pawing, begin rapping, finish writing, begin backing, begin
backing up, burst out laughing, start blinking, begin speaking, start wagging, keep
softening, stop trying, be flagging, begin heading, avoid being, ponder taking, keep
from telling, finish typing, justify removing, enjoy imitating, be bringing, love
creating, begin nodding, recall mentioning, remain idling, begin wondering, begin
dragging, depend on getting, stop pulling, end up tarnishing, risk being, thank for
having, begin warring, recall having, keep recurring, be consorting, begin dialing,
outlaw speaking, love infusing, accuse of wearing, begin snaking, begin searching,
risk seeing, focus on getting, begin kicking, begin descending, think of returning,
begin coughing, succeed in opening, appreciate being, keep from peering/stealing,
begin examining, accuse of performing, date back to being, be advertising, finish
writing out, begin writing, stop breathing, appreciate being awoken, burst out
laughing, block from reaching, think of boarding, enjoy being, have riding, finish
vacuuming, keep vacuuming, remain blocking, finish hoovering, imagine sitting, deny
knowing, count as drinking, begin backing out, avoid getting, keep recharging, keep
calling, recall sitting/radioing, finish tying/gagging, imagine being, begin typing,
61
ache from being, take care in preventing, begin feeling, go clambering, come to
silencing, prevent from challenging, give up trying, fool into taking/watching, prevent
from persuading, start playing, finish puttering, begin blasting, think of saying, mind
asking, enjoy drifting, begin moving, make living, dream of owning, consider
radioing/telling, go tumbling, brag about seeing, be updating, need coddling, keep
coming, waste no time inserting, risk having, charge with protecting, consider taking,
begin eying, begin extending.
One can easily infer that the most common verb appearing with a gerund is the verb
‘to begin’.
3.9 Gerund following PREPOSITIONS
It is typical for the gerund to appear in a prepositional phrase. Following a
preposition is in the case of the gerund also one of its distinguishing features from the
participle (but for few exceptions, e.g. the preposition ‘with’ appears with the both).
Below we provide a list of prepositions that came before gerundial constructions in
the Da Vinci Code (some prepositions related to verbs or adjectives may be found
above):
at, in addition to, instead of, after, despite, about, by, before, without, toward, for,
(ever) since, than, on, insofar as, until, upon, in, over, from, of, to, (rather) than.
3.10 VERBAL NOUN in The Da Vinci Code
While analyzing The Da Vinci Code for gerundial constructions, we also paid
attention to verbal nouns utilized by the author. It is interesting that in few instances
we have found the -ing form of the same verb functioning as a gerund in one context
and as a verbal noun in the other. Contrast, for example, the following pairs:
62
Leonardo was skilled at painting the difference between the sexes. (p. 327) vs.
Sophie still didn't like the painting. (p. 142)
Keystones as a masonry technique for building stone archways had been one of the
best-kept secrets of the early Masonic brotherhood. (p. 276-277) vs.
Designed by May & Pinska, the building contains over one hundred bedrooms, six
dining rooms, libraries, living rooms, meeting rooms, and offices. (p. 49)
Such distinctions actually support and uphold the basic difference between the
gerund and the verbal noun, which existence some authors ignore or deny. Let us now
adduce some further examples of verbal nouns in the sentence context, and then
provide a list of still others found in the work.
The agent gave a dire sigh and slid a Polaroid snapshot through the narrow opening
in the door. (p. 26, Chapter 1)
As Langdon stared at the bizarre image, his initial revulsion and shock gave way to a
sudden upwelling of anger. (p. 26, Chapter 1)
I guess not, Langdon thought, trying to get his bearings. (p. 44, Chapter 4)
And the positioning of the body? (p. 63, Chapter 6)
The chanting grew steady again. (p. 197, Chapter 32)
Robert, you'd better do the talking. (p. 298, Chapter 52)
The manager had only used the emergency system once, after a hijacking, and it had
worked flawlessly - locating the truck and transmitting the coordinates to the
authorities automatically. (p. 303, Chapter 53)
brainwashing, ringing, suffering, meeting, beginning, blessing, lighting, longing,
clothing, setting, handwriting, dwelling, furnishing, standing, misunderstanding,
thumbing, timing, falling-out, clipping, calling, being, spelling, landing, marking,
63
rustling, offering, fusing, tooling, chanting belonging, parking, founding, writing,
lodging, turning, upbringing, crunching, eavesdropping, sightseeing, filming, hiding,
understanding, understanding, wood-burning, rocking, killing, footing, warning,
drilling, checking, whimpering, creaking, etc.
