Non-Finite Clauses in English: Formal Properties and Function

N. Aljović, Non-finites (ms.
2017)
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Non-finite Clauses in
English
Formal Properties and Function
Nadira Aljović
University of Zenica, English Department, Spring 2017
A draft version: all comments are welcome!
Non-finite clauses in English

N. Aljović, Non-finites (ms. 2017)
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PART I – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3

1. GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT SUBORDINATION.............................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Compound vs. complex sentences ............................................................................................................ 4
1.2 Classification of subordinate clauses ........................................................................................................ 4
1.3 Exercises ................................................................................................................................................... 5
2. NON-FINITE AND VERBLESS CLAUSES – GENERAL REMARKS.......................................................................................... 6
2.1 Types and properties ................................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.1 Subject ................................................................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.2 Objects ................................................................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.3 Adverbials ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.4 Subordinators ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.5 Modals, passive ................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 From non-finite to verbless clauses .......................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Subjectless non-finite clauses ................................................................................................................... 8
2.4 Non-finites with an overt subject ........................................................................................................... 10
2.5 Functions of non-finite clauses ............................................................................................................... 11
2.6.1 Infinitive clauses ............................................................................................................................................... 11
2.6.2 Ing-Participle Clauses ........................................................................................................................................ 12
2.6.3 Ed-Participial clauses......................................................................................................................................... 12
2.6.4 Verbless clauses ................................................................................................................................................ 12
2.6 Exercises ................................................................................................................................................. 13
PART II – FORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF NON-FINITE CLAUSES ................................................. 15
3. GERUND NOMINALS ........................................................................................................................................... 16
3.1 Morphology ............................................................................................................................................ 16
3.2 Internal structure of gerund nominals .................................................................................................... 17
3.2.1 Determiners ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
3.2.2 Of-phrase .......................................................................................................................................................... 18
3.2.3 Modifiers: adjectives, prepositional phrases, relative clauses .......................................................................... 19
3.2.4 Noun compounding with gerunds .................................................................................................................... 19
3.3 Function of gerund nominals .................................................................................................................. 20
3.4 Exercises ................................................................................................................................................. 20
4. PARTICIPIAL CLAUSES .......................................................................................................................................... 21
4.1 Morphology and Temporal Interpretation ............................................................................................. 22
4.2 Internal Structure of –ing Participial Clauses ......................................................................................... 23
4.2.1 Subject .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
4.2.2 Object................................................................................................................................................................ 25
4.2.3 Adverbials ......................................................................................................................................................... 26
4.3 Functions of –ing clauses ........................................................................................................................ 27
4.3.1 Subject function ................................................................................................................................................ 27
4.3.2 Predicational complement ................................................................................................................................ 28
4.3.3 Appositive modifiers of nouns .......................................................................................................................... 28
4.3.4 Adjectival complement ..................................................................................................................................... 29
4.3.5 Object function ................................................................................................................................................. 29
4.3.6 Complement of preposition .............................................................................................................................. 30
4.3.7 Adverbial function............................................................................................................................................. 32
4.3.8 Postmodifiers of nouns ..................................................................................................................................... 34
4.4 Exercises ................................................................................................................................................. 35
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PART I – INTRODUCTION
Basics 1: Basic sentence elements (p. 204, ch. 10 in QG 1990)
Subject (S): The sun is shining

Direct object (DO): That lecture bored me
Indirect object (IO): I must send my parents an anniversary card
Predicational complement Your dinner seems/is ready.
Pc (in Q&G called subject
complement or SC):
Adverbial (A), optional: We met Mary in a pub.
Verb (V): The sun is shining
That lecture bored me
Basics 2: The verb element can be finite or non-finite

 Finite verb elements express agreement and tense in English (they agree with their subject and
have tense morphology or interpretation – past/present/future; English agreement and/or tense
morphology is not always explicit). In English, finite verbs need a visible subject in the
nominative (e.g. I work hard, not *Me work hard.).
 Non-finite verbs (bezlični) do not express person (lice) or tense (do not agree with the subject,
have implicit and dependent tense interpretation but no tense inflection (ending) for past or
present). Non-finite verbs do not need a visible subject in English; their subject is in the
objective case: e.g. me, not I.
 Sentences and clauses that contain a finite verb element (V) are called finite clauses.
 Clauses that contain a non-finite verb element (V) are called non-finite clauses.
 All modal verbs in English are finite; auxiliaries for tense, aspect, and voice, as well as lexical
verbs, can appear in non-finite or finite forms.
The goal: Analysis of English non-finite verb forms: understanding their function and the internal
structure of non-finite clauses; studying the formal description of non-finite clauses.
A necessary tool of analysis: Immediate constituent analysis - identifying the immediate constituents
of each sentence element. Examples:
The sun is shining

SSV S  NP NP D N D the N sun
V  is shining
That lecture bored me

S  S V DO S  NP NP  D N D  that N  lecture
V  bored
DO pers.pron  me
Some sentence elements can be realized by clauses, finite or non-finite. Such clauses are called
subordinate or embedded clauses. One type of subordinate clause is relative clause; it functions as
postmodifier of nouns in NP.
Ex: [The man [Rel.cl. who is over there]] is my brother.
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1. General remarks about subordination
1.1 Compound vs. complex sentences

Two or more coordinating clauses make up compound sentences (ex. Bob loves Mary, but Mary hates
Bob).
When one or more sentence elements (ex. subject, object) are realized by clauses, we are dealing with
complex sentences.
Consider the following examples of sentences containing embedded clauses:

He felt that he should dislike the little girl intensely.
He decided that he should never meet her again
He believed sincerely that a friendship with her would be exciting.
Bracketing: [main cl. [He ] [felt [embedded cl. that .... intensely]]]
Immediate constituent analysis: S S V DO
The embedded clause functions as DO in the example above; it should be possible to promote it into
the Subject of the corresponding passive sentence:
[That he should dislike the little girl intensely] was felt by William
Even if not very elegant (the verb feel does not appear readily in passive), the sentence is grammatical,
though it would sound better with so-called 'it-extraposition':
It was felt by William that he should dislike the little girl intensely.
Clauses can function as DO (complement of V) and also as S.
Embedded clauses can function as Adjuncts (or adverbials)
Someone approached William [when he was walking down the road].

I will meet you at the station [if I can].
Immediate constituent analysis: S V DO A
Adverbials: optional, describing circumstances of the event denoted by the verb (time, condition,
place, manner, reason, etc.).
Embedded clauses functioning as sentence adverbials:

John will come back soon, as far as I know.
Philip does not like it here, if I am not mistaken.
Focusing test: it is not possible to focus S-adverbials (cleft sentences and questions create a focusing
context):
*It is not as far as I know that John will come back soon.
When/where/why will John come back? – #As far as I know. (# - odd)
When did someone approach William?

It was when he was walking down the road that someone approached William. (regular adverbial,
focusing is okay)
1.2 Classification of subordinate clauses

Clauses can be classified according to their form, force, and function.
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Form / structure. The form of the verb determines the form of the whole clause, which can be:
1. Finite
2. Non-finite
3. Verbless
Sentence type (correlating with a typical illocutionary force):

1. declarative (statement)
2. interrogative (question)
3. exclamative (exclaiming)
4. imperative (order, request)
According to their function - Functional classes:

Nominal functions (obligatory elements):
1. Complement clauses (of V, P, A, N)
2. Subject
3. Predicational complement (subject and object complement)
4. (Adverbial complements (you put it wherever you want))
Adverbial function
5. adverbial clauses
Modifiers in NP, AdvP, AP:

6. relative clauses (finite)
7. non-finite clauses
8. comparative clauses (finite) (He is cleverer than we thought)
1.3 Exercises
Practice 1. Identify embedded clauses in the following examples:
1. One evening he asked her whether he might go home with her.
2. His aunt feared that he might catch something.
3. His uncle said that evil communications corrupted good manners.
4. John believes that Sue is a good student.
5. I wonder if he still remembers that day in April.
6. That John should have done such a thing is rather worrying.
7. That he will propose to her soon is unlikely.
8. I doubt whether he will ever manage to finish the book.
Practice 2. Identify adverbials realized by embedded clauses:

1. She liked to put up lunches for him when he went hunting.
2. We had jolly evenings at the Harlings when the father was away. If he was at home, the
children had to go to bed early.
3. Though we did not realize it then, Mrs. Harling was our audience when we played.
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2. Non-finite and Verbless Clauses – General Remarks
Non finite verbs: Infinitive, -ing Participle, -ed Participle
Non-finite verbs are called non-finite because they do not express person or tense ("finite" properties
of verbs), and they do not agree with the subject, although they have some kind of temporal
interpretation (which is dependent on the temporal interpretation of a higher finite verb in the same
sentence).
We wanted to go to the seaside

He wants to go to the seaside
English makes extensive use of non-finite verb forms, unlike BCS. BCS has a very restricted use of
infinitives, and only adverbial use of one type of participial clause (so called clauses with 'glagolski
prilog’ in –ći/-vši).
2.1 Types and properties
Structural types:
1. To-infinitive
2. Bare infinitive
3. –ing part. clauses
4. –ed part. clauses
Structural properties of non-finite clauses:

- can appear with or without subject,
- can appear with or without a subordinator,
- cannot contain modals,
- 'have' can appear as an auxiliary in the –ing or infinitive forms to denote 'anterior tense',
- passive is possible
- used as embedded or subordinate clauses (S, DO, A etc.).
2.1.1 Subject
The subject of non-finite clauses is assigned the accusative case; in one type of –ing clauses it can be
in the genitive case, and only in one type of participial clauses do we find nominative subjects. If the
subject is not explicit (if it is null), then it is either controlled by (that is, it refers to) a nominal in a
higher clause, or is understood (implied) by the context (refers to a salient nominal in the larger
context), or it is interpreted arbitrarily (as so-called generic person: people, anybody).
I watched my son playing with his friends in the garden.

