The gerund (герундий)

Tense	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Simple	Ving	being V3/Ved
Perfect	having V3/Ved	having been V3/Ved

Exercise 1. Name the form of the Gerund.

Studying, being taught, having been awarded, cooking, having failed, being swept, being performed, carrying on, having been asked.

Exercise 2. Use these verbs in all the forms of the Gerund.

To give, to award, to show, to discuss, to use, to speak, to invite, to take.

Exercise 3. Name the Gerunds in these sentences.

1. Excuse my coming late. 2. Einstein’s being awarded the Nobel Prize in physics soon became widely known. 3. All these metals resemble each other in having low melting points. 4. In order to calculate the motion of an electron, they must investigate the accompanying wave motion instead of using classical mechanics. 5. Iron is covered with a thin layer of tin to prevent it from rusting. 6. So far only the quantum theory has succeeded in giving a satisfactory explanation.

Exercise 4. Change the sentences according to the model.

Example: It is useless to hope for their help.

Hoping for their help is useless.

1. It is useless to hope for their help. 2. It is foolish to lend him money. 3. It is wonderful to the health to take a course of water treatment. 4. It was rather dangerous to travel in the jungle of Central Africa. 5. It will take much time to become an excellent programmer. 6. It is sufficient to acquire profound knowledge in Mathematics.

Exercise 5. Complete the sentences with the Gerund.

1. Does your hair need ___? 2. Do your clothes need ___? 3. Does your flat need ___? 4. Is the new film worth ___? 5. Is the question worth ___? 6. Do you mind ___? 7. They couldn’t help ___. 8. She never agrees to ___. 9. My parents didn’t approve of ___. 10. He doesn’t succeed in ___. 11. The interpreter is thanked for ___. 12. The student was ashamed of ___. 13. My grandmother has always been good at ___. 14. My friend keeps ___. 15. The doctor insists on my ___. 16. We never put off ___. 17. Do you mind my ___? 18. Will you give up the idea of ___? 19. My relatives enjoyed ___.

Exercise 6. Change the sentences according to the model.

Example: He felt much better after he had been operated on.

- After having been operated on, he felt much better.

1. He felt much better after he had been operated on. 2. When she gets up in the morning she starts cooking breakfast for the family. 3. Before she leaves for Moscow she will let you know about it. 4. When he had been examined he went straight home. 5. Some changes must be made as soon as possible after they introduce a new technology. 6. After I heard the conditions I decided not to enter for the competitions. 7. Don’t forget to lock the door before you go to bed. 8. After we had walked for three hours we stopped to let the others catch up with us.

Exercise 7. Use the verbs in brackets in the Active or Passive forms of the Gerund.

1. ___ is very popular in our country (skate). 2. He likes___ his friends to his house (invite). 3. He likes ___ by his friends (invite). 4. He entered the room without ___ her (notice). 5. I remember ___ her the letter (show). 6. I remembered ___ the letter of hers (show). 7. My shoes need ___ (repair). 8. The book is worth ___ (read). 9. On ___ the answer of the firm our representative left Moscow (receive). 10. He is fond of ___ (read). 11. He objected to their ___ a port in such a stormy weather (leave). 12. We insisted on this contract ___ immediately (sign). 13. The student’s ___ French helped him in learning English (know). 14. The coach saw his team ___ its force (lose). 15. Kate heard Bill ___ (sing). 16. We watched him ___ the table (clean). 17. We helped her ___ the homework (finish). 18. I was thankful for the guy next door for___ snow from my driveway (clean). 19. Everyone is proud of ___ a Prize Scholarship. (award) 20. We thought of ___ out of the town next Sunday. (drive) 21. She suggested ___ him to the conference. (invite) 22. He didn’t object to ___ to the conference. (invite) 23. I don’t remember the play ___ at our theatre. (stage)

Exercise 8. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. Have you succeeded in finding a job yet? 2. He insisted on paying for the meal. 3. What prevented him from coming to see us? 4. The police stopped everyone from leaving the building. 5. The boys continued playing football. 6. They went on talking. 7. I don’t mind wearing this suit. 8. Radio stations began broadcasting programs in the 1920s. 9. My friend gave up smoking. 10. Reversibility of the reaction accounts its being incomplete. 11. They aimed at making as many experiments as possible. 12. In spite of not having any university education, Faraday made his great discoveries. 13. The molecules of a substance because of their being reactive combine with each other.

