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As I was doing an exercise on transformation of sentences (from a Cambdridge exam), I came across a sentence that still puzzles me:
Sam moved house only because he disliked commuting. = But for his ________ moved house. (Fill the gap with 3-8 words and use dislike).
The correct answer is: But for his dislike of commuting, Sam would not have moved house. But now, forgetting about the constraints imposed by the exercise, would the following sentence be correct?
But for his disliking commuting, Sam would not have moved house.
I have recently learnt about the Possessive Case with gerunds, so I am not entirely sure about its correct use, but I do not understand why the above sentence could be incorrect. I have been told that it is not a proper answer because after "his" must come a noun, and therefore, "dislike" instead of "disliking", and that otherwise, it should be "But for him disliking commuting, ...". But even so, I still do not understand why the possessive can't be used with the gerund in my sentence.
I would be grateful if you could throw some light on whether my sentence is correct or not and why.
Skym
Posted 2016-07-14T11:26:56.723
Reputation: 23
Do you mean *But for his disliking of commuting*? – Cardinal – 2016-07-14T11:31:10.587
No, I meant to use disliking commuting as taking time in "I appreciate your taking time to answer my question", for example, or like disliking dogs in "This is the reason for your disliking dogs". – Skym – 2016-07-14T11:45:58.383
You mean using a gerund to modify another gerund, I never seen that. I know you can say "since you dislike commuting". I do not think natives construct compound names using two consecutive gerunds. However, "taking time" and "disliking doge" are gerund phrases. Lets wait for the native :) – Cardinal – 2016-07-14T11:59:15.183
I was referring to using the gerund as is explained here: Using the Possessive Case with Gerunds
– Skym – 2016-07-14T12:08:27.273The link you provided says that you can use gerunds with possessives, but I could not see any possessive thing in "disliking commuting". One can say "disliking's commuting", but I think no one would understand them. – Cardinal – 2016-07-14T12:18:16.917
The possessive thing is in "But for his disliking commuting, ...", the use of "his" instead of "him". – Skym – 2016-07-14T12:21:23.200
I see your point, but please notice that you have "one" possessive pronoun, his, and two gerunds. Thus, [disliking commuting] is a compound noun or a noun phrase or gerund phrase or whatever (!) which I think it is wrong since I've never seen that a gerund modifies another gerund. – Cardinal – 2016-07-14T12:28:06.433
Okay, now I understand what you meant! I was thinking of the gerund "commuting" simply as a noun, so that it can act as any other noun does. Maybe this is what is wrong with my sentence, I don't know. If that's the case, let's wait for some feedback on the cases where gerunds can or can't go together! – Skym – 2016-07-14T12:41:03.423
1@Cardinal The second gerund is the object of the first. "He dislikes commuting" → his disliking commuting. – StoneyB on hiatus – 2016-07-14T14:11:59.493
@StoneyB Thank you.I see your point. I mentioned above that I am not sure. – Cardinal – 2016-07-14T14:32:34.850