Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verb Complements › Gerunds › Gerund Cls w/ Subject

Gerund Clauses with Subjects (agents)

Comment on other people's activities

Expressing the "agent" in a subordinated clause

VERB + FULL CLAUSE
After a specific group of verbs, a speaker can state opinion about an activity with a that-clause (or if-clause in a negative or question clause). This wording places equal emphasis on the agent and the activity of the subordinate clause. The pronoun may refer back to the subject of the main clause or to another person.
SUBJ + PREDICATE	COMPLEMENT
Jill recalls	that Jack asked if he could stay just a week. that Jack asked (her) a favor.
Jill remembers	that she asked him to visit for a week. (she = Jill)
Jill anticipates	that he will want to stay another month. that Jack will want to stay…
Jill discussed	that he should move out of her apartment.
Jill imagines	that he might stay forever.
Jill resents	that he has overstayed his welcome. (stayed too long)

VERB + REDUCED CLAUSE
A similar meaning is expressed with a reduced clause— a gerund clause. The agent ("doer") of the clause is expressed as his, their, her, etc. (genitive pronoun¹)or informally, as him, her, them, us, etc.(accusative [obj.] pronoun) The pronoun usually refers to a person different from the subject of the main clause.
SUBJ + PREDICATE	COMPLEMENT
Jill recalls	Jack's / Jack asking (her) if he could stay just a week. his / him asking asking her if…
Jill remembers	~herself / ²her asking him to visit for a week. asking him to visit for a week.
Jill anticipates	his / him wanting to stay another month.
Jill discussed	his / *him moving out of her apartment.
Jill imagines	his / him wanting to stay forever.
Jill resents	his / him (for) overstaying his welcome.

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner. See Word Categories.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

¹ the genitive relates a person, either by name (Jack→Jack's) or an object pronoun (him→his) to the gerund-participle clause that follows. In this sense, the genitive functions like a subordinator. Compare to the infinitive subordinator "for". Jill prefers for Jack to stay. Jill prefers Jack's staying. See Huddleston 14 §1.5[62].

² The subject of the gerund clause is usually omitted if it is the same as the subject of the main clause. See Huddleston 14 §1.5 [59c].

* not used / ~ questionable use, informal use

accusative – a noun form used when it is the object of the verb (her, him, us, them);

nominative – a noun form used when it is the subject of the verb (she, he, we, they)

(Huddleston14 §1.5-7, 14 §5.3 [31], "Genitive NP as subject of the gerund-participial" 14 §1.5 [58])

(Swan 295.4, 296.2)

Verbs complemented by a gerund clause with an agent (subject)

anticipate We anticipate buying more.	appreciate We appreciate having help.	can't help We can't help thinking about it.	celebrate We celebrated closing the deal.
delay We delayed telling them about it.	describe He described crossing the road.	detest We detest being called teens.	discuss They discussed buying a car.
dislike We dislike having to pack up again.	enjoy We enjoy seeing them often.	fancy She fancies having a new boyfriend.	foresee We foresee needing 1,000 more.
imagine We imagined sitting on a beach.	mention He mentioned wanting a raise.	*don't mind We don't mind smoking here.	miss We miss seeing our families.
put off We put off selling our car.	recall I recall meeting him before.	regret We regret not inviting them earlier.	relish We relish receiving the news.
resent He resents having to work late.	risk They risk losing everything in the deal.	tolerate They tolerate living without air-conditioning.	welcome We welcome receiving a bonus check.

Also in question form, "Do you mind my/me smoking here?

Gerund Clause w/ Subject

Genitive or "for" clause

Expressing the "agent" as a genitive vs. prepositional clause

GENITIVE GERUND CLAUSE
This group of verbs may be complemented by a genitive gerund clause. That is the agent of the clause takes the form of a genitive pronoun.
SUBJ + VERB	GENITIVE NOUN + GERUND
Jill excused	his staying so long.
Jack forgave	my not giving him a loan.
Jill prevented	our returning again.
Jack stopped	her locking him out. (prevented)

OBJECT + GERUND CLAUSE
This group of verbs also takes an object complement followed by a prepositional gerund clause. The preposition for or from are optionally included. The preposition subordinates the clause to the main clause.
SUBJ + VERB + OBJ	PREP + GERUND CLAUSE
Jill excused him	(for) staying so long.
Jack forgave me	(for) not giving him a loan.
Jill prevented us	(from) returning again.
Jack stopped her	(from) locking him out.

(Huddleston 14 §1.5, 14 §5.4 [46])

Verbs followed by gerunds with subject expressed as genitive or "for"

excuse	forgive	pardon	prevent
prohibit	stop

Gerund Clauses w/ Subject

Verb + Preposition Combinations

Expressing the "agent" in a prepositional clause

NOUN PHRASE
A specific group of verbs takes an object and preposition combination as a complement. The agent of the action in the prep. phrase (e.g., long stay) is understood from context.
SUBJ + VERB +	PREP + NOUN PHRASE
Jack apologized to her	for the long stay.
Jack blamed her	for his failure to find a job.
Jack complained to her	about his lack of money.
Jack congratulated her	on her victory.
Jack thanked her	for her hospitality.

GERUND CLAUSE
A preposition may also be followed by a gerund clause. The 'agent" (subject) of the gerund clause is included in the form of a genitive pronoun. (The preposition subordinates the nonfinite clause.)
SUBJ + VERB +	PREP + PRN + GERUND CLS
Jack apologized to her	for his (her) having to stay so long.
Jack blamed her	for his (her) failure to find a job.
Jack complained to her	about his (her) not having money.
Jack congratulated her	on (her) winning the argument.
Jack thanked her	for (her) letting him stay a while longer.

