[Grammar] I appciate your coming.

[kite]

Hi teacher,

I just have noticed some contexts that were presented in this forum and they were approved as correct.
They are : "I appreciate your coming" and "I value your being here"

Wouldn't they be as "I appreciate you coming." and "I value your being here."

Please help me to clarify this confusion.

Thanks.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi teacher,

I just have noticed some contexts that were presented in this forum and they were approved as correct.
They are : "I appreciate your coming" and "I value your being here"

Wouldn't they be as "I appreciate you coming." and "I value your being here."

Please help me to clarify this confusion.

Thanks.

I assume that you meant "I value you being here" as the second item in your question.

Both sets of constructions are correct. In the first two, the verbs are followed by possessive adjectives and gerunds. In the second two, the verbs are followed by objective pronouns and participles. Because the gerund and present participle have the same form, the only things that change are the adjectives/pronouns. In most cases, the possessive adjective + gerund form is considered more formal.

 

[kite]

You are correct. I meant to write "I value you being here." Thanks Mike. okay! I got you the point. But still having confusion. Let me give you another example. "I saw him going to the market.", in this case if I say "I saw his going to the market.", am I correct or wrong? I guess I am wrong. But why? In terms of the above case, I must be able to use here too as "I saw his going to the market.". What do you say about this case?

 

[MikeNewYork]

You are correct. I meant to write "I value you being here." Thanks Mike. okay! I got you the point. But still having confusion. Let me give you another example. "I saw him going to the market.", in this case if I say "I saw his going to the market.", am I correct or wrong? I guess I am wrong. But why? In terms of the above case, I must be able to use here too as "I saw his going to the market.". What do you say about this case?

Technically, you could use "his" there, but it would be very unnatural. This is one reason why the gerund form had to move over and make room for the participle form. At one time the purists only accepted the gerund form.