CHAPTER 9

ING COMPLEMENTS
(© Sentence Processes, Nadina Vișan)

One of the problems always present when discussing the Participle and the Gerund is
the fact that both of these moods have the same ending: -ing. This makes it sometimes
difficult for us to differentiate between them. Due to this situation, we shall have to
point out the specific features of each construction. Let us start with the Participle:

8.1. The Participle

The first distinction to be made here is that between present participle and past
participle. These are the tenses of this mood and they differ in point of ending: the
present participle ends in –ing and makes the object of our discussion. The past
participle ends in –en (or -ed) and will be marginally tackled in this section. Let us
now see the main contexts where we can identify participial forms:

8.1.1. Participial Constructions

The main context in which the present participle appears is when it is part of a
continuous tense form:

(1) Susan is sleeping.

(Susan doarme.)

In (1) the ing form that appears within the Present Continuous VP (verb phrase) is a
present participle.
This fact is also true of past participle forms and perfect or passive verb phrases:

(2) a. Susan has come.

(A venit Susan)
b. Susan has been killed.
In (2) the forms come, been and killed are past participle forms.

A context where the present participle frequently appears is when it is combined with
a noun phrase and has a modifying function, i.e. it functions attributively. Here we
have two situations:
a) when it appears before the noun in question:

(3) The running man is my boss.

(Omul care aleargă este şeful meu.)

b) when it appears after the noun in question:

(4) The man running on the track is my boss.

(Omul care aleargă pe pistă este şeful meu.)

As you can see in this second case, the participle may be accompanied by additional
complements (on the track).

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This situation is also characteristic for past participles, especially when they are
placed in front of the nominal and appear in compounds:

(5) His clean-shaved face was shining in the moonlight.

(Faţa lui bine bărbierită strălucea în lumina lunii.)

More infrequently, the past participle can appear after a noun, too:

(6) Her eye-lids, blood-shot and painted, were closing.

(I se închideau pleoapele injectate şi date cu fard.)

The participle can also frequently appear as an adverbial and here we can notice two
situations:
a) when it has no expressed logical subject

(7) a. Arriving here, they started singing. (adverbial of time)

(Sosind aici, începură să cânte.)
b. Knowing who the guy was, she ran away. (adverbial of reason)
(Ştiind cine era el, ea o luă la fugă.)
c. When singing, people should pay attention to high notes. (adverbial of time +
time conjunction)
(Atunci când cântă, oamenii trebuie să fie atenţi la notele înalte.)
d. If provoked, a lion can attack. (adverbial of condition + conditional
conjunction)
(Dacă este provocat, leul poate să atace.)

b) when it has an expressed logical subject : the Absolute Participle

(8) a. God willing, I will arrive there on time. (adverbial of condition)

(Cu voia lui Dumnezeu, o să ajung la timp.)
b. Weather permitting, I will arrive there on time. (adverbial of condition)
(Dacă vremea îmi permite, o să ajung la timp.)
c. Oh, he will eventually marry her, mother permitting. (adverbial of condition)
(Se va căsători până la urmă cu ea dacă maică-sa îi dă voie.)

The logical subjects in (8) are God and weather, respectively. This construction is
called the Absolute Participle after the model of Latin where there is the Absolute
Ablative – an elliptical construction made up of nouns and non-finite forms in the
Ablative, which stands for an adverbial clause.

The participle may also appear in the so-called independent participial constructions:
i. Nominative + Present / Past Participle

(9) a. He was found stealing.

(L-au descoperit că fură.)
b. He was found killed by a bullet.
(L-au găsit ucis de un glonte.)

ii. Accusative + Present / Past Participle

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(10) a. I found him stealing.
(L-am descoperit furând.)
b. They found him killed by a bullet.
(L-au găsit ucis de un glonte.)

Let us make up a list of verbs and adjectives that require the presence of the
independent participial constructions:
a) Verbs requiring Nominative and Accusative + Present Participle
• Verbs of physical perception: see, hear, smell, watch, behold, notice, perceive

(11) I felt her trembling.

(Am simţit-o tremurând.)
(12) He was noticed crying.
(A fost văzut plângând.)

• Causative verbs: get, have, set, start, keep, send, leave, etc.

(13) a. I’ll have you all speaking fluent English soon.

(O să vă fac să vorbiţi toţi curând o engleză bună.)
b. He’ll soon get things going.
(O să pună repede lucrurile în mişcare.)
c. He was sent rolling by the heavy blow.
(Lovitura l-a trimis învârtindu-se.)

• mental perception verbs: remember, recollect, find, etc.:

(14) Imagine him saying a thing like that.