64
4 GERUND AND ITS SLOVAK
EQUIVALENTS
This chapter is dedicated to the translation of the English gerund into the
Slovak language. As has been clarified several times in this work, although Slovak
does have a system of non-finites similar to that in English (the infinitive and the
participle exist in the both languages), it does not have an equivalent for the gerund.
Thus, if a translator wants to cope with this phenomenon effectively, they need to use
other ways of transferring a meaning conveyed by the gerund to Slovak. No single
solution exists. Hais (1978) offers five ways of translation, which we have
supplemented with a sixth one. Each possible method of translation is accompanied
by a set of examples from the English and the Slovak version of The Da Vinci Code
in order to illustrate it. The English gerund can be translated to Slovak:
1. literally, by a VERBAL NOUN;
Sending someone to retrieve us would be considered aiding a fugitive of the
French government. (p. 202, Chapter 33)
Ak by niekoho poslali za nami, považovalo by sa to za poskytovanie pomoci
niekomu, kto je na úteku pred francúzskou vládou. (str. 155, 33. kapitola)
Aringarosa had been using all of his political sway - substantial considering
the size of the Opus Dei constituency and their bankroll - to persuade the Pope
and his advisers that softening the Church’s laws was not only faithless and
cowardly, but political suicide. (p. 206, Chapter 34)
Aringarosa využil všetok svoj politický vplyv – značný počet voličov z radov
Opus Dei a ich bankové kontá -, aby presvedčil pápeža a jeho poradcov, že
zmierňovanie cirkevných zákonov je nielen prejavom neviery a zbabelosti,
ale znamená aj politickú samovraždu. (str. 159, 34. kapitola)
65
Nonetheless, establishing Christ’s divinity was critical to the further
unification of the Roman Empire and to the new Vatican power base. (p. 315,
Chapter 55)
Zavedenie božského pôvodu Krista však malo zásadný význam pre jednotu
Rímskej ríše a pre ďalšie posilňovanie moci Vatikánu. (str. 246, 55. kapitola)
And yet, I am curious if you understand that successfully unlocking the
keystone will bring with it a far greater trial. (p. 391, Chapter 69)
No chcel by som vedieť, či chápete, že otvorenie záverového kameňa
prinesie oveľa väčšie problémy. (str. 309, 69. kapitola)
2. by an INFINITIVE;
Telling someone what a symbol “meant” was like telling them how a song
should make them feel—it was different for all people. (p. 60, Chapter 6)
Vysvetliť, čo symbol znamená, bolo ako vysvetliť, ako pôsobí na človeka
pieseň – na každého ináč. (str. 41, 6. kapitola)
For academics, the Templars’ history was a precarious world where fact, lore,
and misinformation had become so intertwined that extracting a pristine
truth was almost impossible. (p. 218, Chapter 37)
Pre akademikov boli dejiny templárov vratkou pôdou, kde boli fakty, legendy
a dezinformácie také premiešané, že bolo takmer nemožné zistiť skutočnú
pravdu. (str. 169, 37. kapitola)
Getting you out will be difficult. (p. 261, Chapter 45)
Bude ťažké dostať vás odtiaľto. (str. 204, 45. kapitola)
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Hanging a rose is an ancient Roman custom. (p. 274, Chapter 47)
Zavesiť na dvere ružu je stará rímska obyčaj. (str. 215, 47. kapitola)
Slowing Remy down had become Sophie’s task. Finding the right tomb had
become Langdon’s. (p. 484, Chapter 88)
Zdržať Rémyho bolo úlohou Sophie. Nájsť hrob bolo úlohou Langdona. (str.
