Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 3. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 29)

Csaba Ceglédi: On the Constituent Structure of Infinitives and Gerunds in English

98 CSABA CZEGLÉDI 3.3 Differences between Acc-ing Gerunds and Poss-ing Gerunds The arguments that we reviewed in the previous section all appear to suggest a uniform clausal analysis of gerunds. In this section I will discuss some properties of Poss-z«g gerunds that distinguish them from Acc-ing gerunds (cf. Horn 1975, Williams 1975, Reuland 1983, Abney 1987, and Webelhuth 1995). Extraction is possible from Acc -ing but not from Poss-/«g: (66) a. We remember him describing Rome. b. the city we remember him describing c. What do you remember him describing? (67) a. We remember his describing Rome. b. *the city we remember his describing c. *What do you remember his describing? In subject position of a tensed sentence, conjoined Acc-ing gerunds behave differently from conjoined Poss-/«g gerunds: the former take singular agreement (like conjoined that-clauses and infinitives, and unlike conjoined NPs), while the latter induce plural agreement on the verb (like conjoined NPs): (68) a. John playing the piano and Fred singing a song *were/was terrifying. b. John's coming and Mary's leaving bother/*bothers me. Acc-ing gerunds cannot but Poss-2«£ gerunds can be coordinated with other NPs: (69) a. * Kennedy having made a big mistake and the recent unrests have left the country shaken. b. Kennedy's having made a big mistake and the recent unrests have left the country shaken. Acc -ing constructions occur in argument, as well as adjunct positions; Poss-/«g gerunds occur only as arguments: (70) a. John being a spy, Bill thought it wise to avoid him.