4. Deverbal Nouns and Gerund - Part 2

Examples with Notes 4) Use of Action Noun and Verbal Gerund after the Preposition ‘by’ Often an answer to a HOW question involves an agent and action or activity by the agent for a common object. In certain cases action by itself is the enabler and the sentence will still hold its meaning even if agent is dropped and replaced by the action. For such cases the agent may be responsible but need not be involved in the actualisation of the action. Such cases can take both Action Noun phrase and Gerund phrase after the preposition ‘by’. For other cases agent and action cannot be separated. Agent is as much an enabler as the action itself as actual perpetrator. Such cases can only take verbal gerund since action noun phrase is not an enabler. Case 1: The hotel staff created more space by removing the extra bed and furniture. The hotel staff created more space by removal of the extra bed and furniture. Removal of extra bed and furniture created more space. More space was created by removing (the removal of) extra bed and furniture.