Exercise 9. Answer the questions using the Gerund.

1. What is your favourite occupation? (travel) 2. What is good for your health? (ski) 3. What is bad for your health? (smoke) 4. What are you proud of? (be awarded a prize) 5. What are you interested in? (serf the Internet). 6. What can you be excused for? (give so much trouble). 7. What can the boy be afraid of? (be punished). 8. What do they accuse him of? (lie). 9. What did the experiment result in? (obtain new data). 10. What do they keep on? (make a research).

Exercise 10. Use the verb in brackets in the Active or Passive form of the Gerund.

1. I don’t like (laugh) at people. 2. I don’t like (laugh) at. 3. Do you mind (close) the door? 4. I hate (be) late for the lesson. 5. This knife is only for (cut) bread. 6. I thanked them for (be) so helpful. 7. She ran five miles without (stop). 8. I hate (ask) about my family life. 9. He insisted on (pay) for the taxi. 10. Please forgive me for (not/write) to you. 11. After (walk) for a few hours we stopped to have a rest. 12. Don’t forget to switch off TV before (go) to bed. 13. When I’m in trouble and need help I don’t mind (tell) what to do. 14. His (come) late was not a surprise to anyone. 15. On (complete) the experiment we wrote a report. 16. He talked without (stop).

Exercise 11. Translate the sentences with the Gerund.

1. It is no good arguing about this article. 2. Heating copper wire from 0° to 100°C increases its resistance about 40%. 3. It seems to us the case is not worth mentioning. 4. Avoid mixing these two substances. 5. There is no need of making any improvements. 6. In making observations extreme care to avoid mistakes is necessary. 7. He thought of trying another approach. 8. We succeeded in obtaining reliable results. 9. He had to give up experimenting. 10. The independent particle model has the advantage of possessing a high degree of physical visuality. 11. Upon being heated to a high temperature many metallic compounds are decomposed. 12. Metals cannot be dissolved without being changed into new substances. 13. I can’t help regretting it. 14. He had early possibility of becoming well acquainted with experimental work. 15. There is one more point worth mentioning. 16. On standing for some weeks the uranium solution gradually regains its initial activity. 17. Would you mind visiting a dentist? 18. The device has the merit of being suitable for many purposes. 19. The lecturer aims at acquainting the listeners with up-to-date achievements in physics. 20. The pyrometer stopped working because one of its parts was damaged.

Exercise 12. Match the columns and translate the sentences.

A	B
I insist on …	your visiting us many years ago.
Do you mind …	my coming so late.
He objects to …	my opening the window?
Excuse …	your answering right now.
I appreciate …	your planning to buy a new house.
They approve of …	your clock being slow?
I remember …	his joining the football club.
Did you say something about …	your helping us.

Exercise 13. Make up sentences with the Gerundial Complex.

1. I’ve never thought (of, he, to help). 2. Our chief does not insist (on, Ann, to be sent) on business. 3. Have you heard (of, your paper, to be praised)? 4. She accused him (of, she, to betray). 5. Customs officers persisted (in, he, to check, trucks) 6. Will your future success depend (on, you, to get, a university diploma). 7. I know (of, he, to go) to the North. 8. (you, to listen) to me is very much appreciated. 9. (my friend, to be) the winner of the contest was a good news for all us. 10. (Mr.Brown, to be absent) was very strange.

Exercise 14. Translate the sentences with the Gerundial Complex.

