Основы теории английского языка. Листунова Е.И. - 72 стр.

ally dropped, the ing-form taking the.noun following as its direct
object (He thanked him for saving his life), thus crystallizing into a
new form, the gerund. The following examples show the gradual tran-
sition from the verbal noun to the gerund; the ing-noun still retains
the article, but the preposition has already disappeared:
      Nothing in his life || Became him like the leaving it (Shakes-
peare). With the finding the little infant (Fielding).
      Later on the gerund, becoming more and more verbal, devel-
oped tense distinctions and the passive voice, and preserving still its
syntactical characteristics of a noun assumed to a great extent the dy-
namic force of a verb.
      The gerund has both verb and noun characteristics.

                 Verb Characteristics of the Gerund

     The gerund has the following verb-characteristics:
     1. It has tense forms — indefinite and perfect. The tenses of the
gerund comprise relative time indication. Indefinite: writing, being
written Perfect: having written, having been written:
      a) The indefinite gerund expresses that the action denoted by
the gerund is simultaneous with the action of the finite form of the
verb in the sentence: ...She enjoyed sitting in the sun... (Harraden).
I was tired of reading and dead sleepy... (Dickens). Jolyon stood a
moment without speaking (Galsworthy).
      The indefinite gerund may also refer to the future when it
depends on such verbs as to intend, to insist, etc.:
      I intend going there to-morrow. She insists on starting at six
o’clock. I rely on his doing it properly.
      b) The perfect gerund indicates that the action of the gerund
precedes the action of the finite verb in the sentence:
      He did not remember ever having seen her in black. (Gals-
worthy). He was conscious of having acted very fairly... (Eliot).
      The indefinite gerund is commonly used instead of the perfect
gerund after the prepositions on (upon) and after because the mean-
ing of the preposition itself indicates that the action of the gerund
precedes that of the finite verb:
      ...I paused outside the parlour door, on hearing my mother’s
voice (Dickens). ...My mother, after vainly trying to restrain herself,
began to cry (Dickens). That was what she did this morning on reach-

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