I watched him playing ...
It was not easy [(S) to watch starving children of Africa] (referring to a group of people
implied by the context)
Has it been difficult [(S) to study syntax this year]? (for you – implied by the question
oriented towards the audience)
Pay attention to frequency observation QG p. 266
2.1.2 Objects
Even when non-finite, transitive verbs require a complement, meaning that we find objects in non-
finite clauses too. Example:
to study grammar last year

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2.1.3 Adverbials
Similar to finite verbs, non-finite verbs can be modified by adverbials:
to study grammar last year
Conclusion: The most visible difference between various sentence elements of non-finite clauses
concerns the subject - it appears in the accusative case and it can be null (implicit).
2.1.4 Subordinators
Non-finite clauses can be introduced by subordinators, but this is not obligatory.
Infinitive clauses can be introduced by for,
-ing and –ed clauses can be introduced by with (for and with are not prepositions in this use, but
subordinators)
We can't afford for everyone to travel business class.

With John being the most experienced of their professors, she sought advice from him.
Subordinator-visible subject correlation: When non-finite clauses contain the subordinators with and
for they also contain a visible subject.
2.1.5 Modals, passive

Modal verbs are auxiliaries that do not have non-finite forms. Therefore they never appear in non-
finite clauses.
Auxiliaries that do appear in non-finite clauses are aspectual and voice auxiliaries: be (progressive,
passive) and have (perfective)
She wanted to be examined first

After being examined first, she decided to wait for the results.
Having failed once, Mary was sure that the exam questions would be difficult.
She was happy to have visited him before he died.
She was happy to be helping with the children.
2.2 From non-finite to verbless clauses

Compare:
1. John believes that the prisoner is innocent. finite
2. John believes the prisoner to be innocent non-finite
3. John believes the prisoner innocent. verbless
1. The prisoner to be innocent

2. The prisoner innocent reduced from (1),
V-less Cl  S (V) Pc (The use of parentheses indicates that the element is not
visible)
With verbless clauses it is possible to postulate an invisible variant of the verb be between S and Pc
(indicated by dots in the following examples):
He found the assignment (…) more difficult than he had expected.

You can count yourself (…) lucky.
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His attitude made real communication (…) impossible.
Used adverbially, non-finite and verbless clauses with subject can be introduced by 'with(out)'. Such
clauses function as adverbials and are called absolute constructions/clauses.
With the children (being) at school, we can't take our vacations when we want to.
For infinitive, gerund, participle forms, and participial and verbless clauses see Riđanović 2007 (Praktična
Engleska Gramatika), ch: 23, 27, 28, 29.
2.3 Subjectless non-finite clauses
Very often, non-finite clauses appear without a visible nominal expression functioning as subject.
The politician tried [to explain his position].
Although we cannot actually see it or hear it, we are able to interpret the subject of the infinitive clause
above: it is identical to the subject of the whole sentence, namely 'the politician'. However, it is easy to
show, and equally important to understand, that the noun phrase 'the politician' in the main clause does
not syntactically function as the subject of the infinitive. First, the main verb 'try' is transitive, which
means that it denotes an activity implying two participants, or arguments; these are realized by the NP
'the politician' and the infinitive clause 'to explain his position'1. The verb 'explain' in the infinitive
clause is also transitive; in the sentence He explained his position we see that it takes two arguments
(realized by 'he' and 'his position'). We can also see that this requirement is very strict and that in our
last sentence the subject must be present (or visible) – the sentence would be ungrammatical without a
subject (*Explained his position.) The question then arises how it is possible for the subject of the
same verb to be invisible (or absent) in our example above. A solution for this contradictory behaviour
comes from a concept of invisible or null syntactic elements which can be expressed by the following
generalization on syntactic structures:
Generalization 1: A syntactic structure can contain null elements. A null element is an element
that lacks phonological properties or content (that is, which is not pronounced) but carries semantic
properties or meaning (it is interpreted or implied).
According to our generalization, the seemingly contradictory behaviour of the verb 'explain' can be
resolved by postulating an invisible subject in the infinitive clause:
The politician tried [(S) to explain his position]
Summarizing, we can say that the traditional concept of implied or understood elements in sentences is
replaced by a more explicit concept of null elements. Non-finite clauses can be said to contain a
subject in the same way as finite clauses do (i.e. obligatorily), the only difference being that in non-
finite clauses the subject can be realized as a null (invisible) element.
Interpretation of the null subject

The null subject of a non-finite clause can be interpreted in three different ways:
1. as being controlled by an expression in the main clause
2. as referring to an expression within a larger context (paragraph, text, situation, etc.)
1 If you substitute a pronoun (e.g. something) for this infinitive clause, it will become clearer that the clause functions in the
same way as the pronoun, i.e. object of the verb 'tried':
- The politician tried something. ('something' replacing 'to explain his position')
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3. as referring to a generic person ('everybody', 'all people', etc.), i.e. as not being dependent on
any element in the context or the main clause.
1. Controlled subject. Consider the following example:
The politician promised to explain his position
In (3) the null subject of the infinitive clause is controlled by the main clause subject ('the politician').
We call such controlling subject control, and main verbs allowing it subject control verbs (e.g. try,
promise, want, refuse, etc.). Now consider the following example:
They persuaded the politician to explain his position
The situation is different here since the direct object of the main verb controls the null subject of the
infinitive verb. Such controlling is called object control, and main verbs allowing it are called object
control verbs (persuade, make, cause, etc.).
Another type of controlled subject is found in non-finite clauses functioning as adverbials, as in [(S)
Having written his manuscript ], he began to search for a publisher. In such cases, the controller is
practically always the subject of the main clause. However, English speakers make use of such
adverbial clauses with a non-subject NP in the main clause being identified as the subject of the non-
finite clause; these are so-called “dangling” participles:
Born and bred in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast was always my preferred destination to recharge
and socialize from my teenage years.
While trying on a wealthy woman's dress, a handsome and rich politician mistakes her for a
society woman.
Sometimes, no NP in the main clause provides a clue about the interpretation of the subject in the
participial adverbial clause:
Being desperately poor, paper was always scarce – as was ink.
The examples illustrated above are not rare, although for some speakers they are not acceptable, and
most speakers try to avoid such structures in careful writing. However, the following examples
illustrate "dangling" participial clauses that are fully established and acceptable (here the clauses
function as sentence adverbials and their subjects are identified by the speaker, i.e. some sort of
discourse "we"):
In the long run, taking everything into account, which is the wisest choice?
Strictly speaking, Great Britain consists of Scotland, Wales, and England.
2. Context/situation determined interpretation. Imagine a situation where several people comment

on their mutual decision to invite another person to their party, and one of them actually says:
It was not clever to invite Bob to our party. He is such a kill joy!
The situation makes it clear that the null subject of the infinitive clause is to be understood as referring
to whoever person(s) invited Bob to the party. The identity of such persons is made clear by the
situation the above utterance is used in, and is known by the participants in that situation.
A similar identification of a null subject of a non-finite clause, can occur within a larger piece of
writing or speech, containing an expression (an NP or a pronoun) which identifies the null subject.
This is illustrated by example (6):
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I would like you to read the two sections of the book beginning on pages 89 and 107. You will
present these sections to other students in our next class. So, it is important (S) to understand the
point the author is making in those sections.
NOTE: (S) stands for the null subject.
It is clear that the subject of the infinitive clause in the second sentence is whoever is referred to by
'you' in the first and the second sentence of this passage.
3. Generic interpretation. A null subject of a non-finite clause can also be interpreted as referring to
no particular person or group of people. Such interpretation is said to be generic or arbitrary (and can
be paraphrased as 'everybody', ‘nobody’, 'people in general'). The example in (7) illustrates this:
It is vital [(S) to eat fresh fruit and vegetables] / It is not easy [(S) to learn foreign languages].
2.4 Non-finites with an overt subject

The subject of a non-finite clause, when visible, is typically realized in two different forms: accusative
or genitive. The accusative is different only in pronouns, the genitive is visible in nouns and pronouns
alike. The two forms are not freely exchangeable, though. Simplifying slightly, we can say that the
accusative subject appears in infinitive and participial (-ing or –ed) clauses, while the genitive appears
only in –ing clauses. Exceptionally, certain –ing and –ed clauses admit nominative subjects (see 4.7).
Accusative subjects of non-finites. Accusative is the most usual case of a non-finite subject. In
infinitive clauses, only accusative subjects are allowed. Accusative appears in –ing clauses, too,
especially in less formal styles or when they have adverbial function. Finally, in –ed clauses, we find
accusative subjects only.
I want [him to answer the phone] (infinitive)

We talked about [their friends / them being arrested by the police]. (-ing clause, informal)
(With) the children / them being sick, we had to cancel our trip. (absolute clause, 'with' is not
obligatory and is less formal)
Someone actually saw [the cars / them stolen]. / [With the bicycles / them repaired], we decided to
ride to the beach.
Genitive subjects. The genitive case is used with –ing forms that have predominantly nominal
properties. In fact, taking a genitive subject is a nominal property itself since nouns take genitives as
determiners. Another nominal property is taking an of-phrase, in which case the genitive subject is
obligatory. The use of genitive instead of accusative as in the first of the following examples is more
formal and less frequent. In the second, however, the genitive is obligatory. The –ing form in this
sentence is called a gerund.
The teacher insisted on [their /the children's not playing computer games]. (or: them/the children
not playing…)
[The children's playing of computer games] irritated their parents. (cf. *The children playing of
computer games…)
Nominative subjects of –ing participial clauses. Exceptionally, nominative subjects can appear in a
very formal style and in a particular type of construction called the absolute construction, with –ing
participles.
Everybody wanted to buy her paintings, [(with) she being the best painter in the country]. (with her
being…)
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2.5 Functions of non-finite clauses

The present survey of the functions of non-finite clauses is organized according to their form: to-
infinitives, the two participles, and verbless clauses. All these appear in a wide range of functions,
which can be classified as nominal (subject and various types of complements), adverbial, and
modifying (where adverbial and modifying functions share the same property of being adjuncts, i.e.
optional sentence elements).
2.6.1 Infinitive clauses

Infinitival clauses appear in nominal functions (subject, complement) as well as in adjunct functions
(adverbial and modifier). Here are some examples:
Subject To leave without a word would be rude.