(Închipuieşte-ţi-l spunând una ca asta.)

b) Verbs requiring Nominative and Accusative + Past Participle

• Verbs of physical perception: see, hear, feel, etc.:
(15) a. I heard it said that men are a bore.
(Am auzit spunându-se că bărbaţii sunt plicticoşi.)
b. He was seen covered in mud from head to toe.
(L-au văzut acoperit de noroi din cap pâna în picioare.)

• verbs of mental perception: imagine, confess, know, recollect, etc.:

(16) When she heard his words, she knew herself dismissed.
(Când i-a auzit cuvintele şi-a dat seama că a concediat-o.)

• Causative verbs: get , have, make

(17) a. I must get my hair cut.

(Trebuie să mă duc să mă tund.)
b. You must get that leg of yours taken care of.
(Trebuie să te duci la doctor să îţi îngrijeşti piciorul.)

• verbs of permission, command

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(18) I ordered my bill made out.
(I-am spus chelnerului să-mi aducă nota.)

• Verbs of liking and disliking

(19) a. Men like shopping made easy.

(Bărbaţilor le place să termine repede cu cumpărăturile.)
b. He wanted his car fixed immediately.
(Dorea să-i fie reparată maşina imediat.)

8.1.2. Characteristics of Participial Forms

The main property participles have – in opposition to gerundial forms – is the verbal
quality of these structures. Unlike the gerund, the participle has no nominal properties
whatsoever. We shall enlarge upon this point in the section on gerunds.

A second differentiating feature is the frequency with which the participle appears as
a modifier or as an adverbial. The only contexts in which the participle functions as
an object is when it is part of the independent participial constructions (i.e.
Nominative or Accusative + Participle).

The participle lacks tense but exhibits:

• aspectual features:

(20) Having seen this, I left.

(Văzând acestea, am plecat.)

• Voice (can appear in the passive)

(21) Having been noticed by the teacher, I left.

(După ce m-a remarcat profesorul, am plecat.)

• A nominative subject (in absolute participial constructions)

(22) God willing, the rain will stop.

(Cu voia lui Dumnezeu, se va opri şi ploaia.)

• A conjunction to precede it optionally

(23) Although not knowing the language, she enjoyed her trip to Spain.
(Desi nu ştia limba, a avut parte de o excursie plăcută în Spania.)

8.2. The Gerund

8.2.1. A Classification of Gerundial Forms

We classify gerunds, function of the presence or absence of a logical subject within

the gerundial structure. According to this criterion, one can distinguish between:
a) gerunds without an expressed logical subject:

(24) PRO seeing is PRO believing.

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 (Dacă vezi, crezi.)

b) gerunds with an expressed logical subject:

This class of gerunds can be further split into two subclasses:
• the full gerund (or the possessive ING)

(25) John’s coming here was a mistake.

(Venirea lui John aici a fost o greşeală.)

• the half gerund (or the Accusative ING)

(26) It all depends on him coming here.

(Totul depinde de venirea lui aici.)

We call the first subclass of b) possessive ING because of the genitive form in which
the logical subject appears. Likewise, the second subclass bears the name Accusative
+ ING due to the case of the logical subject within the gerund.

If there are two possibilities with class b) it means that there must be some differences
between them. The main difference lies in the fact that the accusative + ing is more
like a clause whereas the possessive -ing looks more like a nominal.

How do we know that?

Answer: By looking at the way these constructions agree with the main clause verbs
when coordinated:
• The possessive -ing in a compound subject agrees with the verb in the plural, just
as it happens with any normal compound subject made up of two nominal phrases:

(27) a. His winning and your losing were both surprising.

(M-a surprins faptul că el a câştigat şi tu ai pierdut.)
b. His victory and your defeat were both surprising.
(M-au surprins în egală măsură victoria lui şi înfrângerea ta.)

Coordinated accusative + ing requires a singular verb, just as it happens with

coordinated Subject that clauses:

(28) a. Him winning and you losing was surprising.

(M-a surprins faptul că el a câştigat şi tu ai pierdut.)
b. That he won and you lost was surprising.
(M-a surprins faptul că el a câştigat şi tu ai pierdut.)

8.2.2. Characteristics of Gerunds

In the previous subsection on participles I was saying that participles have [+ verbal]
features, whereas gerunds have [ + verbal ] and [ + nominal ] features. In that, gerunds
differ from participles. Consider the following table, where ING structures are
ordered according to their main features. Notice that part of the table is left
incomplete.

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 [+ verb] [+ verb, + noun] [+noun]
Participles Gerunds ?

Below we offer a few reasons why participles are seen as [+ verb]:

1. Participles look more like clauses and more often than not are translated by means
of a clause:

(29) I saw him smiling and was surprised.

