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While reviewing grammar, I came upon this sentence: "I was able to inspect the apartment without his noticing the movement of my eyes."

However, this phrasing seems awkward, especially the "his". I feel like one of the following two changes would be more grammatical:

I was able to inspect the apartment without him noticing the movement of my eyes.

I was able to inspect the apartment without his noticing of the movement of my eyes.

Are either of these two more "correct"? Or are there any other better changes?

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    I cannot explain why, but to me the first sentence, with "him", sounds correct. The second might be too, but if it is, it's a very awkward construction.
    – dukerasputin
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 15:04
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    This reference may be helpful RE: gerunds and possessive pronouns: public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/gerundspro.html
    – Rome_Leader
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 15:11
  • I would say I was able to inspect the apartment without his noticing the movement of my eyes, but both of yours are also correct.
    – Anonym
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 15:12
  • When must a gerund be preceded by a possessive pronoun as opposed to an accusative one?
    – user140086
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 15:15
  • Where a gerund-participial clause is complement of a preposition, a personal pronoun subject can be genitive (his) or accusative (him); both are fine. It all boils down to style with the genitive being more formal than the accusative. It's as simple as that!
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 15:54

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