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→ He insisted on our acceptance of the gift. 
All his relatives somehow disapproved of his writing poetry. → 
What did all his relatives disapprove of?→ His relatives disap-
proved of his poetical work. 
The other no less convincing evidence of the nounal featuring of 
the form in question is its natural occurrence in coordinative con-
nections with the noun. Cf.: 
I didn't stop to think of an answer; it came immediately off my 
tongue without any pause or planning. Your husband isn't ill, no. 
What he does need is relaxation and simply cheering a bit, if you 
know what I mean. He carried out rigorously all 

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the precepts concerning food, bathing, meditation and so on of the 
orthodox Hindu. 
The participle-testing, for its part, includes the adjective-adverb 
substitution procedure backed by the corresponding question-
procedure, as well as some other analogies. Cf.: 
He was in a terrifying condition. → In what kind of condition was 
he?→He was in an awful condition. (Adjective substitution proce-
dure) Pursuing this; course of free association, I suddenly remem-
bered a dinner date I once had with a distinguished colleague → 
When did I suddenly remember a dinner date? → Then I suddenly 
remembered a dinner date. (Adverb-substitution procedure) She 
sits up gasping and staring wild-eyed about her. → How does she 
sit up? → She sits up so. (Adverb-substitution procedure) 
The participle also enters into easy coordinative and parallel asso-
ciations with qualitative and stative adjectives. Cf.: 
That was a false, but convincing show of affection. The ears are 
large, protruding, with the heavy lobes of the sensualist. On the 
great bed are two figures, a sleeping woman, and a young man 
awake. 
Very important in this respect will be analogies between the pre-
sent participle qualitative function and the past participle qualita-
tive function, since the separate categorial standing of the past par-
ticiple remains unchallenged. Cf.: an unmailed letter — a coming 
letter; the fallen monarchy — the falling monarchy; thinned hair — 
thinning hair. 
Of especial significance for the differential verbid identification 
purposes are the two different types of conversion the compared 
forms are subject to, namely, the nounal conversion of the gerund 
and, correspondingly, the adjectival conversion of the participle. 
Compare the gerund-noun conversional pairs: your airing the room 
---------to take an airing before going to bed; his breeding his son 
to the profession --------------a person of unimpeachable 
breeding; their calling him a liar - the youth's choice of 
a calling in life. 
Compare the participle-adjective conversional pairs: animals living 
in the jungle -------------- living languages; a man never 
daring an open argument - 
a daring inventor; a car passing 
by
a passing passion. 

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Having recourse to the evidence of the analogy type, as a counter-
thesis against the attempted demonstration, one might point out 
cases of categorial ambiguity, where the category of the qualifying 
element remains open to either interpretation, such as the "typing 
instructor", the "boiling kettle", or the like. However, cases like 
these present a trivial homonymy which, being resolved, can itself 
be taken as evidence in favour of, not against, the two ing-forms 
differing from each other on the categorial lines. Cf.: 
the typing instructor → the instructor of typing; the instructor who 
is typing; the boiling kettle → the kettle for boiling; the kettle that 
is boiling 
At this point, the analysis of the cases presenting the clear-cut ger-
und versus present participle difference can be considered as ful-
filled. The two ing-forms in question are shown as possessing 
categorially differential properties establishing them as two differ-
ent verbids in the system of the English verb. 
And this casts a light on the categorial nature of the half-gerund, 
since it is essentially based on the positional verbid neutralisation. 
As a matter of fact, let us examine the following examples: 
You may count on my doing all that is necessary on such occa-
sions. - You may count on me doing all that is necessary on such 
occasions. 
The possessive subject of the ing-form in the first of the two sen-
tences is clearly disclosed as a structural adjunct of a nounal collo-
cation. But the objective subject of the ing-form in the second sen-
tence, by virtue of its morphological constitution, cannot be associ-
ated with a noun: this would contradict the established regularities 
of the categorial compatibility. The casal-type government (direct, 
or representative-pronominal) in the collocation being lost (or, 
more precisely, being non-existent), the ing-form of the collocation 
can only be understood as a participle. This interpretation is 
strongly supported by comparing half-gerund constructions with 
clear-cut participial constructions governed by perception verbs: 
To think of him turning sides! ------To see him turning 
sides! I don't like Mrs. Thomson complaining of her loneliness. -
--- I can't listen to Mrs. Thomson complaining of her 

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loneliness. Did you ever hear of a girl playing a trombone? —Did 
you ever hear a girl playing a trombone? 
On the other hand, the position of the participle in the collocation 
is syntactically peculiar, since semantic accent in such construc-
tions is made on the fact or event described, i.e. on the situational 
content of it, with the processual substance as its core. This can be 
demonstrated by question-tests: 
(The first half-gerund construction in the above series) → To think 
of what in connection with him? (The second half-gerund construc-
tion) → What don't you like about Mrs. Thomson? (The third half-
gerund construction) → Which accomplishment of a girl presents a 
surprise for the speaker? 
Hence, the verbid under examination is rather to be interpreted as a 
transferred participle, or a gerundial participle, the latter term 
seeming to relevantly disclose the essence of the nature of this 
form; though the existing name "half-gerund" is as good as any 
other, provided the true character of the denoted element of the 
system is understood. 
Our final remark in connection with the undertaken observation 
will be addressed to linguists who, while recognising the categorial 
difference between the gerund and the present participle, will be 
inclined to analyse the half-gerund (the gerundial participle) on ex-
actly the same basis as the full gerund, refusing to draw a demarca-
tion line between the latter two forms and simply ascribing the oc-
currence of the common case subject in this construction to the 
limited use of the possessive case in modern English in general. As 
regards this interpretation, we should like to say that an appeal to 
the limited sphere of the English noun possessive in an attempt to 
prove the wholly gerundial character of the intermediary construc-
tion in question can hardly be considered of any serious conse-
quence. True, a vast proportion of English nouns do not admit of 
the possessive case form, or, if they do, their possessive in the con-
struction would create contextual ambiguity, or else some sort of 
stylistic ineptitude. Cf.: 
The headlines bore a flaring announcement of the strike being 
called off by the Amalgamated Union. (No normal possessive with 
the noun strike); I can't fancy their daughter entering a University 
college. (Ambiguity in the oral possessive: daughter's — daugh-
ters'); They were surprised at the head 

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of the family rejecting the services of the old servant. (Evading the 
undesirable shift of the possessive particle -'s from the head-noun 
to its adjunct); The notion of this woman who had had the world at 
her feet paying a man half a dollar to dance with her filled me with 
shame. (Semantic and stylistic incongruity of the clause possessive 
with the statement) 
However, these facts are but facts in themselves, since they only 
present instances when a complete gerundial construction for this 
or that reason either cannot exist at all, or else should be avoided 
on diverse reasons of usage. So, the quoted instances of gerundial