Основы теории английского языка. Листунова Е.И. - 78 стр.

     He likes to smoke (âûêóðèòü) a cigarette and then to go for a
walk. He likes smoking (êóðèòü) a cigarette by the fireside.
     The action of the infinitive often refers to the subject of the
sentence, whereas the action of the gerund used in the same con-
nection is not necessarily associated with the agent expressed by the
subject of the sentence, but may also refer to some other agent:
     She does not like to trifle with serious things (= herself). She
does not like trifling with serious things (= either herself or when
somebody else does it).

             Constructions (Complexes) with the Gerund

      1. Sometimes the gerund is preceded by a possessive pronoun or
a noun in the possessive case: I insist on Mary’s (her) going there.
      In this construction the relation between the noun (or pro-
noun) and the gerund is that of secondary subject and secondary
predicate (Mary’s [her] going = ÷òîáû Ìýðè [îíà] ïîøëà òóäà).
      Such a construction may have the function of a complex subject,
predicative, object, attribute or adverbial modifier.
      Jim’s coming to that fishing village was a blessing... (Conrad
(complex subject). I began to picture to myself ...my being found dead
in a day or two, under some hedge... (Dickens) (complex direct object).
She wondered at his caring for things like that... (Mansfield) (complex
prepositional object). There was little likelihood of his meeting anybody
at that time (Jîóñå) (complex attribute). How did you get out without
his seeing you? (Voynich) (complex adverbial modifier).
      A gerundial complex used as subject is often introduced by an
antici patory it:
      It was quite unexpected his coming back so soon. It is not worth
while your going there today. It’s not much good my coming, is it?
      Perhaps it’s of no use my mentioning it at present (Eliot). It was
not of the least use my trying to look wise (Dickens).
      2. If the noun which precedes the gerund cannot be used in the
possessive case, the common case is used:
      He did not recollect such a thing having happened to him before
(Galsworthy). Meanwhile, the rain came down in steady torrent, and
the lower part of the town was under watel owing to the river having
overflowed (Jerome).


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