Maureen,
My vote is for explanation B, but I am uncomfortable talking about "understood" prepositions. Certainly we interpret the gerund in these situations as we would prepositional phrases, but we don't need to have the prepostions there to get that understanding. Nouns, which gerunds are, often serve in the function of adverbs, like "home" as a locative and "Wednesday" as a temporal adverbial. True, sometimes it helps to point out that they are like prepostional phrases: "at home" and "on Wednesday." The fact that the gerund has an understood subject ("I") has to do with its verbal derivation.
One of the strengths of a transformational approach in descriptive linguistics is that the gerund's relationship to the subject can be explicated. The gerund is describing a state in (1), an activity in (2) and (3).
I was smiling::I spent the morning in this state.
I might dance in the dark::I have trouble with this.
I built a shed::I spent the weekend in this activity.
In (1) and (3) the constructions are manner adverbial, whereas in (2) the construction is a complement to the phrasal verb (idiom) "to have trouble with." That the gerund is likely a complement can be seen in the construction: "The trouble with dancing in the dark is that I can't see my feet."
I hope this helps.
Bruce
To ATEG folks-
I have joined this listserve at the suggestion of NCTE in order to seek advice about the following grammar issue. As a brash newcomer, I will dive right in. I beg the indulgence of veterans for any lapses of local culture or etiquette.
Here are 3 model sentences:
#1. I spent the morning smiling.
#2. I have trouble dancing in the dark.
#3. I spent the weekend building a shed.
What are those "ing" words? They're not gerunds used as direct objects; "morning," "trouble," and "weekend" seem to be the direct objects.
-Possible explanation A: Participles that are oddly placed? (smiling I, dancing I, building I)
-Possible explanation B: Are they gerunds in understood prepositional phrases that serve as adverbs to modify the verb?
I spent the morning [in] smiling
I have trouble [with] dancing in the dark.
I spent the weekend [in] building a shed.
-Possible explanation C: Some sort of obscure direct object? (Doesn't really fit the definition or word order - IO before DO).
-Possible explanation D; A Latinate structure. For example, ablative absolute in Latin becomes a nominative absolute in English. Although the Latin specifications for an ablative absolute seem to fit, the English versions provided on the web don't fit the model.
With sincere thanks for any light you can shine on this mystery,
Maureen
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