I'm collecting gerunds & infinitives

[Andrew Patterson]

If anyone was wondering when my venn-geful diagram was going to rear its ugly head again, here it is.

I've done quite a bit of work on it lately, and it should be easier to navigate because I've put in "back" and "next" buttons, so that every page can be viewed sequentially. I've still got to fill out a few of those links, though.

To get to the point. I've also put in a scroll bar in sections 23, 28 and 31.

This has allowed me to greatly increase the number of verbs that I can show in these sections but I'd like to make them comprehensive.

Sections 28 to 31 are probably the most important sections in the diagram, I've already pooled several sources from the net, but right now I'm collecting verbs followed by gerunds and infinitives, I'd be extremly grateful if you could let me know of any I've missed.

Also if you can find any more verbs that should go in sections 43 and 44, I'll have to redraft the whole diagram 'cos they won't fit! Don't worry, I can take it.

To understand the request, you have to see the diagram, so here it is:

www.geocities.com/endipatterson/Catenative.html

[coffeedecafe]

well, i'm afraid i can't help, old chap. someone better versed is going to have to help you force a re-write of your work.
i am more partial to gerbils than gerunds, and infinitives seem to go on for ever, don't you think? besides i seem to have a bad case of the contraction's and all things colloquial. but your work seems very precise. now i've started maybe someone will join in...

[Norm Ryder]

Hi Andrew
I’m not sure whether you’re interested in phrasal verbs that are more or less synonyms of the ones you’ve already listed; and I’m not sure how many items in the list below even conform to your definition of a gerund; but I simply let my imagination run a bit loose while I was watching the telly last night, and here’s the result ― if it’s any use to you, you’re welcome.
All these are of the type preceded by "be":


confident in predicting
conscious of seeking
crazy about watching
crazy in hoping for
devoted to researching
dogged in pursuing
earnest in opposing
effective in organising
expert at describing
frantic in searching
fruitful in creating
hesitant about offering
helpless at performing
hopeful of interviewing
hopeless at dealing with
inclined towards voting for
involved in investigating
justified in demanding
lax in controlling
loud in praising
overjoyed at finding
persistent in arguing
prompt in replying
ready in offering
reduced to begging
resourceful in discovering
sensitive over accepting
slow in providing
unconscionable in promoting
useless for repairing


Looking at your diagram, I wonder how much sleep you've been getting these past months.
Norm

[metal56]

If anyone was wondering when my venn-geful diagram was going to rear its ugly head again, here it is.

Hi Andrew. Can I ask where the verb "resent" fits in?

[Norm Ryder]

You mean, metal, like "He resented being compelled to compose Venn diagrams for the rest of his natural life"????

What about these ones, Andrew:

anticipated hearing (from you earlier)
abandoned singing (folk songs five years ago)
begrudged contributing (to his children's school)
celebrated winning (his fifth gold medal)
encouraged co-operating (with the police)
faced leaving (the company he had built)
favoured leaving (while he was ahead)
fostered repainting (old buildings)
hates drinking (spirits)
loved swimming (underwater)
liked reading (comics)
gave up cycling (down the highway)
linked reading (to writing)
made drinking (beer his hobby)
managed working (through the night)
questioned opposing (the prime minister)
etc........

I've tried emphasise the verbal aspect of the gerund with an object or adverbial, because, as the Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar says, the "-ing" form in English clines (sic) - I'd say 'slides' - from verb to noun, so that the Latin notion of gerund is not particulary appropriate for English.
For instance, comparing "He encouraged opposing views" with "He encouraged opposing the president", we can see that the first "-ing" word is clearly adjectival; but the second could be regarded as part of a "noun phrase object", except that in taking an object itself (the president) it has a verbal aspect, so the trad grammar people apply the Latin term 'gerund'. But what about "He is opposing the president"? Simple participial?

Is that how you're defining the gerund, Andrew? How do the other grammars handle it?

Cheers all.

Norm.



by how much does "He hates drinking spirits" differ from "He hates the drinking of spirits"? And what about

[Norm Ryder]

Maybe I missed your point, metal, and the answer is "He continued resenting the compulsion to complete Venn diagrams ....

Norm

[coffeedecafe]

or he continually resent the same e-mail until there were 5 identically formed postings as alike as 2 peas inapod?

[metal56]

Maybe I missed your point, metal, and the answer is "He continued resenting the compulsion to complete Venn diagrams ....

Norm

Thanks. So only with the gerund? Never directly followed by the infinitive?

[Norm Ryder]

Hi metal

I can't think of any way Australian English would use an infinitive after the verb 'resent'. We would always say: "He resented being interviewed ...", never "*He resented to be interviewed ...".
Other varieties of English might follow a different practice, since grammatically it's not impossible; and you would need to discover that from speakers of the variety of English you're using.

I say the infinitive after 'resent' is not grammatically impossible, on the analogy with the similar structure of "He loves being interviewed ..."; because "He loves to be interviewed ..." is quite acceptable in Australian English.

The same holds for the active voice, where you can say both: "He loves interviewing children" and "He loves to interview children"; but only "He resents interviewing children", not (at least in Australian English) "*He resents to interview children".

If I'm not mistaken, there's a discussion on another thread of this forum about a possible difference in emphasis between the use of the gerund and of the infinitive in contexts similar to these.

Cheers
Norm

PS! Where are you Andrew, after setting this hare running?