What is the grammatical term for this? I know it is correct to say: “We appreciate your being here,” rather than “we appreciate you being here.”
I saw a sign at the veterinarian’s office today which reminded me to ask. The sign read: “We appreciate your dog being on a leash.” And I thought, shouldn’t that be: “we appreciate your dog’s being on a leash”?? Or am I hyper-correcting??
I’ve tried to look this up in a grammar book I own, but cannot find it easily. Is it a gerund?
The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
1. Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case
§ 28. gerund
Gerunds are verb forms ending in -ing that act as nouns. They can be the subject of a sentence
(Skiing is her favorite sport), the object of a verb (She enjoys skiing), or the object of a
preposition (She devoted her free time to skiing). Gerunds can be modified like nouns (That
book makes for difficult reading). But they can also act like verbs in that they can take an
object (Convincing him was never easy) and be modified by an adverb (Walking daily can
improve your health).
1
gerund and possessives (fused participle). Some people insist that when a gerund is
preceded by a noun or pronoun, the noun or pronoun must be in the possessive case.
Accordingly, it is correct to say I can understand his wanting to go, but incorrect to say I can
understand him wanting to go. But the construction without the possessive, sometimes called
the fused participle, has been used by respected writers for 300 years and is perfectly
idiomatic. Moreover, there is often no way to “fix” the construction by inserting the possessive.
This is often the case with common nouns. Thus you can say We have had very few instances
of luggage being lost, but not … of luggage’s being lost.
2
Sometimes syntax makes using the possessive impossible. Consider the sentence What she
objects to is men making more money than women for the same work. Changing men
making to men’s making not only sounds awkward, but it requires women’s at the other end to
keep the sentence parallel, and women’s simply does not work. Perhaps for these reasons 53
percent of the Usage Panel finds the phrase men making acceptable in this sentence, and
another 36 percent find it acceptable in informal contexts. Only 11 percent reject it outright.
3
However, when the construction is more complicated so that a word or phrase intervenes
between the noun and the gerund, the panel is less sanguine. Only 25 percent accept the
sentence I can understand him not wanting to go, where the negative not intervenes between
the pronoun and the gerund. Thirty-one percent say this sentence is acceptable in informal
contexts, leaving 44 percent who are naysayers. Panel acceptance drops even further when the
syntax gets more complicated. Only 16 percent accept the sentence Imagine a child with an
ear infection who cannot get penicillin losing his hearing, where both a phrase and a clause
intervene between the noun child and the gerund losing. And only 17 percent find this sentence
acceptable in informal contexts, so that 66 percent reject it roundly.
4
Be aware that sometimes nouns ending in -s can be confused with a singular noun in the
possessive. Thus I don’t approve of your friend’s going there indicates one friend is going,
and I don’t approve of your friends going there indicates that more than one friend is going.
5
Dr. Bill, that is an impressive--and helpful--find! But oh, how I hate it when the experts say there are differences. I want there to be ONE right way, not be told that n% of the panel disagrees! Grr--I want my reality the way I want it to be! Coffeebean, it's all your fault!
Thank you, Dr. Bill!
I agree, Jackie. I, too, was hoping for black/white answer.
Sic friatur crustum dulce. 
Gerund: got it
1: no hassles
2: why does men's require women's? The "making more money than women" is possessed by the men.
3: him: I assume this result means that the majority prefers "his".
3: child: however, in this instance, I assume the result shows lack of acceptance of the structure of the sentence as a whole, rather than a preference for "child's", or "infection's" for that matter. Quite apart from the subordinate clauses (is that even the right term) is losing an acceptable gerund in this case? I would use "loss of hearing", fwiw.
Conclusion 1: "Dog's" is strictly correct, but both are acceptable.
Conclusion 2: The panel is somewhat inconsistent.
Conclusion 3: "The American Heritage® Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English, 1996" is neither.
Conclusion 4: Gerunds are funny.
xrefer gives different advice, taken from the latest edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage, and some historical background:
http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=596107Bingley
Well, Bingley,
that was no help at all in telling me what IS right and what ISN'T. Tyvm.
I thought it was reasonably clear:
1. With singular persons the possessive is preferable
2. With things or plurals the non-possessive form is preferable
3. With pronouns either is acceptable except where the pronoun is the first word in the sentence, in which case the possessive form is preferable.
Bingley
My motto is, if it doesn't sound right, find another way to say it.
Dear Bingley: Fpwler hits below the belt.
Preferable, schmeferable--I want Somebody In Authority to say what IS the way it should be done! [moving very close to the edge e] Dag nab it, when I was young, my English teacher would have been that Authority. But I'm afraid that now, I might question him or her...
Ah-ite, y'all want you a hard an fass rule?
The Faldage Rule:
Don' never use no possessive if you ain' sure.
Grammatically (FWIW):
We appreciate your dog being on a leash. -- we appreciate your dog when he is on a leash. (not that anyone would necessarily mean to say something like this)
We appreciate your dog's being on a leash. -- we appreciate the fact that your dog is on a leash.
Please keep your dog on a leash.
-I want Somebody In Authority to say what IS the way it should be done!
Sorry, I'm still thinking about it, and I'll let you know when I come up with the rite spelling for it, as well.
musick, you might find the answer over on Miscellany under "less empty."
When it comes to gerunds ya just gotta stop the sentance.
Accordingly, it is correct to say I can understand his wanting to go, but incorrect to say I can understand him wanting to go.
So just stop after the subject "him" ... "I can understand him ... " and then the "his wanting" becomes easy-peasy choice.
“we appreciate you being here.” becomes "we appreciate you,(pause) being here" ... when what you want to say is "We appreciate your being here."