Extraposed subject It would be rude to leave without a word.
Complement of a (transitive) verb They want to buy a house in Hercegovina.
They expect us to be quiet.
They persuaded us to buy a house in Hercegovina.
Subject (predicational) complement The only solution is to attempt to resolve the conflict
peacefully.
Complement of an adjective He is ready to go now.
Appositive complement of a noun Your idea, to buy a house in Herzegovina, was greeted with
dismay by your children.
Their attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully failed.
Modifier of an adjective (detached) They are too young to get married.
Modifier of a noun I lost my purse to keep my pencils in. He is the only scientist
to have won this prize. You've got enough money to buy his
Modifier of an adverb shop.
She didn't run fast enough to catch the train.
Adverbial In order to save money, they use scrap paper for printing.
To be honest, I haven't seen her at all.
You would be a fool not to apply for that job.
In all the above examples (except one), the infinitivals appear without a subject. If a subject is present,
the infinitival clause is generally introduced by for:
For you to leave without a word would be rude.

The only solution is for both sides to attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Your idea, for your children to buy a house in Hercegovina, was greeted with dismay by them.
Infinitival clauses functioning as subjects are often extraposed; the extraposed sentence sounds less
formal than the non-extraposed one.
When an infinitival clause functions as a direct object of a verb, very often the subordinator for is not
used:
They want us to buy a house in Hercegovina.
Interrogative infinitivals. Infinitive clauses can be interrogative and function as complements to

verbs, prepositions, nouns, and adjectives:
I don't know whether to accept their proposition

They are not certain how to proceed
Everybody was anxious about whether to leave or stay.
A decision whether to abandon the project hasn't been made yet.
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In interrogative infinitivals, which are introduced by wh-words or phrases, no overt subject is

permitted.
How are the covert subjects in the above infinitival clauses interpreted?
Bare infinitives. Infinitive clauses sometimes appear without the marker to, but such infinitivals are
restricted to the function of complements of certain verbs, in which case they have visible subjects:
Can you help him do his homework?

Nobody made me do it.
We didn't see them walk in the street.
All I did was turn on the light. (null subject, the infinitive is within a pseudo-cleft sentence)
2.6.2 Ing-Participle Clauses

Like infinitive clauses, ing-participial clauses are found in a wide range of functions, both nominal and
adjunct ones:
Talking about politics is his favourite passtime.
Subject of a finite, infinitive, or Talking to you was a great pleasure, indeed.
verbless clause I consider [his talking about politics to be very interesting].
I consider [his talking about politics very interesting].
It was a great pleasure talking to you.
Extraposed subject
I found [it very interesting talking about politics with him].
Complement of a (transitive) verb I enjoyed talking to his parents.
Subject (predicational) complement His favourite passtime is fishing in mountain rivers.
He insisted on talking with his son's teacher.
Complement of a preposition
I'm looking forward to talking to you.
Modifier of a noun The professor talking to our students is Gregory Spenser.
Adverbial Thinking about his work, he forgot the teapot in the kitchen.
Extraposition of -ing clauses is not felt as preferred or more natural than the non-extraposed version,
which is the exact opposite of infinitival clauses.
Talking to you was a great pleasure

I found talking about politics with him very interesting, indeed.
Prepositions generally do not take infinitival complements, they select ing-participial complements.
Nouns cannot take ing-participial clauses as their complements, and adjectives do so rarely; -ing
clauses after nouns function only as noun postmodifiers.
2.6.3 Ed-Participial clauses

Clauses with past participles have limited distribution: they appear in adjunct functions (modifier and
adverbial), and as complements to a restricted set of verbs (mostly causative).
Modifier of Noun He never found that old book printed in blue ink.
We got them examined by a famous doctor
Complement of a causative verb I had my hair cut yesterday.
2.6.4 Verbless clauses

The function of verbless clauses is restricted to complements and adverbials:
They made everyone aware of his false accusations.
Complement of a verb They believed everyone responsible for the situation.
I consider him very clever.
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She had been telephoning to someone, without nobody around

her.
Adverbial The classes finally over, the students rushed out of the
University.
While in the restaurant, they were not allowed to smoke.
2.6 Exercises
I- Identify subordinate clauses in the text below by their type (2.1).
I asked why a penknife or a small safety razor could not be used instead of the thumb nail to take off
the old labels from the bottles. I was expertly informed that knives or razors would scratch the glass
thus depreciating the value of the bottles when they were to be sold. I enjoyed meeting the time clock,
and spent a pleasant half-hour punching various cards standing around, and then someone came in
and said I couldn't punch the clock with my hat on.
II - Which among the underlined verbs are infinitives:

1. All I did was give them your phone number.
2. You can stay at our cabin, but make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes.
3. I recommend that the proposal be approved without delay.
4. They advised me to reject your offer.
5. Should we give more money to charity than we do?
III - State the function of the underlined non-finite clauses:

1. It gave us an opportunity to make a quick profit.
2. This made obtaining a loan virtually impossible.
3. We're looking forward to seeing you again.
4. I can't decide what to do about it.
5. They arrived home to find that the house had been burgled.
6. Anyone knowing his whereabouts should contact the police.
7. I'm afraid asking for special consideration won't do any good.
IV- Rephrase the verbless clauses in the following examples using finite that-clauses and non-finite
infinitive clauses:
1. I want the dress ready by five o'clock.
2. He expects me in his office at 12.
3. He considered the girl a good student.
4. He thinks the decision very unwise.
5. He judged the man in his fifties.
V – Identify non-finite clauses in the following examples:

The pig was the last animal to be fully domesticated by the farmer.
1. For many centuries the farmer allowed it to continue there, leaving his pigs to look after
themselves most of the time.
2. As the woodlands began to shrink, the pig slowly began to be kept on the farm itself.
3. These were the Chinese pig, and its various relatives, including the Neapolitan pig, which
were descended from Chinese pigs.
4. In the early nineteenth century, all sorts and conditions of pig-farmer worked at improving all
sorts and conditions of pig.
5. The storehouse, which held foodstuffs and other goods that did not keep, had remained open
during the holidays.
6. She was neither dressed nor built for energetic activity on a hot day, being very short indeed,
and fat, so that she had to roll a little in order to get along.
7. Her tight black dress was worn without a belt or any ornaments other than a large metal cross,
well fingered but of no special value.
14
8. The worn old bag she carried caused her to lean over slightly to her right.
9. It was clear that she was used to carrying such heavy weights.
10. Reaching her usual bus stop, she put down her bag and rested. Then, suddenly, conscious of
being watched, she turned quickly round.
11. He was the only other person waiting.
12. This great nervous lump of a man, waiting for a bus or hanging about on the footpath outside
the storehouse, had become a figure of the street for her.
IV – Say how the subject of the non-finite verb is interpreted in each of the following examples:
1. Carter was usually able to catch the 6.35 train from Euston.
2. He had no wish to draw attention to himself and the source of his income.
3. Trees should only be pruned when there is a good and clear reason for doing so.
4. Pruning involves cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches.
5. More damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in
its own way.
6. Pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size.
7. The object may be to get a tree of the right height.
8. You may cut out branches that are rubbing against each other and thus causing wounds.
9. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the
centre and so preventing the free movement of air.
10. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce the risk of death as far as possible.
11. It is essential to make the area which has been pruned smooth and clean, for healing ill
be slowed down by roughness.
12. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the
substances available from garden shops.
VI – Read the text below and answer the questions.
The Ferrari automobile company is famous for producing fast and beautiful cars. Scuderia
Ferrari is the part of the company which is concerned with racing cars competitively, while
Ferrari S.p.A. is involved in making exceptional sports cars which even the wealthy and
famous are proud of owning.
Ferrari's founder, Enzo Ferrari, was born in Italy in 1898. He had little formal education but he
was interested in driving fast cars. After he left the army, he applied for work at Fiat but he
wasn't successful in getting a job there. In 1920 he started racing cars for Alfa Romeo. After
demonstrating that he was skilful in winning small local races, Enzo was asked to race in
larger competitions. He finished his racing career in 1932.
In 1929 Enzo set up Scuderia Ferrari, where he was responsible for building up a racing team
of over forty drivers. However, it was only in 1945 that he founded Ferrari S.p.A. Enzo
thought that selling sports cars would make it possible to continue financing his racing
activities at Scuderia Ferrari.
The famous Ferrari logo, a black horse on a yellow background, has been in existence since
the 1930's. Interestingly, however, an Australian company called Avanti has a log which is so
similar to Ferrari's that it is almost identical.
A. Pick out all non-finite clauses from the text and copy them below. Try to determine the function of
each clause. The first is done for you.
1. producing fast and beautiful cars FUNCTION: object (or complement) of a preposition
15
PART II – FORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF NON-FINITE

CLAUSES
Aims:
A detailed survey of individual properties of phrases and clauses headed by gerunds, participles,
infinitives, and an invisible copula. Internal structure and function of clauses, and useful practical
remarks concerning the use of such structures.
Non-finite clauses with a visible verb will be divided into four classes, not only three (so far we have
distinguished only three classes). Two types will be distinguished among the expressions headed by
-ing forms: those that can be seen as having nominal properties, and those having predominantly
verbal properties. The nominal –ing participle is traditionally called gerund, and the structures headed
by this form are usually called gerund phrases; they have a typically nominal internal structure
(determiners, of-phrases, etc.). The -ing participle with more verbal properties (accusative objects,
modification by adverbs) appears in clauses which can have nominal functions (subject, object, etc.) or
adjunct functions; such clauses will be called -ing participial clauses. Thus, we will distinguish four
types of constituents, and will analyse their structure and function:
I. Gerunds heading gerund noun phrases (also called gerund nominals)

II. Ing-participles heading -ing clauses
III. Ed-participles heading -ed clauses
IV. Infinitives heading infinitival clauses
We examine functional and structural properties of each of these in the sections that follow.
16
3. Gerund nominals
Gerunds are simple -ing forms that cannot be negated with not or appear with auxiliary verbs; they are
derived from dynamic intransitive or transitive verbs; their meaning generally implies active voice. In
the following sentences, gerund nominals are italicized; gerunds derived from stative verbs are
unacceptable (signaled by *):
I was surprised at my son's deft painting of a Viking ship.

