I’ve heard eloquent speakers make the same grammar mistake: instead of using a possessive determiner (my, your, our) to describe a gerund, they use a pronoun (me, you, we). But what the heck does all that mean? And have you been making the same mistake? Let’s break it down.
What’s a gerund?
A gerund is a verb that is transformed into a noun by the addition of -ing.
Clean, write, and play are examples of verbs. When you add -ing, you get cleaning, writing, and playing, and now, these verbs have magically become nouns! Neat, huh?
More examples of gerunds:
Verb: be
Noun: being
Verb: edit
Noun: editing
Verb: share
Noun: sharing
Owning your gerunds
What’s wrong with all of these sentences?
“I appreciate you coming over.”
“I told them about you being a real estate agent.”
“I like him covering that song.”
Would you ever say, “I appreciate you card,” or, “I told them about you business?” Of course not. You would say, “I appreciate your card,” and, “I told them about your business.”
Now, remember: gerunds are nouns, just like card and business in the example above. So when you’re describing a noun, you would use a possessive (his, her, your, our, their, my) and not a pronoun (he, him, she, you, they, them, me). Therefore:
“I appreciate your coming over.”
“I told them about your being a real estate agent.”
“I like his covering that song.”
Why the mistake is so common
Gerunds are often used when discussing other people and the things they do. For instance, if someone says, “I appreciate you coming over,” he’s trying to express his gratitude for you. That’s not such a bad thing. But what he really appreciates is your coming over, that is, the thing that you did, not necessarily you as a person.
It’s an understandable mistake (and kind of sweet!), but it’s still incorrect.
Test yourself
Want more grammar help?
If you’re interested in improving your grammar skills, I recommend installing Grammarly. This browser addition instantly proofreads your texts for correct grammar and punctuation. I wrote about Grammarly and three other helpful writing apps that I use here.
Join the neighborhood
For more tips on writing and advertising, enter your email below for occasional updates from Charles Ave Marketing.
Also published on Medium.