looking after the patient.
3. A part of а compound verbal predicate
– а part of а compound verbal modal predicate with the verbs or expressions having modal meaning:
She did not feel like seeing anybodythat night.
– а part of а compound verbal aspect predicate with the verbs denoting the beginning, duration or cessation of the action [Шрамко, Степанова, 2009 ]:
Why did they stop arguing?
He ceased shivering at last.
4. Object а) after the following verbs Gerunds can be used as а direct object:
avoid, appreciate, (cannot) bear, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, deserve, detest, discuss, dislike, encourage, endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, fancy, forbid, forget, forgive, hate, (cannot) help, imagine, involve, justify, like, loathe, love, mention, mind (in interrogative and negative sentences), miss, need, postpone, practise, prefer, prevent, prohibit, recommend, regret, remember, resent, resist, risk, save (sb), (cannot) stand, suggest, tolerate, understand, want, and the adjectives busy and worth.
Excuse my coming late.
His friends avoided discussing the matter with her.
Do you mind opening the window?
The room needs cleaning.
The film is really worth watching.
b) after the following verbs and phrases Gerunds can be used as :
verbs: accuse (sb) of, apologize for, approve of, blame (sb) for, boast about / of, burst out, carry on, complain about / of, count on, depend on, discourage smb from, excuse (sb) for, forbid sb from, forgive smb for, give up, insist on, join in, keep from, look forward to, object to, persist in, prevent (keep, stop) smb from, put off, rely on, result in, save from, speak of, succeed in, suspect (sb) of, talk into / out of, thank (sb) for, think of, warn (sb) against;
phrases: be aware of, be annoyed at, be astonished at, be afraid of, be ashamed of, be capable of, be certain of, be clever at, be delighted at, be disappointed at, be excited about / at, be engaged in, be fond of, be grateful for, be guilty of, be ignorant of, be indignant at, be interested in, be involved in, be pleased (displeased) at (with), be proud of, be responsible for, be sorry for / about, be sure of, be surprised at, be tired of, be used to, get used to, etc.
He was blamed for being late.
He was accused of stealing that money.
She is afraid of staying alone.
She is sure of being manipulated.
I suspect you of having told a lie then.
The pronoun it can be used as a preparatory object for the Gerund:
I think it no use persuading him.
5. Attribute
In this syntactic function Gerunds are used in post-position to the noun they modify and are preceded with the prepositions of, for, in, to, about, etc.
I don’t like the idea of going there at once.
6. Adverbial modifier а) of time
In this syntactic function Gerunds are preceded by the prepositions after, before, on (upon), in, at, since (since the prepositions show the time correlation, perfect Gerund is not necessary in this function).
After walking for 4 hours he felt exhausted.
On entering the dark alley she stopped puzzled.
At seeing the flowers Jane felt absolutely happy.
She has been sad since receiving this letter.
The preposition after shows that the action or state denoted by the Gerund precedes those of the finite verb; the preposition before shows that the action or state denoted by the finite verb precedes those of the Gerund; the prepositions