Note that traditionally, a preposition takes an object as a complement; however, in current linguistic description, a preposition can take a wide variety of complements. See Prep Complements.

direct object pronoun– me, you him, her, them us; prepositional phrase (PP) – to me, to you, to him, to her, to them, to us.
Also see Ditransitive Verbs

Verb + preposition combination list

adjust to We adjusted to their living farther away.	agree on / to We agreed on her moving into her own office.	apologize for He apologized for his having forgotten the meeting.	approve of We approved of his wanting to go to college.
believe in We believe in following the principles of our constitution.	blame for They blamed him for causing the house fire.	care about They don't care about our living together.	congratulate on We congratulated them on their winning the award
decide against We decided against his joining us full time.	get used to They are getting used to his working on the weekends.	insist on They are insisting on our staying at least a week.	look forward to They are looking forward to our visiting them.
put off They will put off her coming for a visit.	rely on We rely on their assisting us.	succeed in They will succeed in their making a new world record.	warn against We warned against his joining that group.

See Verb + Prep List

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Traditional and Linguistic Description

Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION	LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
In traditional grammar, you is the object of the verb thank. The gerund (verbal noun) is the object of the preposition for.	In example (A) the pronoun you is the object of the verb thank. The preposition for, a grammaticized preposition, is closely associated with the verb. The verb requires this particular preposition. The gerund clause complements the preposition. (A preposition can be complemented by a wide variety of structures not limited to a noun.) (Huddleston14 §1.5-7)
A. PRONOUN + PREPOSITION	A. PRONOUN + PREPOSITION
Click the diagram to enlarge it.
In traditional grammar, the gerund (a verbal noun) functions as the object of the clause. The genitive pronoun is a determiner for the verbal noun. Using the object pronoun was informal usage. This point is not included in Azar. See list 14-9. It is normally introduced with the expression "Would you mind my/me smoking here?"	In example (B) the pronoun you or the genitive pronoun determiner your is the subject of the nonfinite gerund-participle clause. Huddleston states that the genitive pronoun pronoun before a gerund-particpial clause might be argued as "some kind nominal–verbal hybrid construction, but we believe it is better, for several reasons, to regard the genitive as having been reanalysed as a clause subject." 14 §1.5 [59]
B. GENITIVE PRONOUN	B. PRONOUN / GENITIVE PRONOUN

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning (DO – direct object; IO – indirect object); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

Also see structure of Buy vs. Thank "He bought a gift for me." "He thanked me for the gift."

Works Cited

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

Practice 1

Commenting on the activities of others

Add pronouns and/or prepositions to complete the sentence.

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-10" button.

George fixed my front door. I appreciate his work.
I thanked fixing my door.

Feedback 1

I'd like to smoke a cigarette here.
Do you mind smoking here?

Feedback 2

The movie academy gave the award to a young, new actress.
The other actresses resented giving the award to someone new.

Feedback 3

Jack and Jill were having marriage problems.
She blamed flirting with other women.

Feedback 4

Jay was upset with his guitar.
Later, he apologized having a temper tantrum.

temper tantrum (n. ) – fit, display of anger

Feedback 5

The toddler wanted a gum ball.
The boy's mother stopped taking a gum ball.

Feedback 6

I wanted to leave the doctor's office.
The nurse prevented leaving the office without getting a flu shot. nurse

Feedback 7

Joe waited until the last day to write his report.
Joe blames waiting until the last minute. working late

Feedback 8

My neighbor likes peace.
My neighbor complained making a lot of noise. grandfather

Feedback 9

10.

I missed the target!
Pardon missing the target.

Feedback 10

Practice 3

Thank You Letter

Complete the sentence within the paragraph.

Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check 21-25" or "Check 26-31" button.

21-25

Dear Carla and Bob,
Thank donating to Glow Foundation. Your generous gift will benefit our students from under—resourced communities to succeed in college and beyond. We appreciate giving Glow Scholars an opportunity to achieve their educational goals. Next month, we have another fundraising event in which we will honor this year's graduates. We will be congratulating completing their final year with the Glow Program. We look forward to working with us in the future. We hope that we can count on continuing support of the Glow Foundation.
Sincerely, Jane Reed
Executive Director

26-30.

Dear Management
Pardon bringing this matter to your attention instead of bringing it to the attention of my manager. However, it is my manager about whom I am writing. Last month, I noticed that the data for our company sales report had been changed and were inaccurate. When I told my manager, he prevented doing anything to correct the data. In fact, he accused "putting my nose in someone else's business". I am writing to you because the success of this company is OUR business. I resent dismissive behavior. When I spoke to the other employees in my department, they became concerned. We don't want you to blame the inaccurate data in the sales reports. My coworkers and I would appreciate giving some attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Joe Reed
Accounting Department

Dear Management
Pardon bringing this matter to your attention instead of bringing it to the attention of my manager. However, it is my manager about whom I am writing. Last month, I noticed that the data for our company sales report had been changed and were inaccurate. When I told my manager, he prevented doing anything to correct the data. In fact, he accused "putting my nose in someone else's business". I am writing to you because the success of this company is OUR business. I resent dismissive behavior. When I spoke to the other employees in my department, they became concerned. We don't want you to blame the inaccurate data in the sales reports. My co—worker and I would appreciate giving some attention to this matter. Sincerely,
Joe Reed
Accounting Department