The drilling for oil will cause damage to the flora and fauna in our karst fields.
There is no checking of passports at the frontiers inside the EU.
*The loving of their homeland won't help the victims.
*The feeling of pain is always a frustration.
*I admire his knowing of all answers.
John's favourite activity is trout fishing.
3.1 Morphology
A gerund nominal is derived from a verb by the suffix –ing, and inherits the verb's
requirements regarding its arguments and selectional properties. A gerund nominal denotes a complex
event and is an abstract uncountable noun. Arguments of a verb are its subject and object(s), which
must be expressed overtly with finite verbs in English. Each verb assigns particular semantic
interpretations (“roles”) to its arguments.2 Gerunds inherit some but not all properties of the
underlying verb's argument structure: if they are derived from transitive verbs they require a phrase
that will receive an object-like interpretation and that will function as their complement (an obligatory
element). However, unlike verbs, they are not able to case-mark3 their complement, which therefore
must be introduced by a preposition (typically the preposition ‘of’). The presence of an element which
receives a subject-like interpretation is not obligatory. These properties are illustrated in the following
table where gerunds are contrasted with participles and finite verbs:
Gerunds Participles Finite verbs

Collins was arrested for the Collins was arrested for Collins was arrested because he
sheltering of enemy soldiers. sheltering enemy soldiers. sheltered enemy soldiers.
*Collins was arrested for the *Collins was arrested for *Collins was arrested because he
sheltering. *Collins was arrested sheltering. sheltered.
for the sheltering enemy soldiers.
*Collins was arrested because
sheltered enemy soldiers.
English gerunds can be compared to BCS nouns derived from verbs by the suffix –nje. These
nouns have similar “complex event” meanings, they are uncountable nouns, and they require
complements just like their corresponding verbs. However, they cannot assign accusative to their
complement, which instead take genitive forms (similar to the English of-phrase):
BCS nouns in –nje Finite verbs

(4) Marko je uhapšen zbog uzimanja droge. Marko je uhapšen jer je uzimao drogu.
*Marko je uhapšen zbog uzimanja. *Marko je uhapšen jer je uzimao.
*Marko je uhapšen zbog uzimanja drogu.
2 For example, the subject of kill is interpreted as ‘Agent’, its object is interpreted as ‘Patient’ (e.g. John killed a policemen).
The verb ‘frighten’ in ‘This situation frightens John’ is said to assign the role of ‘Cause’ to its subject, and the role of
‘Experiencer’ to its object.
3 „zadavati padež”
17
Some nouns in –ing may look like gerunds but lack typical grammatical properties and
requirements of gerunds: they do not denote complex events and may refer to concrete entities. Such
“lexicalized” gerunds are sporadic rather than regular or productive,4 resulting in nouns that can be
uncountable or countable, abstract or concrete (pay attention to the translations in BCS which do not
feature nouns in –nje). They do not require obligatory of-phrases, either.
How can we maintain the control of spending? (troškovi)

The city developed inexpensive housing. (jeftini stanovi)
He expressed aggressive feelings. (osjećanja)
The port is closed to all shipping. (brodovi)
In the end, drink was his undoing. (propast)
A gerund nominal receives a temporal interpretation (similarly to non-finite verb forms),

which depends on the temporal interpretation of the main verb in the sentence. A gerund can have
progressive and non-progressive aspectual meanings. Compare the sentences in (a-d):
a. They punished the plagiarising of evidence. =They plagiarised evidence and they were punished.
b. They punish severely the plagiarising of evidence by =Whenever lawyers plagiarise evidence, they are
lawyers. …. punished severely.
c. The plagiarising of evidence will be punished =If they plagiarise evidence (in future), they will be
severely. punished.
d. Our plagiarising of evidence was interrupted by a =While we were plagiarising evidence, a phone rang.
phone call.
Gerund nominals, however, never contain temporal, aspectual or voice auxiliaries. This is illustrated
by the sentences below:
a. *John's (deft) having painted of his dog is a sign of his love for her. (gerund)
b. *The having tapped on the floor made him exhausted. (gerund)
c. John having tapped on the floor for hours made him exhausted. (participle)
Some gerunds have a passive meaning, although most frequently they are interpeted as active.
Gerunds after need, deserve, require, bear are interpreted as passive, as in the following examples:
Your shoes need cleaning (=to be cleaned)

This problem deserves discussing (=to be discussed)
His language won’t bear repeating.
Your joke will bear repeating. (=is amusing enough to be heard again)
3.2 Internal structure of gerund nominals

As a typical NP, a gerund phrase contains a determiner slot and a head slot; the head (the gerund itself)
can be preceded by a premodifier (ex. an adjective), and followed by an of-phrase functioning as
complement of the gerund, or by an optional prepositional phrase or relative clause, both functioning
as postmodifers. The structure is schematically represented in the following table:
4 By ‘lexicalisation’ we mean that the process of –ing suffixation alone is not responsible for the derivation of such nouns.
Rather, these nouns are the result of a lexical process whereby a regular gerund (form) acquires a new (sometimes
unpredictable) meaning (called type-shifting in semantics) and becomes a lexical item in its own right. For example, the word
‘shipping’ is given in a dictionary as an independent entry (i.e. lexical item), a noun with its own meaning (‘ships considered
as a group’). Gerunds, however, are not listed as separate lexical entries in dictionaries (the gerund derived, for example,
from the verb ‘tuck’ does not appear as a separate entry).
18
Determiner (Adjective phrase) Gerund (Of-phrase)

the
his, their(…) monotonous reading
of the poem
(this) repetitive *readings
(a, any, some, no)
The examples below illustrate premodifiers, complements and postmodifiers in gerund phrases:
They recommended the spending of 20 million pounds on hospital construction. (complement,

postmodifier)
I hate this stupid quarrelling about grades. (premodifier, complement)
The drilling I heard during the night stopped in the morning. (postmodifier)
3.2.1 Determiners
Determiners in gerund nominals: the (most frequent), a, no, any, zero article, demonstratives,
possessives. Examples:
In a time of depression, Roosevelt succeeded in the restoring of hope.

The hotel prides itself on the maintaining of high standards.
The riding of bicycles was strictly forbidden.
Ø Melting of ice sheets and glaciers is causing sea level to rise.
Even when dozing, there was no apparent softening of his intimidating and menacing personality.
This would represent a melting of roughly a quarter of the total amount of ice tied up in mountain
glaciers and small ice caps.
A softening of the metal is sometimes observed on the surface.
The model predicts a slowing down in the reaction rate.
What is this Icelandic hunting of endangered whales you keep hearing about?!
This arguing is becoming unbearable!
Is this arguing normal or do we need Ø counselling?
Their signing of the treaty surprised the Security Council.

Belushi’s foolish mixing of drugs was the cause of his death.
John’s continuous tapping on the floor annoyed everyone.
A possessive in front of a gerund is usually interpreted as its subject. Sometimes a possessive can
receive an object-like interpretation. This is illustrated in the examples below, where the gerunds are
similar to passive verbs (since subjects of passives are also object-like by their meaning).
Everything you know about Alexander Litvinenko's killing could be wrong.

Two weeks before his poisoning, Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of ordering the
assassination of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
3.2.2 Of-phrase
The of-phrase receives an object-like interpretation and functions as complement of the gerund (i.e. is
obligatory in the same way that an object may be obligatory with the corresponding transitive verb). A
gerund followed by an of-phrase is usually introduced by a determiner, very often by the.
The signing of the treaty was expected by both sides.

19
Any withholding of information will be punished.
With intransitive gerunds, it is possible for the of-phrase following the gerund to be interpreted as its
subject.
The yelling of Maria suddenly stopped.

We watched the landing of Alan’s plane.
An of-phrase appearing in the gerund phrase can be ambiguous between the subject and object
interpretation in case the gerund is derived from a verb which can be transitive and intransitive:
The shooting of the hunters was condemned by the local community. (a. the hunters are killed; b.
the hunters killed some animals)
The ringing of the bell (a. someone rang the bell; b. the bell rang)
With gerunds derived from prepositional verbs, the complement PP is introduced not by of but by
whatever preposition is selected by the underlying verb:
Their talking about the problem ... (Not: *their talking of the problem…)
The discipline of attentive listening to one another develops over time. (Not: *attentive listening of
one another)
We varied stimuli and task demands in order to identify the cortical areas that are activated during
attentive listening to real music. (Not: *attentive listening of real music)
When gerunds are derived from ditransitive verbs (e.g. give, offer), the two complements follow the
gerund and are strictly ordered so that the indirect object (introduced by to) follows the direct object
(introduced by of), as shown in the following examples.
The ambassador’s presenting of his credentials to the Foreign Minister took place in the
Presidential Palace.
The experimenter’s generous giving of Belgian chocolates to the participants was approved of.
Not: *The ambassador’s presenting the Foreign Minister of his credentials … / *The experimenter’s
generous giving the participants of Belgian chocolates
3.2.3 Modifiers: adjectives, prepositional phrases, relative clauses

Gerunds can be modified by adjectives. These may express adverbial meanings although they function
as regular nominal premodifiers. Adverbs are disallowed in gerund nominals. Adverbial meanings can
be expressed by the gerund’s postmodifiers realized by prepositional phrases and clauses.
Your prompt paying of the rent may bring you a discount. (adjective)
All this naive lying to people has to stop. (adjective)
Their arrogant refusing of the proposal will cause great problems to the company. (adjective)
This arguing which hasn’t stopped since 11 a.m is becoming unbearable! (relative clause)
This fighting about nesting grounds is biologically conditioned in this species. (prepositional
phrase)
3.2.4 Noun compounding with gerunds

Syntactic compounds such as ‘film production’ in which the first noun is a kind of modifier interpreted
as the object of the verb underling the derived noun is allowed with gerunds, too. Examples:
If I have employees, how do I file [state income tax] withholding? (=withholding of state income
taxes)
20
When tempers flare, our capacity of empathy and creative [problem-]solving go down the drain.
(=solving of problems)
3.3 Function of gerund nominals

