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Using the Possessive Case with Gerunds
By Nancy L. Tuten, PhD, and Gayle R. Swanson, PhD
Can you identify a problem in any of the following sentences?
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1.
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I appreciate
you taking the time to read our year-end report. |
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2.
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The revised
plan would result in the family paying for services that
previously would have been covered by the public
insurance program. |
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3.
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All child
safety seats must be properly installed to reduce the
risk of a child being injured. |
In
each of these sentences, we need to use the possessive case to
modify a gerund. The correct phrases, then, are (1) "your
taking," (2) "family’s paying," and (3) "child’s being."
A gerund is a verbal--a word that is formed from a verb and
retains certain characteristics of a verb (e.g., tenses, the
ability to take an object) but no longer functions as that part
of speech. A gerund always functions as a noun. It is formed by
adding "ing" to the verb.
Because a gerund functions as any other noun does, we must use
the possessive case of nouns that modify it. We would write, for
example, "My sister’s singing always pleases my father." In this
sentence, "singing" is the gerund and "sister’s" is the
possessive noun modifying it.
Two central problems thus arise for writers with regard to the
use of the possessive case with the gerund:
First, the failure to use the possessive case with the gerund
can give a sentence a meaning altogether different from what the
writer actually intends.
Consider these two sentences:
Whitaker did not like the woman standing in front of him at the
parade.
Whitaker did not like the woman’s standing in front of him at
the parade.
In the first sentence, "standing" is an adjective (a participle,
to be specific) modifying "woman." We call "standing in front of
him at the parade" a participial phrase. The sentence says that
Whitaker did not like the woman who was standing in front of him
at the parade. The participial phrase answers the question
"which woman?" It identifies her as "the standing woman" and
states that she is the person whom Whitaker did not like.
In the second sentence, "standing" is a noun--a gerund. This
sentence says that Whitaker did not like the fact that someone
(the "woman") was standing in front of him at the parade.
Whitaker probably did not know the woman at all. The notion of
his liking or disliking her has nothing whatsoever to do with
the idea that the sentence intends to convey. It was the
*standing in front of him* that Whitaker did not like--the
*woman’s* standing. The true meaning of the sentence--the fact
that Whitaker did not like having someone stand in front of him
at the parade--hinges entirely on the use of the possessive case
of the word "woman."
Second, the failure to use the possessive case with the gerund
can create an illogical statement.
Consider the following sentence:
I appreciate you taking time to talk with me about the project.
The possessive case of "you" is not used with the gerund
"taking," so the writer ends up making the illogical statement
(at least in this context) "I appreciate you." The point is not
that the writer of the sentence appreciates *you* per se;
instead, he or she appreciates the fact that you took time to
talk with him or her:
I appreciate *your* taking time to talk with me about the
project.
Here are a few more examples:
Each office wants to arrange its own schedule, but doing so
would result in the *company’s* being inundated with calls and
scheduling requests. [This practice does not result in the
company; it results in the inundation of the company--i.e., in
*its* being inundated.]
The principal may require the parents to come to the school for
a conference prior to the *student’s* being allowed to resume
riding the bus. [The parents will not have to come to the school
prior to the student; they will have to come before the student
can be allowed to resume riding the bus--i.e., prior to *his or
her* being allowed to resume riding.]
What can we do about *others’* not being able to read well? [The
question is not what can we do about others but what can we do
about the fact that they are not able to read well--i.e., about
*their* not being able to read well.]
Funding eligibility is contingent upon the *entity’s* meeting
the financial reporting requirements. [The eligibility is not
contingent upon the entity but upon the fact that the entity
meets the financial reporting requirements--i.e., upon *its*
meeting the requirements.]
TEST YOURSELF:
See if you can identify problems with gerunds in the following
sentences:
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1.
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The tax
incentive program has resulted in South Carolina
currently having seventy new businesses in the northern
coastal area. |
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2. |
The
principal will notify the parents that any disruptive
conduct will result in a student losing his or her hall
privileges for the remainder of the school year. |
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3. |
An
emergency technician had recorded vital signs prior to
the patient receiving medical care. |
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4. |
The
"employee of the month" award is based on an employee
having demonstrated a strong work ethic, collegiality,
and dedication to the company. |
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5. |
The
board of directors realized that its actions were
responsible for the company having lost $2.3 million in
revenue during the fourth quarter. |
ANSWERS
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1.
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The tax
incentive program has resulted in South Carolina’s
currently having seventy new businesses in the northern
coastal area. [The incentive program has not resulted in
South Carolina; instead, it has resulted in the
*state’s* having seventy new businesses in the northern
coastal area.] |
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2.
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The
principal will notify the parents that any disruptive
conduct will result in a student’s losing his or her
hall privileges for the remainder of the school year.
[The conduct will not result in the student; instead, it will
result in the loss of hall privileges by the student--in
*his or her* losing the privileges.] |
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3.
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An
emergency technician had recorded vital signs prior to
the patient’s receiving medical care. [The technician
did not record the vital signs prior to the patient;
instead, he or she recorded vital signs prior to the
*receiving* of the medical care.] |
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4.
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The
"employee of the month" award is based on an employee’s
having demonstrated a strong work ethic, collegiality,
and dedication to the company. [The award is not based
on the employee; instead, it is based on *his or her*
having demonstrated certain qualities.] |
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5.
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The
board of directors realized that its actions were
responsible for the company’s having lost $2.3 million
in revenue during the fourth quarter. [The sentence
means to convey that the board was responsible not for
the company per se but for *its* having lost revenue.]
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2005 by Get It Write. Purchase our book of writing tips at
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