UNIVERSITATEA VALAHIA DIN TRGOVITE FACULTATEA DE TIINE UMANISTE SPECIALIZAREA ROMN - ENGLEZ

CONTRASTIVE APPROACH OF GERUND IN ENGLISH AND ROMANIAN

Student: Broiu Ctlina Gabriela Anul: III Grupa: I

Trgovite 2012

Introduction
The Gerund is a non-finite form of the verb, which combines the properties of the verb with those of the noun. The Gerund serves as the verbal name of process, and its substantive quality is strong pronounced. It can be modified by a noun in the possessive case or its pronominal equivalents (expressing the subject of the verbal process), and it can be used with prepositions. The verb characteristics of the Gerund: it has tense f o r m s - i n d e f i n i t e and perfect. a) The Indefinite Gerund Active and Passive denotes and action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb; depending on the tense form of the finite verb it may refer to the present, past, or future: He can swim any number of hours without tiring. She walked on without turning her head. No one could pass in or out without being seen. b) The Perfect Gerund denotes and action prior to that of the finite verb. She denies having spoken with him. He was ashamed of having shown even the slightest irritation. The noun characteristics of the Gerund: it is used as the subject or object (direct or prepositional) of t h e s e n t e n c e . Crossing the river was a hard task (subject) She enjoyed sitting in the sun (direct object). Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. Smith. (prepositional object)

English Gerund
In Modern English, the Gerund is widely used: 1. With the verbs and verbal phrases: to avoid, to burst out, to deny, to enjoy,to excuse, to fancy, to finish,to forgive, to give up, to go on, to keep (on), to leave off, to mind, t o p o s t p o n e , t o p u t o f f , c a n n o t h e l p a n d s o m e others:

They went on talking. I have left off shooting. Would you mind waiting a week or two? I don't mind going and seeing her. 2. With the following verbs and verbal phrases used with a preposition: to accuse of, to agree to, to approve of, to complain of, to depend on, to feel like, to insist on, to look like, to object to, to persist in, to prevent from, to r e l y o n , t o speak of, to succeed in, to suspect of, to thank for, to think of, to give up the idea of, to look forward to, not to like the idea of, to miss an (the) opportunity of and some others: I insist on being treated with a certain consideration. I object to his having any acquaintance at all with my sisters. You suspect me of stealing your diamond. 3. With the following predicative word-groups (with or without a preposition): to be aware of, to be busy in, to be capable of, to be fond of, to be guilty of, to be indignant at, to be pleased (displeased) at, to be proud of, to be sureof, to be surprised (astonished) at, to be worth (while) and some others: I felt physically incapable of remaining still in any one place, and morally incapable of speaking to any one human being.

Romanian Gerund
In Romanian, the Gerund shows that the action is performed in parallel with another action. It has no number, person or tense. 1. When the action performed by a finite verb is in the present, the Gerund has a present meaning, too. For ex . Lucrnd demult mpreun, se cunosc bine (pentru c lucreaz mpreun demult, se cunosc bine). 2. When the action performed by a finite verb is in the past, the Gerund has a past meaning.E.g. Revznd clasa, bncile, catedra, a fost cuprins de duioie (pentru c a revzut... a fost cuprins). 3. When the action performed by a finite verb is in the future, the Gerund has a future meaning.E.g.Va pleca, poate, bombnind (n acest timp va bombni). Se vedea luna strlucind (care strlucea).

4. When the Gerund is referred to a noun, it may be the equivalent for an attributive clause. 5. In general, the Gerund acts like an adverb, that is why it does not agree with the noun it is referred to (in attributive clauses). It may also refer to a verb (in non-attributive clauses). Sometimes it is difficult to establish whether the Gerund refers to a noun or to a verb. E.g. Cinele, simind primejdia, ltra cu disperare (simind may be the equivalent for an attributive clause care simea or for a causal clause ltra fiindc simea).

English Gerund Corresponding to Verbals in Romanian:

He started up growling at first, but finding his leg broke, fell down again. S-a ridicat urlnd, dar simindu-i laba rupt, czu. The English Gerund growling corresponds the Gerund in Romanian urlnd. The English example is one of the few English Gerunds used without a preposition. Which by keeping off at sea, to avoid the indraft... Unde, ieind n larg, s evitm curenii... The Gerund has the syntactical function of an adverbial modifier of manner which is preserved in Romanian and indicates that the action expressed by the Gerund is prior to the action of the finite verb.