(L-am văzut că zâmbeşte şi am fost surprins.)

Unlike participles, gerunds look more like noun phrases and are often
translatable by means of a noun phrase:

(30) His slapping Susan terrified the audience.

(Faptul că a pălmuit-o pe Susan a îngrozit publicul.)

2. An important characteristic of gerunds is that they do not normally extrapose (if

you remember, extraposition is one of the main syntactic features that
characterizes that clauses, which are seen as [+ verb] structures):

(31) a. It was illegal to grow a beard.

(Nu era legal să-ţi laşi barbă.)
b. *It was illegal growing a beard.

In (31) extraposition is possible with infinitives but not with gerunds. (31 b) is
ungrammatical because we get a double subject construction. This behaviour of
gerunds concerning extraposition resembles that of relative clauses which are
themselves very similar in behaviour to noun phrases. Consider (32), which proves
that extraposed relative clauses give birth to ungrammatical structures because of the
double-subject restriction:

(32) *It was illegal what she said.

A conclusion to this discussion is represented under the table below. A similarity is

thus drawn between that clauses and participles, as being verbal in nature, and
between relative clauses and gerunds as being more nominal in nature:

That clauses Relative clauses

Participles Gerunds

There are very few exceptions to the extrapositon restriction under which gerunds
are. The examples we can offer are analysed as idiomatic phrases:

(33) a. It’s no use crying over spilt milk. (proverb)

(Mortul de la groapă nu se mai întoarce.)

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 b. It’s no good talking to her.
(N-are sens să vorbeşti cu ea.)

3. Just like in the case of noun phrases, gerunds can be combined with Prepositions:

(34) a. She was surprised at his knowing the business so well.

(Era uimită de cât de bine ştia el dedesubturile afacerii.)
b. He looked at their wrestling on the muddy floor.
(S-a uitat cum se lupta pe podeaua înnoroiată.)

8.2.3. Participles vs. Gerunds

After discussing the characteristics of gerunds, it would be very useful for us to have a
look at differences between participles and gerunds, as offered in the table below:

PARTICIPLES GERUNDS
[+ verb] [+ verb, + noun]
1. Participles can be part of tense forms: Gerunds do not make up tense forms.
continuous , perfect, passive ones
She was crying.
2. Participles may be preceded by Gerunds may be preceded by prepositions:
conjunctions:
While sleeping, babies suck their thumb. She waited for his coming home.
3. Participles may function as adverbials: Gerunds do not function as adverbials with
Coming here, he built himself a house. few exceptions:
(adverbial of time) She angered him by stealing his project.

4. Participles do not function as objects Gerunds function as direct and prepositional

unless they appear in dependent objects:
constructions: She started crying. (direct object clause)
I saw her crying. (Accusative + She was interested in him marrying her.
Participle) (prepositional object clause)
5. Participles may function as attributes Gerunds may function as attributes but are
and are paraphrasable by who/that/which paraphrasable by means of the preposition
is…Verb + ing: for:
the walking man = the man who is the walking stick = stick used for walking
walking
the flying fish = the fish which is flying the flying saucer = saucer used for flying

8.3. The Verbal Noun

The verbal noun is here placed in opposition with the gerund. The verbal noun is an
ING form but is not part of non-finite forms: it is part of the nominal system, as it is a
noun phrase which just happens to look like a gerund or participle.

But how can we tell when an ING form is a verbal noun?

Compare:
(35) The shooting of the attacker was an ugly episode.

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 (Uciderea celui care îi atacase era un episod urât.)
to
(36) Shooting the attacker was an ugly episode.
(Uciderea celui care îi atacase era un episod urât.)

Although the meaning of the two underlined structures is similar, they differ formally:
The first sentence contains a verbal noun, which can be identified by:
- The presence of the (i.e. the determiner)
- The presence of the of phrase (i.e. of the attacker)
- The fact that the –ing form can be combined with an adjective:
The cruel shooting of the attacker

The second sentence contains a gerund due to:

- The absence of a determiner like the, a
- The absence of an of phrase, but the presence of a direct object (i.e. the
attacker)
- The possibility of its combination with an adverb:
Shooting the attacker cruelly

The problem with verbal nouns and gerunds is that they are both ended in ING
and can take a possessive:
George’s shooting of the attacker vs. George’s shooting the attacker.

The test that always helps you out of trouble is that of combining these
constructions with an adjective or an adverbial:
The first construction takes an adjective: George’s cruel shooting of the attacker,
whereas the second structures takes an adverb: George’s shooting the attacker
cruelly. This means that the first structure is a verbal noun while the second is a
gerund.

