[Grammar] WORTHY OF followed by a noun in its gerund form

[The apprentice]

Dear teachers and members:

Is it possible to use ''worthy of'' followed by a noun in its gerund form as below?


a) Someone who performs good deeds is worthy of being admired.


Kind regards.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.

'...is worthy of admiration' would be an improvement.

 

[José Manuel Rosón Bravo]

Is it possible to use ''worthy of'' followed by a noun in its gerund form as below?

a) Someone who performs good deeds is worthy of being admired.

My kindly regards.

[Not a teacher]

Is "being" (or "being admired") a noun?

You mean a verb.

 

[MikeNewYork]

No, Jose. "Being" is not a verb there. It is a gerund (noun).

 

[José Manuel Rosón Bravo]

No, Jose. "Being" is not a verb there. It is a gerund (noun).

The human "being", for instance, I know. But is it "being admired" a gerund noun? I am confused.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Being admired" is a prepositional object. How could it not be a noun?

 

[Tdol]

The -ing form after a preposition is a gerund.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, a gerund noun.

 

[José Manuel Rosón Bravo]

"Being admired" is a prepositional object. How could it not be a noun?

I see. A noun phrase.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Well, to be precise, I would call it a gerund phrase, but you are correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Being' should be a verb, the present participle, in 'Being admired, he became proud'.

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In that use, "being" is a present participle, but it is not a verb; it is a verbal used as a modifier.

 

[The apprentice]

Thank you Rover_KE

I would also like to know if ''being admired'' is grammatically correct with the phrase ''be worthy of''

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes. As Rover told you, "be worthy of being admired" is OK, but "be worthy of admiration" is better.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Being admired, he became proud'.

In that use, "being" is a present participle, but it is not a verb; it is a verbal used as a modifier.

Is it a present participle modifying the pronoun 'he'?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes.

 

[Vinko]

Not a teacher.

I believe "nominal" is a better term to describe the function of gerunds.

In fact, a nominal is any word, phrase, or clause that performs the same function as a noun.

Examples of nominals are nouns, pronouns, gerunds, infinitives that are used as nominals, and nominal clauses.

I believe it is not appropriate to refer to gerunds as nouns even though they share the same function, because they have different forms and belong to different categories.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Vinko, you have to state 'Not a teacher' in your answers as your member type is 'Student or Learner'; it is a forum rule here.

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I disagree. A "nominal" is not a standard part of speech. I like to deal with parts of speech so we are all on the same page.

 

[Tdol]

because they have different forms

What exactly do you mean by this part?