1. Mr. Brown informed director of his leaving for Manchester in two days. 2. The students’ knowing physics helped them in studying the theory of machines and mechanisms. 3. Our using a new program for the computer has improved the results of the test. 4. Her coming there was unexpected. 5. Metals being good conductors of heat provide a very wide use of them in heating systems for various practical purposes. 6. It’s no use my telling you a lie. 7. We insist on their returning soon. 8. There was no hope of our getting the tickets. 9. The engineer’s knowing German well helped him considerably in learning English. 10. On the rector’s appearing in the hall, there was long applause. 11. You don’t mind my being frank, do you? 12. They can’t begin their work without the commission’s adopting the plan. 13. Combustion may be incomplete owing to insufficient oxygen being present. 14. It depends on the atomic weights of these substances being equal. 15. Mike’s coming back was a total surprise to us. 16. I hope that you appreciate my offering you this opportunity. 17. Do you mind my smoking here? 18. My friends approve of my choosing this type of car. 19. I insist on your going to the airport by taxi. 20. Excuse my interrupting you. 21. We object to your discussing this problem without us. 22. Do you remember my telling you about the importance of this project? 23. Please forgive my interfering. 24. M. Curie’s having discovered radium enabled her to isolate other radioactive elements. 25. I had no idea of her leaving London so soon.

Exercise 15. Make up the sentences true for you using the following verbs: hate, stop, give up, enjoy, like, love, mind, look forward to.

Example: I enjoy playing computer games.

I don’t mind taking part in the competition.

Exercise 16. Rewrite the sentences, using the words in brackets. Keep the same meaning.

Example: Jack loves surfing the Internet. (crazy about)

Jack is crazy about surfing the Internet.

1. When I was young, collecting stamps interested me. (be interested in) 2. I am very sorry; I can’t remember people’s names. (not good at) 3. They left the restaurant; they didn’t pay the bill. (without) 4. Does walking alone at night frighten you? (frightened of) 5. Katrina doesn’t think of anything except making money. (obsessed with) 6. My father didn’t have a problem with lending me the car. (OK about) 7. My sister loves shopping for clothes. (mad about) 8. Her husband doesn’t love shopping for clothes very much. (not very keen on)

Exercise 17. Complete the sentences. Use the –ing form of the verbs in the box.

Play send switch off chat take use text hear

1. I can’t stand people ___ on their mobile phones while I’m trying to sleep in the train. I don’t mind people ___ because that doesn’t make a noise. 2. I don’t like ___ phones ring in restaurants and cinemas. 3. I enjoy ___ games on my mobile phone and I love ___ photos with it and sending them to my friends. 4. My phone came with a hands-free device but I’m not keen on ___ it in public. People think I’m talking to myself. 5. I prefer ___ text messages to calling because it’s much cheaper. 6. I hate ___ my phone. I think I might be a mobile phone addict.

Exercise 18. Translate the sentences with the Gerund.

1. Taking a cold shower in the morning is very useful. 2. Measuring temperature is necessary in many experiments. 3. Swimming is a healthy exercise. 4. On entering the house I said “hello”. 5. I like skiing, but my sister prefers skating. 6. He had a gift of listening. 7. Thank you for helping me. 8. After leaving school, he entered the University. 9. My cat’s favorite activity is sleeping. 10. The only remedy for such headache is going to bed. 11. Many people are afraid of going to the dentist. 12. Save energy by turning off lights that you are not using. 13. Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one. 14. After reading the article, I could take part in the discussion. 15. The police arrested him for speeding. 16. Long ago, people dreamed of flying like birds. 17. I am sorry for interrupting you. 18. I am thinking of going to Egypt in January. 19. She didn’t want to climb the hill because she was afraid of falling. 20. She left without saying good bye. 21. He doesn’t mind buying another arm-chair for our sitting-room. 22. I am proud of having won this difficult competition. 23. We are interested in developing the project.

Exercise 19. Translate the sentences with the Gerund.