GERUNDS can combine VERBAL NOUNS can

with an adverb combine with an adjective
Shuffling the cards quickly The quick shuffling of cards

Sometimes the verbal noun can appear without its ‘of’ phrase:

(37) His beautiful singing was a blessing to everyone.

(Faptul că ştia să cânte aşa de frumos era o binecuvântare.)

In (37) there are two verbal nouns: his beautiful singing and a blessing. How can we
tell? In the first case, we can identify the verbal noun by means of the adjective that
accompanies it. In the second situation, the verbal noun blessing is accompanied by a
determiner which is an indefinite article. These are features that normally
characterize any noun.

Thus, if we were to go back to our incomplete table, we could safely fill in the blank
space with the following information:

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 [+ verb] [+ verb, + noun] [+noun]
Participles Gerunds Verbal nouns

(After) shooting the Jim’s suddenly shooting Jim’s/the sudden

sheriff, Jim left the sheriff alerted the shooting of the sheriff
quietly. whole town. alerted the whole
They saw him Are you still interested town.
shooting the sheriff. in shooting the sheriff?
This shooting star is What is your opinion
very large. about the new shooting
gallery?

8.4. ING Forms and Infinitives.

The aim of this subsection is mainly to help you better understand why those verbs or
adjectives that can be combined both with gerunds and with infinitives have a
different meaning in each case.
It has been noticed that, whenever a verb can appear both with an infinitive and with a
gerund, the meaning is different. However, we can trace a common feature for all
these special verbs. All of them change their meaning according to the grammatical
information offered by the construction they are followed by.

For instance, whenever we meet an –ing form, we expect it to have something to do

with an event that has already happened (and then we are dealing with a gerund) or is
happening (and we are looking at a participle). With the infinitive, we expect it to
refer to something that might happen or that is going to take place.

Look, for example, at the following:

(38) He saw Susan crossing the street.

(A văzut-o pe Susan traversând strada.)
as opposed to
(39) He saw Susan cross the street.
(A văzut cum Susan a traversat strada.)

The difference in meaning is well expressed by the Romanian translation and is

motivated by what each form means:
- the –ing form ( a participle) expresses something still happening ( so the guy
in the example is watching Susan as she advances across the street)
- the infinitival form (a bare infinitive) – by opposition with the participle –
suggests that we are watching the whole event of the crossing of the street (so
the guy in the example has watched the entire crossing)

Another example, and the most well-known one, is that of the verb stop:

Compare:
(40) She stopped to eat a sandwich.
(S-a oprit să manânce un sandwich.)
to

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(41) She stopped eating a sandwich.
(S-a oprit din mâncat.)

The first example, containing an infinitive, suggests the fact that the eating of the
sandwich is going to take place (the potential, future-oriented value of the infinitive).
The second example – containing a gerund – suggests the fact that the eating of the
sandwich had already commenced and was then interrupted (the gerund expresses an
event happening in the past, prior to the one expressed by the main clause verb.)

After looking at this example, we can notice that in most cases the gerund expresses
something that has already happened, anterior to the verb in the main clause. On the
other hand, the infinitive expresses something that is yet to happen, posterior to the
verb in the main clause: while the gerund is past-oriented, the infinitive is future-
oriented.

This is exactly why the Perfect form of the gerund (e.g. having left) is infrequently
used in English. Compare

(42) She remembered having posted the letter earlier in the morning.
(43) She remembered posting the letter earlier in the morning.
(Şi-a amintit că a pus scrisoarea la poştă în cursul dimineţii.)

As you can see, both sentences are translated the same in Romanian, which means
that they are similar in meaning. The fact that both (42) and (43) have the same
meaning indicates that the gerund no longer needs to specify anteriority by means of a
perfect form (i.e. having posted) since it already expresses the idea of anteriority in its
simple form. This is why the perfect gerund is nowadays an indication of educated
speech (and will be mostly found in literary language).
Let us now follow this line of thought which traces an opposition between the
semantics of the gerund and that of the infinitive. We will examine other verbs like
the ones we have already mentioned under (40) and (41), i.e. verbs that can be
followed both a gerund and an infinitive (but with a significant change in meaning):

a) Remember, recollect, forget

(44) She remembers filling the tank with petrol.

(Şi-aduce aminte că a umplut rezervorul cu benzină.)
versus
(45) Remember to fill the tank with petrol.
(Adu-ţi aminte să umpli rezervorul cu benzină.)

The example with the gerund suggests that the filling of the tank has already
happened; the example with the infinitive suggests that the filling of the tank is going
to happen.

b) Regret

(46) I regret filling the tank with petrol.

