He can swim for any number of hours without tiring. (Hichens)
Он может плыть много часов подряд, не уставая.
She walked on without turning her head. (Hardy)
Она шла, не поворачивая головы.
2. The Perfect Gerund denotes an action prior to that of the finite verb.
She denies having spoken with him.
Она отрицает, что говорила с ним.
He was ashamed of having shown even the slightest irritation. (Bennett)
Ему было стыдно, что он проявил раздражение, хотя и очень слабое.
However, a prior action is not always expressed by a Perfect Gerund; in some cases we find an Indefinite Gerund. This occurs after the verbs to remember, to excuse, to forgive, to thank and after the prepositions on (upon), after, and, without.
I don't remember hearing the legend before. (Hardy)
Я не помню, чтобы я когда-нибудь слышала эту легенду.
You must excuse my not answering you before. (Collins)
Вы должны извинить меня за то, что я не ответил вам раньше.
I thank you for restraining me just now. (Ch. Bronte)
Я благодарен вам за то, что вы сейчас помогли мне сдержаться.
On leaving the house we directed our steps to the nearest shade. . (Collins)
Выйдя из дома, мы направились в тень.
The Perfect Gerund may also be used after the above mentioned verbs and prepositions.
He did not remember having been in that room. (Galsworthy)
Он не помнил, чтобы когда-нибудь был в этой комнате.
The voice distinctions of the gerund.
The gerund of transitive verbs has special forms for the active and the passive voice.
He liked neither reading aloud nor being read aloud to. (Maugham)
Он не любил ни читать вслух, ни слушать чтение.
It is to be observed that after the verbs to want, to need, to deserve, to require and the adjective worth the gerund is used in the active form, though it is passive in meaning.
"The slums want attending to, no doubt," he said. (Galsworthy)
«Без сомнения, трущобами надо заняться», -- сказал он.
He realized that his room needed painting.
Он понял, что его комнату надо покрасить.
Differences Between Gerund and the Participle/Verbal Noun
The gerund and the participle.
In most cases the differentiation between the gerund and the participle does not present any difficulty.
Unlike the participle the gerund may be preceded by a preposition, it may be modified by a noun in the possessive case or by a possessive pronoun; it can be used in the function of a subject, object, and predicative. In the function of an attribute and of an adverbial modifier both the gerund and the participle may be used, but the gerund in these functions is always preceded by a preposition.
There are cases, however, when the differentiation between the gerund and the participle presents some difficulty; for instance, it is not always easy to distinguish between a gerund as part of a compound noun and a participle used as an attribute to a noun. One should bear in mind that if we have a gerund as part of a compound noun, the person or thing denoted by the noun does not perform the action expressed by the ing-form: e.g. a dancing-hall (a hall for dancing), a cooking-stove (a stove for cooking), walking shoes, a writing-table, etc. B.S. Khaimovich, B.I. Rogovskaya. A Course in English Grammar. 1966 p. 98
If we have a participle used as an attribute the person denoted by the noun performs the action expressed by the mg-form: e.g. a dancing girl (a girl who dances), a singing child, etc.
However, there are cases which admit of two interpretations; for example a sewing machine may be understood in two ways: a machine for sewing and a machine which sews; a hunting dog may be a dog for hunting and a dog that hunts.
The gerund and verbal noun.
The gerund should not be confused with the verbal noun, which has the same suffix -ing. The main points of difference between the gerund and the verbal noun are as follows:
1.
Like all the verbals the gerund has a double character-- nominal and verbal.
The verbal noun has only a nominal character.
2.
The gerund is not used with an article.
The verbal noun may be used with an article.
The making of a new humanity cannot be the privilege of a handful of bureaucrats. (Fox)
I want you to give my hair a good brushing. (Hardy)
3.
The gerund has no plural form.
The verbal noun may be used in the plural.
Our likings are regulated by our circumstances. (Ch. Bronte)
4.
The gerund of a transitive verb takes a direct object.
He received more and more letters, so many that he had given up reading them. (Priestley)
A verbal noun cannot take a direct object; it takes a prepositional object with the preposition of.
Meanwhile Gwendolen was rallying her nerves to the reading of the paper. (Eliot)
5.
The gerund may be modified by an adverb.
Drinking, even temperately, was a sin. (Dreiser)
The verbal noun may be modified by an adjective.
He (Tom) took a good scolding about clodding Sid. (Twain )
Chapter 2 Syntax and Semantics of English Verbals
2.2.1 The Functions of the Infinitive in the Sentence
The infinitive can be used in different syntactic functions. A single infinitive occurs but seldom: in most cases we find an infinitive phrase, i.e. an infinitive with one or several accompanying words.
The infinitive as a subject.
To doubt, under the circumstances, is almost to insult. (Ch. Bronte)
Сомневаться при таких обстоятельствах -- это почти означает нанести оскорбление.
То acquire knowledge and to acquire it unceasingly, is the first duty of the artist. (Thurston)
Приобретать знания, и приобретать их непрерывно, -- вот первый долг художника.
From these examples we can see that the infinitive as a subject can be rendered in Russian by an infinitive, by a noun, or by a clause.
Though the infinitive as the subject sometimes precedes the predicate, cases when it follows the predicate are far more common; with the infinitive in the latter position, the sentence opens with the introductory it, which serves as an introductory subject. The introductory it is not translated into Russian. Швейцер А.Д. Теория перевода (статус, проблемы, аспекты). М., 1988. c. 101
It is useless to discuss the question. (Eliot)
Бесполезно обсуждать этот вопрос.
It was pleasant to be driving a car again. (Braine)
Было приятно снова вести машину.
The infinitive as a predicative.
My intention is to get into parliament. (Trollope)
Моя цель -- пройти в парламент.
The infinitive can also be used as part of a predicative.
The abode of Mrs. Betty was not easy to find. (Dickens)
Жилище миссис Бетти было нелегко найти.
The infinitive as part of a compound verbal predicate.
(a) With modal verbs, modal expressions, and verbs expressing modality the infinitive forms part of a compound verbal modal predicate.
We must not leave him by himself any longer. (Dickens)
The train was to leave at midnight. (Hemingway)
(b) With verbs denoting the beginning, duration, or end of an action the infinitive forms part of a compound verbal aspect predicate.
Imprisonment began to tell upon him. (Dickens)
Before daylight it started to drizzle. (Hemingway)
The infinitive as an object.
Leila had learned to dance at boarding school. (Mansfield)
After the verbs to allow, to order, to ask, to beg, to request, to implore, to teach, to instruct we often find two objects, one of which is expressed by an infinitive.
After waiting some time, Mrs. Clements ... ordered the cabman to drive back to her lodgings. (Collins)
He asked me to walk in. (Collins)
The infinitive used as an object can be preceded by the introductory object it. The introductory object is not translated into Russian.
He found it utterly impossible to leave the spot. (Hardy)
Он считал совершенно невозможным покинуть это место.
The infinitive as part of a complex object.
I never saw you act this way before. (Dreiser)
Я никогда раньше не видел, чтобы вы так поступали.
The infinitive as an attribute.
The use of the infinitive as an attribute is far more extensive in English than in Russian: in Russian it modifies only abstract nouns, whereas in English it modifies both abstract and class nouns, indefinite pronouns (somebody, something, anybody, anything, etc.), ordinal numerals and the adjective last.
The infinitive as an attribute is rendered in Russian by an infinitive (chiefly after abstract nouns), by a subordinate clause or by a finite verb serving as the predicate of a simple sentence (after ordinal numerals and the adjective last).
I have not had time to examine this room yet. (Conan Doyle)
У меня еще не было времени осмотреть эту комнату.
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