expected to be present was kept away. 38.  Give it to ——­ seems to need it most. 39. ——­ does he think it could have been? 40.  They have found the child ——­ they thought was stolen. 41.  Mr. Morton, ——­, it is announced, the President has appointed minister
    to France, has a house at Saratoga.
42.  Miss C. married an old gentleman ——­ they say is very wealthy. 43.  The king offered to give his daughter in marriage to ——­ would kill
    the terrible monster.
44. ——­ do you think I saw in Paris? 45. ——­ are you going to vote for? 46.  They left me ignorant as to ——­ it was. 47.  We were betrayed by those ——­ we thought would die for us. 48.  I don’t know ——­ to ask for. 49.  I know ——­ it is I serve. 50.  The President has appointed Mr. L., ——­ he thinks will show himself
    well fitted for the position.
51.  One member of the committee was absent ——­, it was asserted by the
    minority, would have voted in the negative.
52.  The officer addressed the woman, ——­ he plainly saw to be very much
    out of place there.
53. ——­ did he refer to, he (him) or I (me)? 54.  Ariel was a spirit ——­ a certain witch had shut up in a tree. 55.  If she did not take after Anne, ——­ did she take after?

PRONOUNS BEFORE VERBAL NOUNS.[52]—­Grammarians distinguish three kinds of words formed from verbs by the adding of “-ing.”

1.  “We found Katharine singing a merry song.”  In this sentence
   “singing”—­equivalent to “who was singing”—­describes Katharine, and is
   therefore used as an adjective; but it also partakes of the nature of a
   verb, for it has a direct object, “song.”  Such words, partaking of the
   nature of both adjective and verb, are called PARTICIPLES.
2.  “Blithely singing pretty songs keeps one’s spirits up.”

Here “singing” is a noun, the subject of the sentence; yet it has a direct object, “songs,” and is modified by the adverb “blithely.”  Such words, partaking of the nature of both noun and verb, are called GERUNDS.

A noun or a pronoun used before a gerund to denote the subject of the action should be put in the possessive case.  The reason for this becomes evident if, in the sentence “Do you remember Katharine (Katharine’s) singing?" we substitute for the noun “singing” another noun, “song;” thus, “Do you remember Katharine (Katharine’s) song?" The direct object of “remember” is “singing,” which is described by the possessive “Katharine’s.”

3.  “Katharine’s blithe singing of merry songs helps to make home happy.”  Here, too, “singing” is a noun; but now its verbal character has disappeared, for it is modified by an adjective “blithe,” and instead of a direct object we have the prepositional phrase “of merry songs.”  Such words derived from verbs are ABSTRACT VERBAL NOUNS.

When a word in “-ing” is modified by “the” or some other adjective, it is an abstract verbal noun, and cannot have an object.  Conversely, if it, is followed by “of” and a noun instead of by a direct object, it should be modified by “the” or some other adjective.