(Îmi pare rău că am umplut rezervorul cu benzină.)
versus

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(47) I regret to fill the tank with petrol, but that’s it.
(Îmi pare rău că o să umplu rezervorul cu benzină, dar asta este.)

The example with the gerund suggests that the filling of the tank has already
happened; the example with the infinitive suggests that the filling of the tank is going
to happen.

c) Try

(48) I tried filling the tank with petrol and then I did some car washing.
(Întâi am încercat să mă ocup cu umplerea rezervorului cu benzină, apoi m-am
ocupat de spălarea maşinilor.)
versus
(49) I tried to fill the tank with petrol but found it no easy job.
(Am încercat să umplu rezervorul cu benzină, însă nu mi s-a părut treabă
uşoară.)

The first example implies the fact that the guy there has already filled the tank with
petrol several times. In the second example, the petrol tank is not filled yet, the action
is not completed.

d) Mean
(50) I mean to tell her the truth.
(Am de gând să-i spun adevărul.)
versus
(51) This means revealing her all my secrets.
(Asta înseamnă să-i dezvălui toate secretele mele.)

In the first example, the event has not happened yet, it is bound to happen as a result
of the subject’s intentions. In the second example, mean has the sense signify.

e) need, want
With [+ human] objects, these verbs are used in combination with the infinitive:

(52) He wants / needs to learn English.

(Vrea / trebuie să înveţe engleză.)

With [- human] objects, they can be combined with the gerund and acquire the same
interpretation as when they are followed by a passive infinitive:

(51) a. The house needs repairing.

(Casa trebuie reparată.)
b. The house needs to be repaired.
(Casa trebuie reparată.)

f) go on

(53) He goes on reading from that cheap novel.

(Continuă să citească din romanul acela ieftin.)
versus

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(54) After he talked about his plans he went on to talk about his daughter’s
wedding.
(După ce a vorbit despre planurile lui, s-a apucat să vorbească despre nunta
fiicei sale.)

In the first case we understand that the event of reading has already begun, whereas in
the second case, the event of becoming a lawyer is yet to happen.

8.5. Key Concepts

In this subsection we have dealt with ING forms. We made an important distinction
between ING complements (which appear either as Present Participles or as Gerunds)
and Verbal Nouns. The main difference between Present Participles and Gerunds lies
in their special features. Participles mainly function as adverbials, whereas gerunds
function mainly as subjects/objects. The common function these two structures share
is that of attribute but the similarity is deceptive, since paraphrase can correctly
identify which is which.

Another special feature is which elements these two structures can be preceded by: a
preposition for gerunds and a conjunction for participles.

There are also important differences between gerunds and verbal nouns, although one
can mistake them due to the fact that both forms can combine with a possessive
nominal. The main test of disambiguation is that of combining the two forms with
either an adverb (for the gerund) or an adjective (for the verbal noun).

Last but not least, don’t forget that certain verbs can take both ING forms and
infinitives after them – but the meaning changes according to the main shade of
meaning each of the aforementioned constructions exhibits.

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ING COMPLEMENTS
Activity 1
Translate the following sentences into English, using participial structures:
Am să pun să fii arestat dacă mă mai deranjezi mult. / Nu după multă vreme, îl vrăji în aşa hal
încât îi mânca din palmă. / L-au descoperit aruncat într-un colţ. / Să poftească în faţă elevii
care vorbesc. / Cel care tocmai vorbeşte cu Maria este fratele meu./ Lovitura l-a lăsat lat sub
masă. / Nu-l mai ţine să aştepte. / Jim a pornit motorul în doi timpi şi trei mişcări./ S-a dus să-
şi extragă o măsea. / Vreţi să vă dăm unghiile cu lac? / “Şi de unde ai găsit un şifonier atât de
încăpător?” “L-am făcut de comandă.” / De ce ai uitat robinetul deschis? / O să pun casa la
punct rapid. / L-a trimis la cumpărături.

Activity 2
Join each of the following pairs of sentences, using either a present participle, or a past
participle:
1. She didn’t want to hear the story again. She had heard it all before. 2. I turned on the light. I
was astonished at what I saw. 3. I have looked through the fashion magazine. I realize that my
clothes are hopelessly out of date. 4. In this chapter the characters have an unintelligible
conversation. They are lying face downwards in a sea of mud. 5. The tree had fallen across
the road. It had been uprooted by the gale. 6. People were sleeping in the next room. They
were wakened by the sound of breaking glass. 7. I knew that the murderer was still at large. I
was extremely reluctant to open the door. 8. Mother punished me for my mistake. I slammed
the door of my room. 9. He fed the dog. He sat down to his own dinner. 10. They found the
treasure. They began quarreling about how to divide it.