1. Encoding is the function of the transmitter. 2. The aim of studying foreign languages is receiving more information on one’s speciality. 3. Programming a computer needs quite a lot of training, because it is based on a very difficult principle. 4. You need more calories for standing than for sitting, more for running than walking. 5. The fan moves away from the engine drive, and stops turning. 6. Driving in town means changing the position of the gear all the time. 7. The practical use of electricity on a larger scale became possible after developing electromagnetic machines, generators and transformers. 8. Lamps work by using energy accumulated during the day from a solar panel. 9. Is any metal capable of being drawn out into a wire? 10. Steam is an important factor in producing usable energy because of the power being created by its expansion. 11. One of the problems modern research laboratories are working at is the problem of finding materials that can serve as electrical conductors in fusion reactors. 12. Computers are widely used for controlling all kinds of processes. 13. It is difficult to solve some of the present-day scientific and technological problems without using supercomputers. 14. Alexander Bell’s being a teacher of deaf people influenced his interest in sound and its transmission. 15. Newton’s having made a mistake in his calculations had no influence on his theory. 16. Kotelnikov and Wierner’s having recognized clearly the fundamental role of noise in limiting the performance of communication systems had an important influence in modulation theory. 17. Our having mastered a foreign language helps us in our work. 18. We know of different experiments being made in this laboratory. 19. Franklin’s having worked in the field of electricity is known the world over. 20. The professor knew about the students’ going to the power station. 21. The students’ knowing physics helped them in studying the theory of machines and mechanisms. 22. His having measured the distance will enable him to calculate the intensity of light.

Exercise 20. Translate the sentences into English. Use the Gerund.

1. Спасибо, что зашли. 2. Она любит ходить по магазинам. 3. Они настаивали на том, чтобы сказать правду. 4. Мы привыкли рано вставать. 5. Извините за то, что я пришел так поздно. 6. Коллеги начнут обсуждать свои планы в понедельник. 7. Они продолжат работать через два дня. 8. Прекратите этот шум. 9. Родители закончили упаковывать вещи поздно ночью. 10. Нет никакой надежды получить эту работу. 11. Мне не нравится мысль идти туда так поздно. 12. Видите ли вы какой-нибудь способ помочь им? 13. У него привычка делать все заранее. 14. Вы прошли мимо, не взглянув на меня. 15. С ней бесполезно говорить. Она очень упрямая. 16. Лыжный спорт очень популярен в Финляндии. 17. Быстро бегать – полезное умение для футболистов. 18. Ему бесполезно звонить в дневное время. 19. Вы не возражаете против того, чтобы пойти в спортивный зал? 20. Мы предпочитаем кататься на коньках, а не на лыжах. 21. Она не могла не улыбнуться. 22. Он терпеть не может терять время. 23. Надеюсь, вы получите удовольствие от встречи с партнерами. 24. Ваши туфли нужно отремонтировать.

Exercise 21. Find the Russian equivalents to the following proverbs and quotations.

1. Seeing is believing. 2. You touch a lot of lives just by being you. (Unknown) 3. It is no use crying over spilt milk. 4. Better die standing than live kneeling. 5. Between two evils it is not worth choosing. 6. We cannot command nature except by obeying her. (Francis Bacon) 7. Advertizing is a legalized lying. (H. Wells) 8. Doing is better than saying. 9. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. 10. To cook a hare before catching him.

Revision

Exercise 1. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the –ing forms.

1. Without computers and modern computing techniques the building of atomic power stations would have been impossible. 2. Broadcasting weather information is of great importance for aviation. 3. Many times Alexander Bell wanted to stop his experiments being unable to get any results. 4. Samuel Morse’s hobby was experimenting with electricity. 5. The computer of a new design has the advantage of being smaller in size and simpler in operation. 6. Thermometers are employed for measuring temperature differences. 7. Comparing the data obtained by our tests is the only means of solving the problem in question. 8. There are two diagrams in this figure, one of them showing the temperature difference. 9. The increasing demand for high-quality long-distance communication systems has resulted in the development of reliable radio equipment. 10. Special attention has to be paid to the quality of measuring instruments intended for satellites. 11. The energy sources of the world decreasing, the scientists must find new sources of energy. 12. Scientific information is growing very fast. 13. The system is capable of transmitting a large number of telephone calls. 14. Introducing the new method into practice requires much time. 15. A barometer is an instrument for measuring the pressure. 16. Speaking of the magnet, the inventor made reference to its property of attracting iron and steel. 17. Having invented the lightning conductor, Franklin continued working at the problem of atmospheric electricity. 18. The atoms of different substances have different weights, their properties being also different.