The next day, in searching the woods, I found a tree. A doua zi, colindnd prin pdure, am gsit un pom. The action of the Gerund is labeled as being prior to the action of the finite form of the verb. It functions as an adverbial modifier of time, both in English and Romanian.

English Gerund Corresponding to Noun in Romanian:

The sixth day of our being at sea n a asea zi a drumului pe mare... In this sentence the Gerund has the function of an attribute, being preceded by the preposition of and modified by a possessive pronoun. It is translated into Romanian by noun with the function of an attribute.

Sometimes I changed my hours of hunting and working Cteodat, schimbam orele de vntoare cu cele de munc... The syntactical function of the Gerund remains the same in Romanian, but the Gerund is translated by means of noun. ...but it was so tame with being hungry... Foamea l slbise mult... The syntactical function of the English Gerund is adverbial modifier of cause. The Romanian noun has the function of a subject. Here, the English Gerund has not a perfect equivalent. It is translated by means of the noun with different functions in the sentence.

English Gerund Translated by Past Tenses in Romanian:

Imperfect: I improved myself in all mechanic exercises, which my necessities put me upon applying myself... Am devenit priceput n meteuguri unde cerinele m solicitau.... The prepositional object is the function of the English Gerund which has the meaning of a repeated action and is translated into Romanian as a verb, indicative mood, imperfect. Perfect simplu: I made forward for about eleven days more, without offering to go near the shore. mi urmai drumul spre sud aproape unsprezece zile, n care timp nu m mai gndii s m apropii de uscat. The English Gerund has the function of an adverbial modifier of manner determined by the preposition without. It is translated into Romanian as verb, indicative mood, perfect simplu. Perfect Compus: I was going to give thanks to God for bringing me to this place. M pregteam s-i mulumesc lui Dumnezeu c m-a adus aici.

The English Gerund is an adverbial modifier of cause. The Romanian variant is represented by a verb, indicative mood, perfect compus, that functions as predicate in the sentence.

Mai-mult-ca-perfect: but with much chopping and cutting knotty and hard wood, they were all full of notches... Din cauz c cioplisem buturugi multe i noduroase, securile erau mai toate tocite... The Indefinite Gerund has the syntactical function of an adverbial modifier of cause and indicates an action, which precedes the action expressed by the predicate verb. It is translated into Romanian as a finite verb, indicative mood, mai-mult-ca-perfect, which functions as a predicate.

Conclusions:
The Gerund is the non-finite form of the verb, which combines the properties of a verb and those of a noun. It is formed by adding the ending ing to the root of the verb. The Gerund is not restricted in number and person by any subject. It has no mood distinction as well. Thus the Gerund cannot express predication by itself; it can only be a part of a predicate but for this it must always be in connection with the finite forms of the verb (both in English and Romanian). According to its characteristics, the Gerund performs the respective syntactical functions. Having nominal characteristics it functions as subject, object,and predicative (also in both English and Romanian). When the Gerund has verbal characteristics, it has tense and voice distinction. The forms called tenses of the Gerund comprise time indication; they indicate whether the action expressed by the Gerund coincides or is prior to the action of the finite verb (only in English). In the majority of cases the English Gerund is used with prepositions. The situation is quite different with Romanian Gerund,which, practically is not accompanied by prepositions. The English Gerund can be translated into Romanian as Gerund with the same syntactical functions in the most cases. It can be also translated as a noun, but the syntactical functions differ.

As a result of the contrastive approach of Gerund in English and Romanian, I may assert that the English Gerund does not always correspond to the Romanian Gerund. It may be rendered by means of another part of speech as those presented above.

REFERENCES:
1. Greenbaum, Sidney, 1996, The Oxford English Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2. Vince, Michael, 2003, English Grammar and Vocabulary, Oxford: Macmillan. 3. Gramatica Limbii romne.Cuvntul, coord. Valeria Guu-Romalo, 2005, vol I, Bucureti: Editura Academiei Romne. 4. Gramatica de baz a limbii romne, coord. Gabriela Pan Dindelegan, 2010, Bucureti: Editura Univers Enciclopedic Gold.