Activity 3
The following sentences contain misrelated participles. Read the sentences and try to correct
them. How do you account for the term misrelated?
1. Running into the room, a rug caught her foot and she fell. 2. Riding in the first race, his
horse fell at the last jump. 3. Knowing me to be the fool of the family, the news that I had
won a scholarship astonished him. 4. Reading in bed, my hands often get very cold. 5.
Leaving the cinema, it seemed to him that the film had been exceptionally bad. 6. Climbing
down the tree, one of the eggs broke. 7. Barking furiously, I let the dog out of the room. 8.
Getting out of bed, a scorpion bit him. 9. Sitting in the dentist’s chair, an idea suddenly
occurred to me. 10. Dropped by parachute, the country seemed entirely unfamiliar. 11. Tied to
the post, the sea was tossing the post up and down. 12. Passing under a ladder, a pot of paint
fell on my head.

Activity 4
Match a word in list (a) with a word in list (b) to form a compound word:
a) fair, broad, red (twice), bald, three, many, cloth, stony, narrow, open, fishy, empty, lion,
sharp, wooden, quick, dark, eagle, straight.
b) headed (5 times), haired (twice), eyed (3 times), shoulder, hearted (twice), cornered,
coloured, covered, minded (3 times), skinned, handed.

Activity 5
Same instructions as before:
a) molten, drunken, lighted, mown, roast, shaven, stricken, sunken, shorn, hidden, shrunken,
bounden, ill-gotten, rotten, graven.
b) grass, candle, meat, deer, man, lead, eyes, head, meaning, stream, lamb, plank, image,
duty, wealth.

Activity 6
In the following pairs of sentences, the same verb is missing twice, once used as a present
participle and once as a past participle. Insert the correct form in each gap:

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1. Books ________ out of the library must be returned within three weeks. / People ______
books out which haven’t been stamped will be banned. (take) 2. The film, _______ by S.
Spielberg, is expected to be a great hit./ Power stations _______ enough energy to supply
several towns are soon to be built on the south coast. (produce) 3. Crops _______ under glass
mature more quickly than those in the open. / Farmers ________ such crops can therefore
catch the early markets. (grow) 4. I stared at the canvas for ages, ________ the artist’s skill
and eye for detail. / Swiss watches, _______ for their elegance and precision, are sold
throughout the world. (admire) 5. The escaped prisoner, ________ hiding in a barn, was
today taken back to prison. / Many old people, _______ that their savings have been eaten
into by inflation, are having difficulties in making both ends meet. (find) 6. I fell on the ice,
_______ my arm. / Three people, _____ when their car crashed on the M1, were taken to
hospital. (injure). 7. Whales, _______ for their valuable oil and meat, are in grave danger of
extinction. / Thousands of people went shopping in the sales today, _______ for a bargain.
(hunt).

Activity 7 (Optional exercise)

Translate into English:
1. Toate liniile ei erau pline și rotunde: bucla de pe frunte și de pe lângă urechile
descoperite; umerii abia ascunși sub o dantelă; sânii chinuiți în strânsori; șoldurile
plesnind sub un corsaj ascuțit care le tăia, lăsându-le să joace libere și ghicite sub largile
falduri. O umbreluță, când strânsă, când deschisă, plină și ea de ape și valuri, arunca pe
fața și ființa femeii umbre și culori ce mișcau și înviau neîncetat toate liniile.
2. Deși clipa îi era tulburată mai adânc, o plăcere nelămurită a trecut iute prin Bubi. S-a
simțit alături de tatăl său și el stăpân la curtea lor, și încă recunoscut de femeia pe care o
dorea.
3. Se simți deodată încolțit de un necunoscut pe care îl uitase și care venea înspre el din
toate părțile. Înălțimea de entuziasm unde a stat o clipă se îneca în apa mare și tulbure de
șovăieli. Și, descleștându-și brațele de pe umerii bătrânului, începu să privească neliniștit
primprejur, ca și cum, deodată sufocat, ar fi căutat aer și un liman.
4. Stătea în jurul ei tot ce avea să fie o masă îmbelșugată: carnea roșie, împănată cu vine
galbene de grăsime, peștii cu solzi săriți sub cutit, legume date prin mai multe ape, păsări
tăiate, aruncate în ligheane și risipind un abur grețos de pene opărite, precum și foile de
plăcintă, întinse, și moi, cu praf de făină ușoară și lipicioasă pe ele, toate trecând prin
mâinile pricepute ale coanei Mița, care le rânduia, le fierbea, le cocea.
(Ion Marin Sadoveanu – Sfârșit de veac în București)

