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Pet Peeves of Writing
Oct. 2nd, 2003 10:50 amMany people like to complain about bad spelling, gross punctuation, and other common writing gaffs. There is one about which I'd like to complain, not only because it is common, but because many people are completely unaware of it. Of what do I speak? Owning one's gerunds!
Huh?
A gerund is a verbal, i.e., a word resembling a verb that acts as a different part of speech. In particular, gerunds are verbals with the -ing ending that act as nouns. In the sentence, "I like shopping," the word "shopping" is a gerund.
Consider the following sentence: Jane likes John kissing her.
Most people would be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with this example. However, the direct object of the sentence is not John, but the gerund, kissing. We do not know whether Jane likes John or not. We don't even know if Jane likes John while he is kissing her. We do know, however, that Jane enjoys John's kisses. Kissing is the object of likes.
So what's the problem? John should be John's. The name should be a possessive adjective to show that it describes the gerund. The sentence should read thus: Jane likes John's kissing her.
Oddly enuogh, every grammar book I've seen agrees (yes, I'm paranoid enough to check many sources before ranting), yet few people have even heard of this rule. It doesn't help that many professional authors and editors let such errors slide, if they are even aware of it. Because of extreme use of the wrong form of such gerunds, the correct form seems strange. This is similar to the issues of split infinitives and terminal prepositions. Speaking of terminal prepositions, many people "know" that it is wrong to end a sentence with one. The rule is actually a little more than that. You should not end a clause with a dangling prepostion. It is just as wrong to say, "If you know where you're going to, then you should leave soon," as it is to ask, "Do you know where you're going to?"
An important point of all this bothers me, though. If so many people accept and even fight for split infinitives, terminal prepositions, and unowned gerunds, then why are they considered wrong?
Huh?
A gerund is a verbal, i.e., a word resembling a verb that acts as a different part of speech. In particular, gerunds are verbals with the -ing ending that act as nouns. In the sentence, "I like shopping," the word "shopping" is a gerund.
Consider the following sentence: Jane likes John kissing her.
Most people would be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with this example. However, the direct object of the sentence is not John, but the gerund, kissing. We do not know whether Jane likes John or not. We don't even know if Jane likes John while he is kissing her. We do know, however, that Jane enjoys John's kisses. Kissing is the object of likes.
So what's the problem? John should be John's. The name should be a possessive adjective to show that it describes the gerund. The sentence should read thus: Jane likes John's kissing her.
Oddly enuogh, every grammar book I've seen agrees (yes, I'm paranoid enough to check many sources before ranting), yet few people have even heard of this rule. It doesn't help that many professional authors and editors let such errors slide, if they are even aware of it. Because of extreme use of the wrong form of such gerunds, the correct form seems strange. This is similar to the issues of split infinitives and terminal prepositions. Speaking of terminal prepositions, many people "know" that it is wrong to end a sentence with one. The rule is actually a little more than that. You should not end a clause with a dangling prepostion. It is just as wrong to say, "If you know where you're going to, then you should leave soon," as it is to ask, "Do you know where you're going to?"
An important point of all this bothers me, though. If so many people accept and even fight for split infinitives, terminal prepositions, and unowned gerunds, then why are they considered wrong?