Gerund nominals function as typical noun phrases and therefore can appear as subjects, objects of
verbs, predicational complements, and complements of prepositions. These functions are illustrated by
the italicized gerund phrases in examples below.
Subject: Any withholding of information will be punished. / Your prompt paying of the rent may
bring you a discount. / The shooting of the hunters was condemned by the local community.
Object: We watched the landing of Alan’s plane. / They will punish any withholding of
information. / Both sides expected the signing of the treaty.
Predicational complement: The impact of withdrawing the Ambassador could be the loosening of
relations between countries. / The result of the peace talks was the signing of a treaty by all sides.
Complement of preposition: The oscillations are like the ringing of an enormous, universe-sized
glass. / All the small states fear that any strengthening of the European Parliament will lead to a
weakening of their influence. / Both sides informed the journalists about the signing of the treaty in
separate press conferences.
Gerunds can also be used to modify nouns and in this function they are not formally different from –
ing participles. However, the interpretation of gerund modifiers differs significantly from the
interpretation of –ing participles. Compare the gerund and participle modifiers in the examples below:
Participle interpretation Gerund interpretation

A dancing bear a bear that dances/is dancing -
A dancing teacher a teacher that dances/is dancing a teacher/instructor
of dancing
A burning candle a candle that is burning -
The withdrawing decision - the decision to
withdraw (…)
An ironing board - a board for ironing
3.4 Exercises
I- Reflect on the morphology and meaning, as well as on the internal structure and function of –ing
phrases below (in italics) and decide which of them are gerund nominals. Provide arguments in
support of your position.
1. They were sitting there doing nothing.
Model answer: The –ing phrase is not a gerund nominal since the object nothing is not introduced by
of, as is obligatory with gerund nominals. Also, this –ing phrase does not have a nominal function
typically associated with gerund nominals, i.e. it is not the subject, object, PC, or object of P;in fact, it
is an adverbial. Gerunds do not function as adverbials.
2. John being at work, Mary can go window shopping.
3. They sat in the garden, admiring the singing of the birds.
4. To write a three page outline for your paper would be a good beginning of your research.
5. All flights for Glasgow having been delayed, they decided to go to the airport restaurant and wait
there.
6. He is in the library looking up some papers.
7. The careful restoring of the painting took four months.
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4. Participial clauses
Participles are non-finite verbs that form non-finite clauses. Their verbal status is shown both by their
form and by the possibility of tense interpretation, but also by their function within their clause.
There are two types of participles: -ing and –ed participles. The former has been traditionally
known as present participle, the latter as past participle. The past participle is formed in the usual way
for regular verbs (by -ed suffixation), morphologically indistinct from past tense –ed suffixation. A
specific past participle suffix, -en, is used with some irregular verbs. For this reason, the past participle
has often been referred to as the ‘–en participle’. It is worth noting that –ed participles we will be
dealing with in this chapter are in fact mostly passive participles as they correspond to passive verbs.
Aspectual and voice auxiliaries (have and be respectively) combine with the main verbs yielding
several combinations of -ing participles. All forms are shown in Table 1 in section 4.1 below.
A reminder on –ing clauses in general is needed at this point. We called gerund phrases those –
ing constructions that have nominal properties. What does this exactly mean? Are the following –ing
constructions to be considered gerunds and not –ing participial clauses since they are found in nominal
positions i.e. functions?
On returning home, she was enveloped in an unpleasant odour of cigarette smoke. Object of P
I remember locking the door. Object of V
I cannot help thinking about the accident. (same as above)
The children were busy building a sandcastle. (complement of A)
His hobby, collecting World War I uniforms, cost him a fortune already. (apposition in NP)
His methodology is writing instructions first and then adding exercises. (Ps/SC)
Answering your questions was not easy. (S)
Although the above –ing structures have clausal properties (assignment of accusative case by –ing
verb to its complement, for example), they have not been always considered as –ing (participial)
clauses; instead, some grammars call them “gerund phrases".5 Here we adopt a different view and
consider that the internal structural properties determine whether a constituent is a clause or not. Thus,
we will call clauses those –ing structures that have clausal properties such as accusative objects, or
adverbial modifiers realized by adverbs. We will restrict the use of “gerund phrases” only to those –
ing structures with clearly nominal internal structure. We examined gerund phrases with clear nominal
internal elements in chapter 3: determiners (articles, demonstratives, possessives), adjectival
premodifiers, and postmodifier-like of-phrases following the gerund. In fact such gerund phrases look
like regular noun phrases. Compare the following pairs of examples:
They broadcasted the destruction of the building.

They broadcasted the destroying of the building.
His refusal to talk was very strange.

His refusing to talk was very strange.
Everybody spoke about their consistant description of the robbery.

Everybody spoke about their consistant describing of the robbery.
On the other hand, -ing participial clauses, although they may function as subject, object, complement
of preposition etc., show clear clausal properties: a transitive –ing participle is capable of assigning
accusatives, and only verbs can assign accusative i English; -ing participles can be freely modified by
adverbs, a typical verbal property. For all these reasons, -ing structures dealt with in the sections and
chapters to follow will be called “-ing participial clauses”.
5Some traditionall grammar books such as Frank (1972). A different view is adopted in Quirk and Greenbaum (1990) who
use the term ‘participial clauses’ for all –ing structures with internal clausal properties (modification by adverbs, assignment
of accusative), independently of their (external) functional properties (nominal functions).
22
4.1 Morphology and Temporal Interpretation

As shown in the table below, participles are interpreted either as active verbs or as passive verbs. Both
active and passive can combine with the perfect aspect (with the auxiliary have, as in line 3 of the
table below), in which case it is the aspectual auxiliary have that carries the –ing suffix. All participles
that contain an –ing inflection (offering, being offered, having offered, having been offered) are to be
called –ing participles; participles in line 2 will be referred to as –ed participles.
TABLE 1 active passive

1. present offering being offered
2. “past” (melted)6 offered
3. perfect having offered having been offered
The time reference of present participles (whether active or passive) depends on the tense
interpretation of the main (finite) verb in the sentence.
There is a giant planet revolving around that orange star in Cassiopeia. present
There is a giant red star being sucked by a nearby black hole companion present
There was once a pulsar rotating 30 times per second in the centre of the Crab Nebula. past
There will be an English professor meeting prospective students on our University Open Day.
future
The time reference of a “past” (-ed) participle can depend on the tense interpretation of the main
(finite) verb, or can refer to the time that precedes the time of the main verb.
Tonight, we are observing a star enveloped in a hot gas clouds. present, dependent
Last night, we checked all cars parked in that street. past, dependent
The police will inspect all cars parked in that street tonight. future, dependent
The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova, widely observed on Earth in 1054.
past, independent
All participles in the examples immediately above are passive. However, some -ed participles
correspond to active (intransitive) verbs.7
The flowers, faded prematurely, remained in her favourite vase for two more weeks.
The black rock fallen from the sky will be analysed by the University Laboratory.
The comet's ice, melted when the comet approached the sun, formed a beautiful long bluish tail in
the night sky.
Both perfect participles denote past situations and their time reference is always anterior to the time
reference of the main verb.
Having formulated his mathematical description of gravity, Newton was able to explain the
trajectories of comets and planets alike.
Once having made up his mind, he does not change it easily.
Having decided to go to university, he will have to leave his home town.
The agreement having been signed, the two parties can unite now.
The suspect accompanied the constable to the police station without having been arrested.
6 Most typically, “past” participles are passive verbs; however, it is not impossible for an intransitive verb to appear in this
form, especially as a postmodifer in NP, in which case, they correspond to active verbs and would fit this cell.
7 The class in question is known as unaccusative verbs. Examples of unaccusative verbs: arrive, grow, fall, melt, etc.
23
Instead of the active perfect participle, it is possible in a less formal style, to use the simple (present)
participial -ing form with the same time reference (anterior to the time reference of the main verb):
Making up his mind, he wrote a farewell note. (= Having made up his mind, he wrote…)
4.2 Internal Structure of –ing Participial Clauses

-Ing participles include the following forms from the table above: offering, being offered, having
offered, having been offered. Although, some of these are passive, their clauses function as other
(active) –ing clauses, as will become clear from examples in the following sections. Like other non-
finite clauses, -ing participial clauses can have a visible or an invisible subject. Moreover, -ing
participial verbs behave as their corresponding finite versions with respect to their selectional
requirements: transitive verbs require a complement (object), prepositional verbs select particular
prepositional phrases, etc. -Ing clauses can be introduced by subordinators (subordinators of both -ing
and –ed clauses are discussed in section 4.4.4).
Table 2 below summarizes all major elements of –ing clauses:
TABLE 2
(subject) (adverb phrase) Participle (Object/SC) (adverbial(s))
eating dinner at the airport
making such a generous contribution
taking any money
a pirate ship having been sunk in these waters
a woman briskly walking by herself
late at night
our father being very strict with us
him being elected president
Harold's getting a job as a salesman
4.2.1 Subject
The subject element can be present (overt) or absent (covert). When covert, its interpretation can be
determined by control, by situation or context, or as generic (see 2.3 for an introduction on invisible
subjects in non-finite clauses).
She burst into tears on hearing the news. (control)

She enjoys meeting people. (control)
(if you want to pass this exam) I suggest working hard from the beginning of the semester.
(context)
Going there today isn’t wise. (generic)
Shooting birds in this forest is forbidden. (generic)
The stars revolving around the center of our galaxy (control)
Standing in the center of our classroom, the teacher read the dictation. (control)
He was standing there smiling. (control)
Hearing the noise, we rushed out. (control)
A null subject controlled by a non-subject nominal in the main clause is possible in adverbial –ing
clauses used in informal speech. Such a structure is known as a “dangling” participle. As pointed out
earlier (see 2.3) dangling participial clauses are rejected by some English speakers, while others can
use them more freely; however, speakers usually try to avoid such structures in careful writing.
Not knowing anyone in town, the loneliness depressed him.

While trying on a wealthy woman's dress, a handsome and rich politician mistakes her for a society
woman.
24
Driving home in the storm, a branch nearly fell on my car.

Having finished my dinner, the waitress offered to bring my dessert tray.
In the following set of examples, the dangling subjects do not refer to the subject of the main clause,
rather they are understood as referring to the speaker, or some sort of a discourse 'we' (implied by the
context/situation). The following dangling structures are perfectly acceptable:
Strictly speaking, the whale is a mammal.

