Gerund - I couldn't understand his not wanting to go

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

I always meet:

1.The appointment board is the group of people who does the appointing.
2.Mr.Fred complained about Alex’s having come to class late.
3. I couldn’t understand his not wanting to go.

I don’t undestand why there are gerunds in these sentences.Why not nouns? The use of gerund here is standard?That can be applied for any verbs? Please tell me the rule.

Alandro

2

Hi,

Remember that a gerund can be described as a verbal noun. I can see no problem with their use in your sentences. What is your problem with them?

Alan

3

That means when I don’t want to use nouns, I can use any gerunds instead.
Ex:
1/
If I don’t like to write:
I am grateful to your help. (1)

I write: I am grateful to your helping. (2)

(1) , (2) are both correct and have the same meaning. Right?

2/If I don’t like to write:
His translationis good. (3)

I write: His translatingis good. (4)

(3) , (4) are both correct and have the same meaning. Right?

3/If I don’t like to write:
I appreciate your support. (5)

I write: I appreciate your supporting. (6)

(5) , (6) are both correct and have the same meaning. Right?

4/ Can I write: I don’t know the distinguishing of these verbs. ?

Alandro

4

Hi,

No, that’s not what I wrote. I wrote that gerunds are verbal nouns. I didn’t write that every time you want to use a noun, you can turn it into a gerund. Why have you changed what I have written?

Alan

5

Since you asked the question, Alandro, what nouns do you think would fit in your original sentences (above)?

6

Sorry, I can’t express the ideas.

In short, if there aren’t nouns, I can use gerunds instead. Right? (any cases)
If there are nouns,but I don’t want to use them, can I use gerunds instead? (any cases)

Alandro

7

WOW!My favourite verbal nouns!

8

Hi,

You cannot arbitrarily say that if you don’t use nouns, you can use gerunds. You are talking about two separate grammatical terms which have different associations and different functions. Your comments are far too general and wideranging and cannot be answered with a simple yay or nay. If you have a specific question, please address it.

Alan