Activity 8
Translate into English, remembering that the gerund is always used of a preposition, a
prepositional verb or a phrasal verb:
Nu este nici o speranță să se găsească supraviețuitori după prăbușirea avionului. / Te-ai scuzat
pentru că l-ai deranjat? / Am renunțat să joc / la jocul de fotbal când am terminat școala. / Te-
ai săturat probabil să faci același lucru zi de zi. / John a fost sever mustrat pentru că “teroriza”
băieții mai mici decât el. / Publicul a fost avertizat de pericolul de a se plimba prin parc
noaptea. / Nu-l interesează deloc să-și crească copiii. / Se pare că-ți place foarte mult să
subliniezi defectele altora. / Minerii sunt întotdeauna avertizați să nu ducă chibrituri în mine. /
Cine răspunde de încuiatul ușilor și paza clădirii noaptea? / Ar trebui să te gândești să
economisești bani în loc să speri că vei câștiga la cărți. / Răspunsul la problema locuințelor
pare să rezide în construirea de noi blocuri. / Nu vedeau nici un motiv pentru ca ei să nu facă
așa cum plănuiseră inițial. / Doctorul m-a sfătuit să renunț la fumat și grăsimi. / A trebuit să
amânăm plecarea în vacanță. / Compania aceea este specializată în fabricarea mobilei de
birou. / Ar trebui să se impună tuturor și să se abțină de la a fuma în restaurante și alte locuri
publice. / Trebuie să-mi cer scuze că am întârziat așa de mult. / Judecătorul a fost acuzat de a
nu fi dat juriului obiective clare. / Se mândrește că e totdeauna bine îmbrăcat. / I-am spus să
nu-și bată capul să pună lucrurile la loc. / A trebuit să-i suportăm mojicia tot timpul călătoriei.
/ Am cerut sfatul unui avocat înainte de a ne decide să acționăm în justiție. / După ce a hărțuit-

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o bine pe vânzătoare, a plecat din magazin fără să cumpere nimic. / În ciuda faptului că a
trebuit să lupte cu o mare agitată, înotătoarea a reușit să traverseze canalul în timp record.

Activity 9
Identify the gerundial and participial constructions and state their function:
1. A stranger sharing the trip with us was bad enough. 2. He smiled to hear her talking in that
way. 3. Gambling is his favourite pastime. 4. It was worth trying to continue the efforts. 5.
What I don’t understand is you suddenly turning against me. 6. The only reason for selling
was the owner’s getting a new car. 7. He said he favoured people having decent haircuts. 8. I
can excuse his being rude to me but I cannot forgive his being rude to my mother. 9. He
admitted driving the lorry recklessly. 10. They were interested in a true vote being expressed
by the people. 11. The house is accustomed to reports being presented orally. 12. The
ceremony ended with his having to receive a trophy. 12. He was spotted talking to her. 13. I
was afraid that my answer might lead to him being charged for the offence. 14. She’s looking
forward to having lots of children. 15. The idea of him/his going to Paris appalled her.

Activity 10
Discriminate between gerunds and participles by means of paraphrase:
chewing cow/ chewing gum; shooting gallery / shooting star; boiling water is a job I hate / I
need some boiling water; crying game / crying woman; swimming duck / swimming trunks;
pressing needs/ pressing people to answer questions; eating habits/ eating people; paying
guests / paying guests to leave is wrong.

Activity 11
Identify the verbal nouns in the following:
Men have as much patience for cool philandering as they have for shopping. / Shopping can
be a nice activity but shopping there can only be a mistake. / His coming there puzzled her. /
His sudden coming puzzled her. / The massive cutting of funds shocked everybody in the
company. / Cutting funds so suddenly came down as a shock. / Their looting and ruthless
murdering was never forgotten. / All newspapers commented on John’s robbing the bank. /
John’s robbing of the bank was widely commented on. / The unexpected robbing of the bank
didn’t pass unnoticed.

Activity 12
Complete the following dialogue by putting the verbs in brackets into the correct form,
gerund or infinitive, as required:
A: You complain about feeling lonely but you’ve only yourself to blame, you know. You
don’t even try (make) new friends. Why don’t you join a club of some sort and stop (feel) so
sorry for yourself?
B: Look, John, I know you mean (be) kind, but I’d prefer (do) things my own way. I’ve tried
(join) clubs in the past but I absolutely hate (have) to meet a lot of new people and I used to
dread (go) to meetings so much that I stopped (attend) altogether after a few weeks, I regret
(say).
A: But if you don’t go on (attend), how can you expect to make friends? You need (persevere)
more. Friendship doesn’t just happen. It means (spend) time with people and (share)
experiences with them. If you only stopped (think) about it for a moment, you’d see I was
right.
B: But I’ve so little time for a social life. There’s always work that needs (do) in the house
and then there’s the novel I’m writing. I dread (think) what will happen if that’s not finished
by the deadline. And that’s not all.
A: OK, OK, before you go on (give) me any more reasons why you can’t go out, let me make
a final suggestion. Do you remember (meet) an American friend of mine at my house
recently? Well, he’s trying (make) up a party to go to the theatre to see “Private Lives” next
week. He told me not to forget (invite) you. I know you prefer (go) to concerts to (see) plays,

