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A question about English grammar | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6949 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 9 of 12 26 August 2011 at 12:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In my mind, the genetive gerund occupies a "near-obsolete" realm along with "whom". I usually don't use either because no one around me does (aside from a few
of my former professors, and sometimes my mother), and I feel like it would seem pretentious and out-of-place to use them in a colloquial conversation, but it always jumps out at me when they're not used (including by myself). In other words, it feels awkward to use them and it feels awkward not to use them. Edited by Lucky Charms on 26 August 2011 at 12:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6703 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 10 of 12 26 August 2011 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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about them feeling : 886.000 Google hits
about their feeling: 1.080.000 Google hits So both are possible. What about "I'm worrying that they may feel isolated in school"? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5565 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 11 of 12 26 August 2011 at 12:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I would never use the second - to me it is totally antiquated, like 'whom'. In fact, if it was not for the descriptions of grammatical use set in this post I would ask 'their' what?
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| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5766 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 12 of 12 27 August 2011 at 2:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
Of course, that works just as well, if not better. I use all three depending on how much I think about what I'm saying.
I think my use of the genitive gerund stems from having to write formal essays for uni. This particular element of my formal writing seems to have assimilated into my supposedly less formal writing and sometimes speech, too. I think some of my university lecturers, particularly the professors, use the genitive construction a lot - which is probably what made me notice it at all. People around me have begun to imitate me and use the genitive construction as well, as they think I'm pretty good at grammar and therefore, in their minds, I must be right - which is ridiculous. Gradually, after pondering it a bit, I began to wonder whether the gerund in "-ing" was a verb form or whether it was a noun, and eventually it occurred to me to ask about the issue here. Other supposedly archaic forms like "whom" haven't yet come into my speech, though. Doubt that one will ever happen. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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