Exercise 2. Analyze and translate the following sentences.

1. It is known that heating may bring about certain changes in the structure of any metal, these changes depending upon the amount of heating and the kind of the metal being heated. 2. An alloy consisting of more than two elements, its properties are dependent upon the properties of the elements it consists of. 3. While speaking of alloys, it is worth pointing out that they may be both cold and hot worked, the choice of the right kind of working being dependent upon the alloy under consideration. 4. In making parts for jet engines the processing engineer should choose the alloys capable of withstanding not only very high temperatures, but also high stresses involved. 5. The term "metal" is sometimes applied to any metallic material, the first definition of the term having been formulated by Lomonosov in the following way: "A metal is a bright solid that can be forged." 6. Lomonosov's definition of the term "metal" being true, there is another important feature besides the ability to be forged, namely, electrical conductivity. 7. The temperature being raised, electrical conductivity decreases. 8. In choosing the temperature of hot working the processing engineer has to evaluate the performance of the metal or alloy in question, high temperature affecting grain structure and ductility. 9. The alloying elements dealt with in the process of imparting certain properties to the metal being fabricated are: manganese, chromium, aluminium, titanium, etc. 10. A certain amount of second metal being added to a pure metal, the resulting alloy is called a binary alloy. 11. Added to a binary alloy, a third element may cause changes in its structure, the resulting structure being either homogeneous or heterogeneous. 12. A processing engineer should know the properties of various kinds of steel, there being a considerable difference between the steels used for different purposes.

Exercise 3. Translate the sentences with the Participles and the Gerund.

1. When the water has reached the boiling point, the temperature ceases to rise, and the heat supplied is used in changing the water into steam. 2. Upon reaching the plate the electron current continues to flow through the external circuit. 3. The atoms forming our planet are built of negative electrons, positive protons and ordinary neutrons. 4. Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do. 5. Satellites are very useful for making ecological surveys. 6. Splitting the atom is a difficult task. 7. The fence surrounding the garden was newly painted. 8. The way of connecting these wires was described earlier. 9. Composite material is a hybrid consisting of many different component materials. 10. The driver was under investigation for causing danger while driving. 11. In African cities, two-thirds of daily trips are made by walking. 12. The simple act of pointing at an object with a finger requires a biological control system consisting chiefly of the eyes, the arm, hand and finger, and the brain of a man. 13. A laser beam can travel a long distance without spreading out and losing its power. 14. Sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) are made for driving in all types of conditions, including mud or snow. 15. Most racing cars are built to be lightweight and very fast. Because they are made for racing, they usually are not suited for driving on public streets. 16. When you press your foot down on the brake pedal the brakes will press against the wheels, making them slow down and then stop turning. 17. Space travel is hard on people’s bodies. Spending long amounts of time in space makes bones and muscles weak. 18. Researchers believe that sharks often attack humans by mistake, thinking that they are prey. 19. Building dams on rivers for electric power and irrigation can harm ecosystems around the rivers. 20. In 1543 Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus published his theory that the Sun is a motionless body at the center of the solar system, with the planets revolving around it. 21. Insects do not make noises with their voices. The noise of bees, mosquitoes and other buzzing insects is caused by rapidly moving their wings. 22. We know of Jacobi’s having invented an electromagnetic engine for practical purpose. 23. Mankind is interested in atomic energy being used only for peaceful needs. 24. At the beginning of the century scientists succeeded in breaking the tiny nucleus of an atom by attacking it with even tinier particles at enormous speeds. 25. There being many people in the conference hall, we could not enter it.