vishalwin wrote:
"A noun preceding a gerund must be in the possessive case if the noun is the doer of the action described
by the gerund."
Can you please help me in understanding the above point.
A gerund is a VERBing that serves as a NOUN.
Case 1:
John likes the woman's dancing.
Here,
dancing is a gerund serving as the DIRECT OBJECT of
likes, while
the woman's is an ADJECTIVE serving to describe
dancing.
What type of DANCING?
THE WOMAN'S dancing.
Since the direct object of
likes is DANCING, the conveyed meaning is that John likes THE DANCING.
To convey that
the woman is performing the gerund action, we use a possessive:
THE WOMAN'S dancing.
Case 2:
John likes the woman dancing.
Here,
the woman serves as the DIRECT OBJECT of
likes, while
dancing is not a gerund but an ADJECTIVE serving to describe
the woman.
What type of WOMAN?
The woman DANCING.
Since the direct object of
likes is THE WOMAN, the conveyed meaning is that John likes THE WOMAN.
Since
dancing here is not a gerund but a MODIFIER, a possessive is not warranted.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.
As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.
For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at
[email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