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on the whole, but this production has had rave notices and I’m sure you’d enjoy it. What do
you say?
B: Yes, I’d love (come), if you could give me your friend’s number, I’ll remember (ring) him
and (thank) him.

Activity 13
In the following texts, identify the ING forms and analyse them syntactically:

a) He remembered entering the village and then the ground, the very earth opening up. First
the crack snaking its jagged way along the concrete, then the noise and the cracking stone,
and then the incredible sound of the ground opening up, the enormous split in the earth.
The two sides were moving apart, their edges crashing inwards, down, down into God
knows where. The sight of the two children, the man and his bike disappearing in the
hole. The collapsing shops – he remembered seeing the shops on one side collapsing –
and then the ragged mouth reaching towards him.
b) The people above heard the cry for help coming from the huge hole that had wrecked the
burning village. He looked up towards the daylight, hoping he would see somebody up
there, someone looking for survivors. Then he saw movement at his feet. At first, he
thought it was dust caused by the disturbance, but then he saw it billowing up from
below. It was like a mist, slowly rising in a swirling motion, slightly yellowish although
he couldn’t be sure in the gloom. It seemed to be spreading along the length of the split,
moving up towards his chest, covering the girl’s head. She started coughing.

Activity 14 (Optional exercise)

Translate into English, making use of the information supplied in this section:
1. Asa ca vrind-nevrind, eram toti adunati in camera aceea, mama mea, cei doi Mamona,
Vaucher si cu mine, si asteptind ca tot ce avea sa se intimple sa se intimple cu adevarat si nu
numai in inchipuirea mea sau a lor. Si ca la un semnal care anunta un inceput, se deschise o
usa si venind o sluga, totul se anima deodata. Ridicindu-se, Mamona cel Tinar parasi
incaperea fara sa spuna un cuvint, dar lasind in urma lui citiva stropi de singe, inveselind
privirea cu rosul lor fierbinte si prevestitor. In urma slugii, impiedicindu-se de Mamona cel
Tinar plecind, venira alte doua si carind fiecare cite un cufar.

2. Intrind in casa noastra in anul 1812, intr-o joi, Vaucher a inceput prin a-l bate pe Mamona
cel Tinar sub privirile mele si aale mamei mele nepasatoare si a sfirsit in anul 1821, (…)
omorit fiind de catre Mamona cel Tinar, ucenicul sau necredincios. Numai ca toate astea sint
departe si inca de neinchipuit. Dar nu atit de neinchipuit incit, iesind din baltoaca lui si
apropiindu-se de Mamona cel Tinar pentru a-l lovi, sa nu-mi inchipui ca peste putina vreme
ma va lovi si pe mine si atunci, inchizind ochii, apasindu-mi pleoapele peste privirea din ei,
frica si nepasarea m-au cuprins precum si gindul ca intr-o zi cineva il va omori pe Vaucher si
stiind ca nu eu o voi face, am stiut si cine. Si poate ca stind in baltoaca lui, Vaucher a stiut si
el, arata in orice caz ca cineva care stie, dar sperind ca totul va fi altfel pina la urma.

3. Asa ca atunci cind a intrat Mamona cel Batrin, cu un sac ud pe umeri si mirosind tare a
ploaie si a sudoare, ne-a gasit pe fiecare la locul lui, pe mama mea parind absenta, dar
stiutoare, asezata cu spatele la noi, la mine, care stateam cu ochii aproape inchisi, pe Vaucher,
asezat in baltoaca pe care o facuse apa scursa din hainele lui, si pe Mamona cel Tinar, stind cu
capul in tavan si cu o mina ridicata in sus, dupa cum ii spusese mama, parind insa ca ne saluta
sau ca vrea sa-si ia ramas bun de la cineva. Ne-a privit o clipa si, fara sa-si lepede sacul de pe
umeri, neostenindu-se sa fac nici asta, nicidecum sa ne salute sau sa spuna ceva, se duse linga
mama si, aplecindu-se putin, o saruta pe frunte. Neclintiti, continuam sa stam si sa asteptam.
(Stefan Agopian – Tache de catifea)

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