Taking everything into account, which is the wisest choice?
Speaking of heroes, there's something kind of heroic about his performance.
When overt, the case of the subject can be either genitive (possessive) or accusative.8
Their singing the same song was a surprise. (genitive)

We enjoyed their singing the same song again and again. (genitive)
We saw her/a woman briskly walking by herself late at night. (accusative)
We heard the children crying. (accusative)
We saw them crossing the bridge. (accusative)
Laclos owes his fame today not so much to his literary talent as to his having acted as agent for the
Duke of Orleans in the French Revolution. (genitive)
His having been summoned by the police is worrying. (genitive)
The form of the subject can depend on the function of the –ing clause. The accusative subject is not
felicitous if the clause itself has subject function, while genitive subjects do not appear in adverbial or
complex transitive –ing clauses:
S: *Them singing the same song was a surprise. (Their singing …)

S: *Them returning the money was a surprise. (Their returning...)
Absolute (adverbial): John being the only person able to design glass shoes, the manager accepted
to increase his pay. (*John’s being…)
Complex transitive: *We caught their stealing our money. (them stealing…)
Accusative subjects in –ing clauses occur more frequently if the clause itself functions as an object of
a transitive verb (for example verbs as like, dislike, not mind, miss, remember, understand, hate,
imagine):
I dislike any students being treated in this way.

I like my children having a good night’s rest.
They don’t understand him having cancelled all his lectures.
In –ing clauses functioning as prepositional objects, the subject mostly takes a genitive form; the
accusative is felt as being very informal, occurring more freely with lexical nouns then with pronouns:
He objected to their entering the factory without permission. (? to them entering…)

I was annoyed at the dog’s barking all night. (at the dog barking all night)
I’m disappointed at your doing such a thing. (? at you doing such a thing)
I don’t approve of a woman walking by herself late at night. (? a woman’s walking…)
The idea of Harold’s getting a job as a travelling salesman doesn’t appeal to his wife.
8Accusative is not marked overtly in lexical NPs. Nominative subjects of –ing clauses are possible only when they function
as adverbial absolute clauses (see section 4.7)
25
Animacy is a feature that can determine the form of the subject: non-animate subjects of –ing clauses
tend to occur in non-genitive forms; genitive inanimate subjects, however, are not impossible although
they are rare:
The doctors are afraid of a relapse occurring in a few months.

They told us a story of a pirate ship having been sunk in these waters.
There is a real danger of a nuclear war’s destroying the world.
I dare not imagine the house’s not being painted and cleaned before our return.
Yet another factor influencing the form of the –ing clause subject is its phrasal structure: long noun
phrases containing postmodifiers tend not to appear in the genitive, even in formal English:9
There is no need of the president of the company attending the meeting. (vs. ??the president
of the company's)
I marvel at anything of such small importance standing in his way. (cf. *anything of such
small importance’s)
I cannot bear the thought of my best friend, once so rich and powerful, being almost
destitute now. (cf. *my best friend, once so rich and powerful’s)
Expletive subjects
The expletive pronouns there, it and the possessive its can be used as subject of an –ing clause:
In spite of its/it being Sunday, they all went to work.

(With) there not being enough chairs in the classroom, some students had to sit on the floor.
By-phrase
Although a by-phrase following a passive –ing participle can have a subject-like interpretation, it is not
a syntactic subject, on a par with accusative or genitive –ing clause subjects. Evidence for this comes
from the fact that a real syntactic subject can occur in an –ing clause containing a by-phrase.
a. Mary denies being threatened by John. (‘Mary’ interpreted as subject of verb ‘threaten’)
Mary denies [(S) being threatened by John] (invisible subject, control)
b. Nobody could imagine Mary being actually threatened by John.
Thus, in example (a) the subject of the –ing verb is covert but controlled by the main subject (Mary).
In (b), it is overtly realized by an NP (Mary) in the presence of a by-phrase (by John).
4.2.2 Object
The form of an object in –ing clauses is the same as that of a regular object appearing after the
corresponding finite verb (note that the occurrence of an object in these clauses is not dependent on the
occurrence of an overt subject):
(the clause is in italic, the object underlined)

Withholding information on certain offences against children will be punished.
I was annoyed by their watching television all the time.
Reducing her weight, she could wear some of her favourite trousers.
We caught them stealing our car.
They found a group of astronomers talking about supernovae.
We believed them saying that their university was the best in the country.
Having signed the treaty, the two parties organized a press conference.
9 There is a traditional grammar rule proscribing –ing clauses with non-genitive subjects in positions of clausal subject and
prepositional complement. This is an issue of style, rather than grammar, though. Example: ?Him being an FBI agent
surprised everyone. ?Everyone talked about him being an FBI agent.
26
Gerund and –ing participles show an interesting difference when their object is pronominal: gerunds
cannot take pronominal objects (in the form of of-phrases), while –ing participles can. This is
illustrated below:
A puma escaped from the London Zoo two days ago.

*The finding of it in Hyde Park today surprised everybody. (gerund)
*The meeting of them was exciting. (gerund)
Finding it in Hyde Park today surprised everybody. (-ing participle)
Meeting them was exciting. (-ing participle)
Notice that the same difference exists between derived nominals and gerunds: the former allow
pronouns in of-phrases, the latter do not.
The description of them provided by a witness helped the police in their investigation of the crime.
4.2.3 Adverbials
In –ing clauses, we can find adverbs functioning as adverbials; adverbials can also be realized as other
categories: prepositional phrases, noun phrases, or adverbial clauses. Our survey of these elements
begins with adverbs.
Adverbs
Adverbs, more precisely adverb phrases mostly appear in the final position within –ing clauses,
although their use in the preverbal position is not necessarily ungrammatical:
Your paying the rent promptly may bring you a discount.

Eating and drinking moderately is good for your health.
They were surprised by everybody's reacting very stubbornly.
Always denying one's mistakes can be very irritating to other people.
We objected to their never getting on time to work.
The students working hard to prepare their exams, they did not notice the change in the professor's
attitude.
Slowly walking down the road, they forgot about their wives. (Slowly they walked down the road
…)
Walking slowly down the road, they forgot about their wives. (They walked slowly…)
Having recently bought a house with a big garden, they were looking for a skilled gardener now.
Having never met an astronaut before, the journalist was too excited to ask any questions. (He has
never met…before)
Being completely absorbed in his book, he forgot the kettle on the stove. (He was completely
absorbed in his book…)
-Ing verbs can be negated by the negative adverb ‘not’, unlike gerunds. Compare:
They were surprised by John’s not reacting promptly.

*The not paying of the rent may bring you problems. (cf. Not paying the rent…)
Prepositional phrases
Watching films in the cinema is very different from watching them on TV.
We were very surprised at their leaving the conference in the middle of the president's talk.
The police caught him stealing cars for the second time.
Being completely absorbed in his book, he forgot the kettle on the stove.
Slowly walking down the road, they forgot about their wives.
Noun phrases
Their leaving the conference this morning was a surprise to everybody.
27
Adverbial clauses
I cannot understand the reason for your not showing up after Michael invited you to the meeting.
Do you believe in their sinking the ship to get the insurance?
The students working hard to prepare for their exams, they did not notice the change in the
professor's attitude.
4.3 Functions of –ing clauses

Present active, passive, and perfect -ing clauses (“offering”, “being offered”, “having offered”)
resemble gerunds in having nominal functions (subject and various types of complements); however,
they can also function as adverbials and modifiers. We will review all of these starting with nominal
functions of –ing clauses.
4.3.1 Subject function

Sentences with –ing clauses as subjects show certain common structural features. They often appear in
sentences with the verb BE, and the sentence is interpreted as a general statement. They also occur
with causative verbs such as make, cause, or a change-of-state verbs such as shock, surprise, enrage,
destroy, etc.
Going to bed early is beneficial for your brain.

Drinking two litres of water a day makes your kidneys function properly.
Lying to your teacher is not a good practice.
Meeting her the other day made him very angry.
Reading the last news enraged my father.
-Ing clauses appear as subjects in passive sentences, too:

Our paying the rent regularly will be noticed by everybody.
Smoking in the hall will not be allowed, although the director is a heavy smoker.
-Ing clausal subjects can be extraposed to the end of the sentence, in which case the expletive IT fills
the emptied subject position. This subject slot can be placed inside an independent clause as in ex. (a)
or inside a verbless clause, ex. (b).10
a. Answering those questions was not easy.  It was not easy answering those questions
b. I consider [sitting for a long time very unhealthy]  I consider [it very unhealthy sitting for a
long time].
For a better understanding of the extraposed examples, study the immediate constituent analysis of
example (b):
“sitting for a long time very unhealthy”

Verbless clause  S (V) Pc
S  -ing clause  (S) V A
V sitting
APPP NP P for
NP D Modif. N
Da
10In spite of the fact that in this case the extraposition might seem as involving an object of the main verb, remember that
such main verbs take a verbless clause as their object, where the subject and its predicative complement occur with an
invisible verb BE between them (cf. John considers [the prisoner to be innocent] (to-infinitive clause) > John considers [the
prisoner innocent] (a verbless clause))
28
Modif. APAlong
Ntime
Pc  AP  Modif. A Modifier  AdvP  Advvery A  healthy
“it very healthy sitting for a long time”

Verbless clauseS (V) Pc S-extraposed
Sexpletive pron.  it
Pc  (see above)
S-extraposed -ing clause  (S) V A (see above)
More examples of extraposition:
It was a real pleasure meeting you.

It was a sad thing hearing that they were not coming.
(Practice moving back the extraposed subject into its original position.)
There is an alternative punctuation involving extraposed –ing clauses whereby a comma is used before
the clause; a comma is obligatory if the clause contains an overt subject:
It was not easy(,) answering those questions.
It was not very useful(,) bringing all those books.
It was very embarrassing(,) not remembering the teacher's name yesterday.
It was very embarrassing, his not remembering the teacher's name.
Extraposition is obligatory in certain fixed expressions involving the expletive there (-ing clause used
after expressions there's no need, there's no use):
There's no need buying another car.

