having been detected, confessed to many misdoings. We feel that, having studied this lesson two hours, we ought to go out to play a while. Grown now to be six feet tall I am no more to be called a boy. Being caused some uneasiness by the noise, I left my accustomed quarters. Being now much sought after, he lost his head, as we say. GERUNDS.' Read again pars. 58 and 319. 338. Besides Participles and Infinitives, there are Verbals of a third kind, which are called Gerunds. Participles might be called Adjective Verbals; and Gerunds might be called Noun Verbals. (Infinitives, as we have seen, may be used as Nouns, Adjectives, or Adverbs.) 339. Like the Present Participle, the Present Gerund ends in -ing, but the two are entirely different in origin and in use. 340. In the sentence, He is ill from working too steadily, working, though it is the Object of the Preposition from, cannot be called a Noun, because it is modified by the Adverb steadily. In the sentence, Reading history is one of my greatest pleasures, reading, though it is the Subject of the Verb is, cannot be called a Noun, because it governs an Object, history. In those sentences, working and reading are not Participles because Participles are like Adjectives in their use and do not have Case. 341. Working and reading, in the sentences given, are Gerunds. A Gerund has Case like a Noun (and is thus 1 See "Notes for Teachers," p. 324, Note 30. distinguished from a Participle). But a Gerund also governs Case like a Verb, or has Adverbial Adjuncts (and is thus distinguished from a Noun). Examples of Gerund as Subject. Reading books about animals is interesting. Examples of Gerund as Object. I like riding a horse better than riding a bicycle. Examples of Gerund in the Objective Case after a Preposition. Mr. Sidney is fond of hunting bears. Wash before eating a mouthful. Men who believe in working faithfully are apt to succeed. 342. Sometimes it may seem a little hard to decide whether a word is an Abstract Noun or a Gerund. When it has an Article before it (see par. 275), it had better be called a Noun [as, "After the passing of the Act"]; and when it has an Object or an Adverbial Adjunct, as in the examples given above, it must be called a Gerund. In the sentence "Writing is a useful art," writing is a Noun.2 But in the sentences" Writing poetry is difficult" and "Writing correctly is learned by long practice," writing is a Gerund; having, in one sentence, an Object, poetry, and in the other an Adverbial Adjunct, correctly. A Gerund is frequently preceded by a Noun or Pronoun in the Possessive Case; as, “I am tired of his coming here;' John's saying what he did annoyed them." In Parsing a Gerund say from what Verb it is formed, in what Case it is, and what Case (if any) it governs. 1 Or when it is followed by of with the Noun which is the Object of the Verb named by the word ending in -ing. 2 See other examples in Exercise 8, a. Pick out Exercise 159. a. The Present Participles, and parse the Gerunds. In keeping Thy commandments there is great reward. After hearing the news I came away. Stanley, traveling across Africa, found Livingstone. Whipping a dead horse is foolish. The boy whipping a top is Richard Dolan. After receiving the letter the woman went out. Sowing the seed comes before reaping the grain. I failed through taking no pains. The soldier was promoted for doing his duty. The boy had a passion for wandering in strange lands and seeking adventures. 343. Each Verb has as many Gerunds as it has Participles containing the syllable -ing (see pars. 336, 337). That is, the Gerunds of the Verb make are the same in form as its Participles, except that the Perfect Participle made is not a Gerund. 344. We should by this time have learned to distinguish between the following classes of words ending in -ing: 1. Nouns (see pars. 4, 112); as, "Walking is my favorite exercise,” "The shearing of the sheep takes place to-day,” "The culprit received several thwackings." 2. Participles (see pars. 336, 337); as, "The wind gently blowing from the sea cooled her brow," "The trouble having been forgotten, our friendship was renewed." 3. Participial Adjectives (see pars. 59, 332); as, "Whistling girls and crowing hens," "A blinding snow-storm." ་་ [It may be noted that some Participial Adjectives have lost all verbal meaning and have become purely adjectival; as, A pleasing landscape,' "A most interesting book."] 4. Gerunds (read again pars. 339, 341); as, "The man is sad from having lost his son," The prophet wore a veil to keep his face from being seen." 5. Part of many forms of the Verb (see pars. 12, 16); as, "We have been reading a good story," "The horse is being curried.” Exercise 160. Pick out the words ending in -ing, and tell to which of the above classes they belong. We are having too much of this trifling. The jolting of this wagon is very trying. From running so hard we were having trouble in getting our breath. A moment after mounting the horse the boy was fast being lost to sight. I enjoyed the walking of that last mile. enjoy brisk walking. I enjoyed walking that last mile. I enjoy walking briskly. Those men's talking annoys me. That is the result of your talking too carelessly. I stood watching a boy chasing a cat. The soldier was observing some smoke which he saw rising, a mile or more away, from a burning building. The receiving of this encouraging letter was what kept us from losing all hope. Seeing is believing [Nom. Case]. Traveling is interesting. I am fond of traveling. Giving is more blessed than receiving [Nom. Case]. Ready writing makes not good writing, but good writing brings on ready writing. Going down the road this morning I found my friend Frank fishing in the brook. Showing pleasure at the sight of me, he asked me to join in the fishing. So cutting a branch for a fishing rod I was soon beside him on the bank. Good writing is not often met with. The typewriter is a writing machine. Writing as rapidly as I could, I finished the letter in time for the mail. The hawthorn bush with seats beneath the shade, Shining eyes, very blue, Opened very wide. Nay, start not at the sparkling light. Well rewarded if I spy Pleasure in thy glancing eye. You little twinkling stars that shine.. The valley smiled in living green. TENSES. 345. Notice the following sets of sentences :— (1) Mr. Marshall lives in London. Mr. Marshall lived in York. Mr. Marshall will live in Naples. (2) Jack is in the playground now. Jack will be on the river this evening. 346. Each Verb gives us some notion of the time. Is and lives speak of present time. Was and lived speak of past time. Will be and will live speak of future time. 1 347. A Verb may thus have three times or Tenses 1-the Present, the Past, and the Future. So NOTE. The term Present has already been used, as a name for certain of the Infinitives, Participles, and Gerunds (see page 145, footnote 1). As applied to Verbals, however, the term Present is inaccurate, as the time or tense belonging to a Present Infinitive, for example, depends upon the tense of a Verb in the sentence. Thus in the sentence, "The last time you called you had to leave early," the Present Infinitive to leave denotes an action now past, since it depends upon the Verb had, which is in the Past Tense. with the Present Participle and the Present Gerund in these sentences: "Going down the street one day recently, I met old Mr. Crothers," "I was then in the habit of walking to my office." In the same way, if a Present Verbal depends upon a Verb which is in the Future Tense, the Verbal becomes future in meaning; as, "In case of my finding him at home, what shall I do?" "If you will be there, waiting for him, he says he will not disappoint you,' "We shall soon be ready to start." 348. The Future Tense is formed by means of the Auxiliaries shall and will. In expressing simple futurity shall is used with Subjects of the 1 From the French temps, time; from the Latin tempus, time. |