381, 88. kapitola)
3. by a TRANSGRESSIVE;
Without taking his eyes off Sophie, he produced his own cell phone and held
it out. (p. 81, Chapter 9)
Nespúšťajúc zo Sophie zrak vybral vlastný telefón a podal ho Langdonovi.
(str. 59, 9. kapitola)
Without turning from the window, Sophie began to speak. (p. 413, Chapter
74)
Neobrátiac sa od okna začala hovoriť. (str. 327, 74. kapitola)
The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully
converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by
waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine,
obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever. (p. 172, Chapter 28)
Priorstvo je presvedčené, že Konštantínovi a jeho mužským nástupcom sa
podarilo zmeniť svet z matriarchálneho pohanstva na patriarchálne kresťanstvo
neutíchajúcou propagandistickou kampaňou, ktorá démonizovala posvätné
ženstvo a načisto vymazala bohyne z moderného náboženstva. (str. 133, 28.
kapitola) [Note that the word „neutíchajúci“ used here is not a transgressive
but an ACTIVE PRESENT PARTICIPLE!]
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4. by a NOUN;
He reminded himself, however, that killing Langdon would be a generous fate
compared to the misery about to be communicated by Bezu Fache and the
French prison system. (p. 180, Chapter 30)
Pripomenul si však, že v porovnaní s tým, čo Langdona čaká v rukách Bezu
Fachea a vo francúzskom väzení, by bola smrť preňho vykúpením. (str. 139,
30. kapitola)
Staring into the barrel of yet another gun tonight had given him a second
wind. (p. 290, Chapter 51)
Pohľad do dnes v noci už druhej hlavne mu akoby dal druhý dych. (str. 227,
51. kapitola)
Kidnapping Teabing had not been part of the plan, and deciding what to do
with him posed a new problem. (p. 492, Chapter 91)
Teabingov únos nebol súčasťou plánu, takže vznikol problém, čo s ním
urobia. (str. 388, 91. kapitola)
5. by a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE;
I had planned to introduce him tonight by sharing his impressive curriculum
vitae. (p. 23, Chapter 1)
Pôvodne som vám ho chcela predstaviť tak, že vám vyrozprávam jeho
pôsobivý životopis. (str. 15, 1. kapitola)
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Fache nodded without even looking. (p. 55, Chapter 6)
Fache prikývol, ani sa naňho nepozrel. (str. 38, 6. kapitola)
Unfortunately, Da Vinci was a prankster who often amused himself by quietly
gnawing at the hand that fed him. (p. 72-73, Chapter 8)
Da Vinci bol však huncút, ktorý sa často bavil tým, že potichu hrýzol ruku,
ktorá mu dávala peniaze. (str. 53, 8. kapitola)
For a moment, Fache considered radioing the guards in the entresol and
telling them to stop Sophie and drag her back up here before she could leave
the premises. (p. 95, Chapter 11)
Fache chvíľu uvažoval o tom, že zavolá strážnikom na medziposchodí, aby
Sophie zadržali a priviedli sem skôr, než splní, čo sľúbila. (str. 70, 11.
kapitola)
6. by a ZERO EQUIVALENT (a finite verb form includes the meaning of the
gerund; there is no direct equivalent substituted for the gerund)
He can’t transmit, Sophie realized, recalling that tourists with cell phones
often got frustrated in here when they tried to call home to brag about seeing
the Mona Lisa. (p. 184, Chapter 30)
Nemá spojenie, uvedomila si Sophie a spomenula si, akí sú turisti sklamaní,
keď sa nemôžu od Mony Lisy dovolať mobilným telefónom domov. (str. 142,
30. kapitola)
My contacts are compromised, and finding a hotel is no good because they all
require identification. (p. 201, Chapter 33)
Nemôžeme ísť k žiadnym mojim známym a ani do hotela, lebo tam sa treba
identifikovať. (str. 155, 33. kapitola)
69
The nurse finished puttering, leaving the bishop alone. (p. 560, Chapter 103)
Sestrička ho napokon nechala osamote. (str. 440, 103. kapitola)
He began moving again, following the trail, watching the pavement as he
walked. (p. 589, Epilogue)
Potom po tej čiare vykročil a pohľadom skúmal dlažbu. (str. 462, Záver)
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5 CONCLUSION
The gerund represents one of the three existing non-finite verb forms in
English language. Being formally identical to the participle, some grammarians either
directly subsume the gerund into the sphere of the participle, or simply cover the both
under the heading “–ing forms” and speak about a gradience from concrete count
nouns ending in –ing, through gerundial constructions, to the purely participial form
in a finite verb phrase.