There's no use giving them money.
4.3.2 Predicational complement

Although –ing clauses are not frequently used in this way, here are examples illustrating this use:
His methodology is writing instructions first and then adding exercises.

Her favourite hobby is watching rare aquatic birds.
Their favourite fantasy is playing basketball for Yale.
As participles can be used as adjectives, it is –ing participial adjectives that are more frequently found
as pedicational complements.
This film is very interesting.

The news is surprising: Donald Trump resigned from his function.
The situation seemed very frightening.
4.3.3 Appositive modifiers of nouns

Appositive modifiers or apposition within a noun phrase implies a meaning relation of equality
between the head noun (N) and the apposition. That is why a structure consisting of a noun with an
apposition can be paraphrased by a structure 'noun-BE-apposition'; this paraphrase can help identify
the appositive status of the structure following a head noun. Noun phrases can function as appositive
29
modifiers as well as prepositional phrases; but also infinitive and -ing clauses, which we illustrate
below:
His hobby, collecting World War I uniforms, cost him a fortune already.
His ambition, singing with Pavarotti, could never be realized.
Her one burning desire in life, playing basketball for UConn, seemed a goal within reach.
4.3.4 Adjectival complement

Not many adjectives belong to this class, busy and happy being the two most frequently used with –ing
clause complements:
The boys were busy building a sandcastle.

The children were happy counting beads and making an enormous necklace for their teacher.
4.3.5 Object function

When –ing clauses function as objects of verbs, they appear in the typical direct object position, as
shown in the following examples:
I hated talking to John. (cf. hate something)

We enjoy playing cards. (cf. enjoy something)
They suggested eating dinner at the airport. (cf. suggest something)
A substantial number of English verbs can be complemented by -ing or infinitive clauses.11 Such verbs
can denote some mental state or activity, emotions, or have aspectual meanings (beginning, duration,
end, repetition). Sometimes a single main verb selects either –ing clausal or infinitive
complementation. In fact, three groups of verbs can be established according to their selectional
properties: (i) those selecting –ing clauses only, (ii) those selecting –ing clauses or infinitives (with or
without change in meaning), (iii) those selecting only infinitives. We present below those that select –
ing clauses and infinitives.
The following select –ing clauses only:

acknowledge, admit, advocate, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, cannot help, consider, delay, detest, drop
(=stop), encourage, enjoy, facilitate, fancy, finish, give up (=stop), imagine, involve, justify, mean,
mention, miss, necessitate, postpone, practice, put off, quit, recommend, renounce, report, resent,
resist, risk, suggest, tolerate, understand, urge, etc.
I cannot help thinking about the accident.

The situation in our country necessitates closing all commercial banks.
The following select –ing clauses or infinitives (similar meaning)

attempt, begin, cannot bear, cannot stand, cease, commence, continue, decline, disdain, dread,
endure, hate, hesitate, intend, like, love, neglect, plan, prefer, propose, regret, remember, scorn, start,
try, etc.; perception verbs (see, hear, watch…). –Ing clauses after some of these verbs must contain a
visible subject (perception verbs, for example):
She can’t bear being laughed at / to be laughed at.

She began learning/to learn Chinese.
We saw them washing the car / wash the car. (bare infinitive)
The following select gerunds or infinitives (different meaning):

remember, forget, regret, try;
Note that such –ing forms are referred to by some grammarians as gerunds. Here, we follow Quirk and Greenbaum (and
11
many others) and analyse them as participial (non-finite) verbs heading non-finite clauses.
30
Different time reference: With respect to the time of the main verb, -ing objects refer to past time,
infinitive objects refer to future time:
I remember locking the door. (past time)

I don't remember his locking the door. (past time)
I remembered to lock the door. (future time)
I’ll never forget finding that old rare coin in my garden. (past time)
I forgot his signing that document. (past time)
Don’t forget to lock the door. (future time)
I immediately regretted saying it. (past time)

I regret to inform you that you owe the bank $500. (future time)
Different meaning of the main verb: try = ‘experiment’; ‘make an attempt/effort’:
Try doing it this way! (try + Ving = make an experiment with)

He is trying to be kind to her. (try + to V = make an attempt to…)
-Ing clauses can appear as objects of a subset of transitive verbs (traditionally called ‘complex
transitive’); section 4.6 deals with –ing and –ed clauses in this function.
4.3.6 Complement of preposition

Prepositions most frequently take noun phrases as complements. However, sometimes some clauses
can function as their complements, too. Among non-finite clauses it is the -ing clauses that do so:
He insisted on paying the entire bill for the dinner

He is boasting about having a lot of money
Objects of prepositional verbs. Such prepositional phrases can in their turn function as objects of so-
called prepositional verbs (i.e. transitive verbs selecting a PP as their complement/object):
insist on paying the entire bill for the dinner

talk about having a lot of money
agree in submitting only one copy to the publisher
caution against leaving one's baggage unattended
The word to after the following verbs is a preposition, not the infinitive marker; this means that these
verbs are not followed by infinitives but by –ing clauses: accustom oneself, allude, confess, confine
oneself, dedicate oneself, limit oneself, look forward, object, plead guilty, reconcile oneself, resign
oneself, resort, revert.
She strongly objects to being treated like a child.

She strongly objects to his treating her like a child.
He dedicated himself to finding a cure.
He never reconciled himself to being a prisoner.
It’s hard to reconcile oneself to being sick a long time.
When she had no more money, she resorted to stealing.
A number of verbs can take prepositional objects with -ing clauses functioning as complements of the
preposition, or they can select infinitival clauses as objects. Here are some of them:
agree in/on Ving, or agree to V

care about Ving, care to V
decide on Ving, decide to V
31
forget about Ving, forget to V

help (sb) in Ving, help (sb) (to) V
plan on Ving, plan to V
serve for Ving, serve to V
suffice for Ving, suffice to V
warn (sb) against Ving, warn (sb) to V
They agreed [in [submitting only one copy to the publisher]].

They agreed [to submit only one copy to the publisher].
Postmodifiers of nouns. Prepositional phrases with –ing clauses can further function as postmodifiers
of nouns12 (some of them derived from verbs):
Everybody has the same capacity for being happy. (prepositional phrases in italics, -ing clauses
underlined)
the possibility of going there
the importance of being earnest
the preparation for traveling abroad
We don’t have enough time for preparing the exam.
He introduced a new method for testing schoolchildren.
This is not a good way of doing it.
She wrote a newspaper article about dealing with college recruiters.
Such prepositional phrases sometimes alternate with infinitive clauses:
the necessity of studying hard / to study hard

a better way of doing it / to do it
enough time for reading the novel / to read the novel
Adjectival complementation. Prepositional phrases with –ing clauses can function as complements of
adjectives. The most frequent preposition appearing in such PPs is at.
AT: She was deeply disappointed at/about losing the race.

(prepositional phrase is given in italics)
John was surprised at hearing the news.
OF: He is afraid of being seen with Mary. I'm tired of being treated like a child.13
FOR: This place is not adequate enough for playing tennis.
WITH: She was very pleased with their acting.
Similar to modifiers of nouns, such PPs alternate with infinitive and that-clauses:
He is afraid to go there alone.

He is disappointed to hear that they are not coming.
He was disappointed (that) you were not coming.
He was afraid that the police would catch them.
The word to after some adjectives, especially –ed participial adjectives, such as accustomed, addicted,
dedicated, disposed, given, opposed, used, is a preposition; as a result, it cannot be followed by an
infinitive verb but only by an –ing non-finite verb:
12 Such prepositional phrases can often be paraphrased with relative clauses, which suggests their modifying function in the
noun phrase:
the best way of doing it = the best way in which you can do it (relative clause in italics)
13 The two sentences contain passive –ing clauses, which correspond to participle forms appearing in the right hand column
of the table on p. 24. By their meaning, these clauses are passive, like –ed clauses; still, their capacity to appear in a nominal
function aligns them with –ing clauses.
32
We are used to making concessions.

She is addicted to taking tranquillizers.
Adverbial function. Finally, prepositional phrases with –ing clauses can function as adverbials:
He couldn’t answer for laughing.

On returning home, he found the door open.
He learned by listening.
She thanked her coach for helping her to deal with the pressure.
-Ing clauses functioning as complements of prepositions in PP serving this particular function are felt
more natural if their subject is coreferential (identical) to the main clause subject. Otherwise, a
"dangling" construction is formed; compare:
??On returning home, the unpleasant odour of cigarette smoke still hung around her.
On returning home, she was enveloped in an unpleasant odour of cigarette smoke.
Various adverbial meanings can be expressed by such PPs:
On completing the requirements of this study program, you obtain an M.A. degree in philosophy.
(time)
During his reading, everybody was silent. (time)
We use this equipment in winter for heating the house. (purpose)
In spite of her travelling alone, she enjoyed her vacation very much. (concession)
Besides protesting in the streets, the workers decided to go on strike. (circumstance, addition)
He obtained his Ph.D. by plagiarizing another colleague's research results. (manner)
4.3.7 Adverbial function

-Ing participial clauses can function as adverbials; they can contain a visible or null subject and be
introduced by a subordinator. The examples below illustrate -ing participial clauses whose null subject
is controlled by the main subject of the sentence (controlled null subjects):
Walking down the road, they talked about their wives.

