ADVANCED 2 - UNIT 7

POSSESSIVES WITH GERUNDS

(Possessives Precede Gerunds)
No matter what anybody says about my being a father, they have no idea how I am with my kids.

Thats my number one priority - my children. - Kevin Federline in Life and Style
Kevin has followed the grammatical rule that requires a possessive adjective or the possessive form
of a noun to precede a gerund when a person or thing is associated with it, that is, when you want
to indicate the performer of the action.
Your constant arguing is getting on my nerves.
I didnt like their talking during the movie.
You should complain about Sams cutting the line.

Practice: Combine the two statements, using a possessive with a gerund.

They allow smoking here. Im not in favor of it.
Im not in favor of their allowing smoking.
1) He plays his MP3 player in the library. I dont appreciate that.
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2) My father smokes cigars in the house. My mother objects to it.
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3) Betsy answered a phone call during the meeting. We didnt mind it.
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4) My brother litters. Im really annoyed by it.
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5) A young woman was appointed vice-president. The members of the board objected to it.
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6) Brad lost all his belongings in a fire. We were all very sorry about it.
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P.T.O.

ADVANCED 2 / POSSESSIVES WITH GERUNDS/ P. 2

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES USING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED:

1) Lewis resents ____________________________ more popular than he is. (Bob / be)
2) What do you think of ____________________________ such an expensive car? (Sheila / buy)
3) Most of the students did the exercise without the _______________________ them. (teacher / ask).
4) I cant stand ____________________________ in the shower. (my sister / sing)
5) I didn't like __________________________ to New York without me. (he / go)
6) _____________________________ during my presentation irritated me. (they /talk)
Write one or two sentences about yourself. Consider what irritates you, makes you happy, etc.
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In informal speech, speakers sometimes puzzle over what to do with nouns or pronouns that
come before gerunds.
Informal: I appreciated Jane helping us clean up the mess. (noun)
More acceptable: I appreciated Jane's helping us clean up the mess. (possessive noun)
Informal: Ron's parents did not approve of him getting married. (personal pronoun)
More acceptable: Ron's parents did not approve of his getting married. (possessive adjective)

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