Well guys, I'll be on my way in about an hour so this will be my last post for a while.
I'm off to Thailand and Malaysia going the very long, very slow way round to a Wedding in Singapore.
I should be back mid-August.

I know it will be hard but try to have fun without me.

Bob

I sure hope you have a marvelous trip! Can't wait to see pictures and hear stories!

Enjoy yourself, Bob!

In case you manage to log in from somewhere, have a great trip; we'll try hard to get along without you.

Now we can talk about him without him hearing. OK, Cat, c'mon now; now's the time to dish the dirt.

Have lots of fun, Bob, but we surely will miss you!

quote:

Originally posted by Hic et ubique:
Now we can talk about him without him hearing. OK, Cat, c'mon now; now's the time to dish the dirt.

Not so fast there...they have internet in Thailand too...

quote:

Now we can talk about him without him hearing.

Or, as those of us who like the subjunctive would prefer:

"Now we can talk about him without HIS hearing."

A fine example of how this, oft maligned, form can improve a sentence.

as those of us who like the subjunctive would prefer

While it's a lovable construction, it's not the subjunctive mood. This construction with a possessive pronoun and gerund did replace an earlier English construction: "with that he do it" which is in the subjunctive. Cf. the similar use of the subjunctive in French Il a fini le travail sans que son voisin (ne) s'en rende compte. (He finished the work without his neighbor realizing it.) which is translated with the same kind of English phrase.

The gerund (verbal noun) is identical in form (verbal stem + -ing) to the present particple (verbal adjective) but is used differently. The gerund may be used with his or him (though traditionalists frown on the latter), but not with he. The present particple cannot be used with his, but can be used with he (traditionalist) or him (informal).

1. She resented his/him/*he being invited to open the debate.

2. We appointed Max, he/him/*his being much the best qualified of the candidates.

[The two example sentences come from Huddleston and Pullum The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, p.1220.]