7-12. Конструкции с причастиями

1. Причастия часто употребляются в конструкции verb + object + -ing form:

I dislike people telling me what to think.
I can't imagine him working in an office.
Nobody can stop him doing what he wants to.
He spends all his time gardening.
Did you see her talking to the postman?

После глаголов stop (в разговорном стиле) и prevent часто употребляется object + from + -ing form:

Try to stop/prevent them (from) finding out.

■ многие глаголы чаще употребляются в конструкции verb + determiner + gerund, чем в конструкции verb + object + participle, особенно в формальном стиле:

Does my smoking annoy you?
I hate all this useless arguing.
John's going to sleep during the wedding was rather embarrassing.
She was angry at Lina's trying to lie to her.

■ Многие глаголы употребляются в конструкции verb + for + object + infinitive. В этом случае -ing формы обычно не употребляются:

We're still waiting for her to arrive. (не ‘waiting for her arriving’.)
Can you arrange for us to get tickets? (не ‘for our getting tickets’?)

2. После глаголов deserve, need и require, -ing форма имеет пассивное значение (такие конструкции более характерны для британского английского):

I don't think his article deserves reading. (= ... deserves to be read.)
Your hair needs cutting. (= ... needs to be cut.)

В разговорном британском таким же образом употребляется глагол want:

The car wants servicing. (= ... needs to be serviced.)

3. После глаголов see, watch, hear разница в конструкциях object + -ing form и object + infinitive сходна с разнице между употреблением продолженных времен (так выражается действие в процессе) и простых (так выражается действие полностью – от начала и до конца):

As I passed his house I heard him practising the piano (в этот момент он был в процессе игры).
I once heard Brendel play all the Beethoven concertos (я слышал концерт полностью).

I looked out of the window and saw Mary crossing the road.
I saw Mary cross the road and disappear into the post office.

4. В разговорной речи конструкция with + noun phrase + -ing часто выражает причину:

With Louise living in Spain, we don't see her often. (= Because Louise lives in Spain...)
With sunshine streaming through the window, Hugh found it impossible to sleep. (= Because the sunshine was streaming...)

Так же могут выражаться сопутствующие обстоятельства:

A car roared past with smoke pouring from the exhaust.
With Peter working in Birmingham, and Lucy travelling most of the week, the house seems pretty empty.

With и what with могут употребляться просто с noun phrase, выражая причину:

With my bad back I won't be able to lift a heavy suitcase.
What with the traffic and the heavy rain, it's no wonder you were late.