Passing by our neighbour's house, we saw a white cat on their window sill.
Holding her left hand in the air, she was practicing her presidential speech.
She fell down the staircase, breaking her left arm.
She earns a living driving a taxi.
Exploring this hypothesis, you can come to various conclusions.
Having formulated his mathematical description of gravity, Newton was able to explain the
trajectories of comets and planets alike.
As mentioned earlier (in 4.2.1 and 2.3), subjectless -ing clauses can contain dangling participles:
Driving home in the storm, a branch nearly fell on my car. (judged as marginally acceptable,
avoided in careful writing)
-Ing clauses can function as sentence adverbials (modifying the whole sentence), too. In such cases
they allow dangling participles. Here are some examples:
A new telescope will be built on Mauna Kea on Hawaii, meaning that astronomers will get a new
observatory to explore extrasolar planets.
Generally speaking, people in this country are lazy.
Considering everything, I wouldn't accept such an offer.
33
Typical adverbial meanings expressed by participial clauses are: time, manner, cause, condition,
purpose, means, result. Although participial clauses can freely appear in initial position, those
denoting result, appear only in final position (ex. She fell down the staircase, breaking her left arm;
the –ing clause in this sentence is interpreted as denoting result only if it appears sentence finally.)
Sometimes, a single participial clause can be interpreted in two or more different ways. For example,
in the sentence Writing short detective stories instead of long linguistics textbooks, she could make a
fortune, the participial clause can be interpreted as denoting manner, means, or condition.
-Ing clauses with overt subjects can function as adverbials, in which case we call them absolute
constructions or clauses. The term absolute signals that they are detached from the main clause since
they have an overt subject which is not co-referential with the main subject. Syntactically, these
clauses are regular adverbial clauses, i.e. they are optional sentence elements, subordinate clauses with
adverbial meanings. They can be introduced by the subordinator with(out). Here we provide a couple
of examples; for more on absolute clauses see 4.7 below.
Without any wind blowing, the trees stood motionless and silent. (or With no wind blowing )
John being the only person able to design glass shoes, the manager accepted to increase his pay.
In certain configurations, a participle clause can be analyzed either as an adverbial, or as a

postmodifier in a noun phrase. As a matter of fact, this structural ambiguity creates semantic
ambiguity, with the participial clause interpreted in two ways paraphrased under (a) and (b) after each
example below:
The woman, wearing those dark glasses, couldn't see clearly.

a. The woman, who was wearing those dark glasses, couldn't see clearly (non-restrictive PostM of
N)
b. The woman, because she was wearing those dark glasses, couldn't see clearly (adverbial)
The apple tree, swaying gently in the breeze, reminded me of my old garden.
a. The apple tree, which was swaying gently in the breeze, reminded me of my old garden. (non-
restrictive PostM of N)
b. The apple tree, since it was swaying gently in the breeze, reminded me of my old garden
(adverbial)
The position (i.e.function) of the ing-clauses can be represented in a tree diagram, showing clearly the
ing-clause as internal to Subject NP (the postmodifier function), or external to it (the adverbial
function).
NP (subject) (postmodifier function of the ing-clause)
D N'
N' ing-clause
the woman wearing those dark glasses

34
Sentence (adverbial function of the ing-clause)
NPsubject AuxP
ing-clause Aux'
Aux VP
V' AdvP
V
the woman wearing …glasses couldn't see clearly
Note also that the adverbial meaning of the clauses affects the meaning of the whole sentence: "it is
because of the dark glasses that the woman couldn't see well", "it is due to their swaying gently that
the apple trees reminded me. The implication of the postmodifier meanings are different: “The woman
who happened to be wearing dark glasses couldn't see clearly - not necessarily because of the dark
glasses”; “The apple trees, which happened to be swaying gently, reminded me… - not necessarily
because they were swaying”.
Adverbial participial clauses can be introduced by subordinating conjunctions such as while, before,
after, if etc. (for more details on subordinators in participial clauses see 4.4.4 below).
While reading her book, she heard a loud laughter in the street.
After applying to several universities, she was finally admitted to Oxford.
Before applying to Oxford, she worked at Cambridge.
4.3.8 Postmodifiers of nouns

This function is always realized by -ing participial clauses without an overt subject; the modified head
noun acts as the controller of the zero participial subject; the participial clause can be paraphrased by a
relative clause. Such clauses can be restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers. Here are some examples:
The stars revolving around the centre of our galaxy are all red giants (restrictive; rel. clause:
which/that are revolving…)
The man addressing the audience now is a famous scientist. (restrictive)
The man, addressing the audience now, is a famous scientist. (non-restrictive)
Those stars, revolving around the centre of Milky Way, are all red giants.
He began to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class.
Discontinuous participial modifiers sometimes occur, as in the following examples:
Laws were passed precisely describing teaching staff recruitment procedure at universities.
(cf. The parliament passed laws precisely describing teaching staff recruitment procedure at
universities)
There are some students in the hall waiting for their professor.
(cf. In the hall, there are some students waiting for their professor)
The relative clause paraphrase can be used as a test verifying that a given clause functions as a
postmodifier.
35
4.4 Exercises
I. Identify –ing clauses by underlining them. Then identify their immediate constituents. The first
example is done for you.
No one enjoys deceiving his own family. -ing clause(S) V DO
1. I'm surprised at John's being the only one present at the meeting.
2. The crisis has arisen as a result of recent uncontrolled inflation having outweighed the
benefits of devaluation.
3. His being a Jesuit was a great disappointment to us.
4. His criticizing John was very unfair.
5. Telling lies is wrong.
6. Everybody considers reading in a foreign language very helpful in the process of
learning that foreign language.
II – Identify –ing clauses among the underlined phrases below.

1. Screeching her tires and blasting her horn, Mary took off in a cloud of dust and smoke.
2. John spent the entire afternoon running after his daughter.
3. After the movie was finished, we decided to go out to eat at an Italian restaurant.
4. This meeting, far too boring for teenagers, should be ended as soon as possible.
5. Using the disguise of a matador, the tourist was able to sneak into the arena without
paying.
6. We never accepted the principle of living within our means.
7. By repairing the TV set himself, he is saving a lot of money.
8. His major achievements collapsing around him, the executive officer retired.
9. The two superstars signed autographs, their faces beaming happily.
10. Working around the clock, the fire-fighters finally put out the last of the California
brush fires.
11. The best exercise, walking briskly, is also the least expensive.
12. She was proud of her son winning first prize.
13. Tom's goal in life, becoming an occupational therapist, is within his grasp this year, at
last.
14. I'm really not interested in studying biochemistry for the rest of my life.
15. He denied taking any money from the cash register.
III – What are the functions of -ing clauses in the following examples? Underline each -ing clause
precisely.
1. For many centuries the farmer allowed it to continue there, leaving his pigs to look after
themselves most of the time.
2. These were the Chinese pig, and its various relatives, including the Neapolitan pig, which
were descended from Chinese pigs.
3. In the early nineteenth century, all sorts and conditions of pig-farmer worked at improving all
sorts and conditions of pig.
4. She was neither dressed nor built for energetic activity on a hot day, being very short indeed,
and fat, so that she had to roll a little in order to get along.
5. It was clear that she was used to carrying such heavy weights.
6. Reaching her usual bus stop, she put down her bag and rested. Then, suddenly, conscious of
being watched, she turned quickly round
7. He was the only other person waiting.
8. This great nervous lump of a man, waiting for a bus or hanging about on the footpath outside
the storehouse, had become a figure of the street for her.
IV – Say how the null subject of the -ing verbs is interpreted in the following examples:
1. Trees should only be pruned when there is a good and clear reason for doing so.
2. Pruning involves cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches.
36
3. More damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in
its own way.
4. Pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size.
5. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the
centre and so preventing the free movement of air.
6. They were sitting there doing nothing.
7. He stood in the kitchen watching what she was doing.
8. They were in the hall trying to say what they wanted.
9. These cars, running slowly, will be eliminated from the traffic.
10. John being at work, Mary can go window shopping.
11. All flights for Glasgow having been delayed, they decided to go to the airport restaurant
and wait there.
12. He is in the library looking up for some papers.
13. She sat there staring at the wall.
14. There is someone knocking at the door.
15. Books have been written trying to prove that flying saucers come from outer space.
16. All the work in the factory is done sitting down.
17. She just stood there, wondering what to do next.
18. A tile falling from the roof shattered into fragments at his feet.
19. The boy resembling John is his cousin.
20. They went shopping.
21. No one looks important wearing shabby clothes. (ambiguous function)
22. Their leisure time is spent playing cards.
23. The children came running.
24. And so, my dear friend, we have ended by turning the dancing men to good.
25. She sent me a letter, imploring me to go away.

Non-Finite Clauses in English: Formal Properties and Function

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Non-finite clauses in English

PART I – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3

Subject (S): The sun is shining

Basics 2: The verb element can be finite or non-finite

The sun is shining

That lecture bored me

1. General remarks about subordination

1.1 Compound vs. complex sentences

Consider the following examples of sentences containing embedded clauses:

Clauses can function as DO (complement of V) and also as S.

Embedded clauses can function as Adjuncts (or adverbials)

Someone approached William [when he was walking down the road].

Immediate constituent analysis: S V DO A

Embedded clauses functioning as sentence adverbials:

When did someone approach William?

1.2 Classification of subordinate clauses

Sentence type (correlating with a typical illocutionary force):

According to their function - Functional classes:

Modifiers in NP, AdvP, AP:

Practice 2. Identify adverbials realized by embedded clauses:

2. Non-finite and Verbless Clauses – General Remarks

Non finite verbs: Infinitive, -ing Participle, -ed Participle

We wanted to go to the seaside

2.1 Types and properties

Structural properties of non-finite clauses:

I watched my son playing with his friends in the garden.

Pay attention to frequency observation QG p. 266

to study grammar last year

to study grammar last year

We can't afford for everyone to travel business class.

2.1.5 Modals, passive

She wanted to be examined first

2.2 From non-finite to verbless clauses

1. The prisoner to be innocent

He found the assignment (…) more difficult than he had expected.

His attitude made real communication (…) impossible.

2.3 Subjectless non-finite clauses

The politician tried [to explain his position].

The politician tried [(S) to explain his position]

Interpretation of the null subject

1. Controlled subject. Consider the following example:

The politician promised to explain his position

They persuaded the politician to explain his position

Being desperately poor, paper was always scarce – as was ink.

2. Context/situation determined interpretation. Imagine a situation where several people comment

2.4 Non-finites with an overt subject

I want [him to answer the phone] (infinitive)

2.5 Functions of non-finite clauses

2.6.1 Infinitive clauses

Subject To leave without a word would be rude.

For you to leave without a word would be rude.

They want us to buy a house in Hercegovina.

Interrogative infinitivals. Infinitive clauses can be interrogative and function as complements to

I don't know whether to accept their proposition

In interrogative infinitivals, which are introduced by wh-words or phrases, no overt subject is

Can you help him do his homework?

2.6.2 Ing-Participle Clauses

Talking to you was a great pleasure

2.6.3 Ed-Participial clauses

2.6.4 Verbless clauses