Strictly speaking, this approach may be well justified. While the gerund ends
in –ing, the same is the case with the participle as well as the verbal noun. However, if
we adopt a functional standpoint, i.e. if we study their functional features, or, in other
words, their function within a sentence or utterance, then these three forms differ
considerably (but for few peripheral phenomena).
First of all, the gerund (together with the participle and the infinitive, but not
the verbal noun) has an important condensing function in English. The use of gerund
enables the ModE sentence to save the use of one finite verb form, and in
consequence of this the use of one dependent clause. This phenomenon may be
denoted as sentence condensation, complex condensation or syntactic condensation.
As for the gerund versus the participle, they differ in several substantial
aspects. The gerund does not form a progressive. Furthermore, the gerund assumes the
syntactic function of the substantive, and as such it can appear in the role of the
subject, object, complement, and appositive. At the same time, the gerund retains the
characteristic of a verb, and so it may take a direct object, an indirect object, a
predicate noun, or a predicate adjective as a complement, plus it may be modified by
an adverb or an adverbial phrase. The participle, on the other hand, appears in the
syntactic function of adjectives and adverbs, and as an adjective it can take a negative
affix such as un-. While the gerund may follow prepositions, not conjunctions, it is the
opposite with the participle. The participle actually implies various conjunctions and
it can be a very effective cohesive device. In contrast, the gerund is rather sentenceoriented and displays limited cohesive properties.
71
Concerning the verbal noun and its relation to the gerund, there should be a
clear separating line between the two, too. The verbal noun is formally identical with
the gerund but it displays features of a regular English noun. It is normally used to
denote a verbal action interpreted substantively. Thus, the verbal noun may be
determined by articles (indefinite, definite, zero), it may form a plural, it may be
further modified by an adjective etc. In other words, the English verbal noun
represents a fully functional noun, the only connection to the verb and gerund being
its verbal origin and –ing suffix.
With regard to usage of the gerund in language context, our analysis of the
novel The Da Vinci Code has revealed several interesting points. The gerund most
often appears in a prepositional phrase, in a noun phrase or in a verb phrase. In other
words, in the literary language the gerund often follows various prepositions assuming
the function of an adverbial clause, it modifies a noun (mostly after the preposition of)
assuming the function of an appositive, or it is part of the predicate being a direct or
indirect object. Less frequently it substitutes directly for a noun in the role of a subject
and infrequently is the gerund related to an adjective + preposition.
Regarding the Slovak equivalents found in the translated version of the
mentioned book, it is a subordinate clause that appears the most. Zero equivalents,
infinitives, verbal nouns and nouns are less frequent, although present. According to
our analysis, a transgressive has a minimum frequency of occurrence as an equivalent
for the English gerund, appearing scarcely in the translation. To be exhaustive, in one
instance the gerund was translated by an active present participle, which is a highly
atypical way of translation.
In conclusion, the diploma work has studied a complex phenomenon of the
English gerund and attempted to analyze and present its contemporary nature. Our
approach was clearly synchronic and linguistic. We are well aware that the gerund
deserves more research attention and a combination of several different approaches,
but such a monographic study would exceed the scope of this work, and actually was
not its purpose. As for further investigation into the gerund, we deem that it would be
also useful to study its diachrony or its present-day status in written or spoken English
– e.g. the patterns in which it occurs, the function of utterances containing gerundial
constructions and others.
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