-1

Is this true? Not sure if

Signup up is a gerund And if so does it need to modified by a possessive? is this true?

It doesn’t sound right to me with “your”

2
  • 1
    Both are grammatical, but I think your original version is better. It's not true / is an oversimplification to say that a gerund needs to be modified by a possessive.
    – user339660
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 11:25
  • 1
    Both nominative "you" and genitive "your" are possible. Btw, the verb is just "signing". "Up" is a separate constituent -- a preposition -- at word level.
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 12:10

1 Answer 1

0

Gerunds function like a noun while looking like a present participle. And we already know possessive pronouns (your, my, etc) can be followed by a noun.

Your drawing (the noun, not a gerund) is impressive.

Since gerunds function like a noun, "your signing up" can be correct.

To add though, your first sentence isn't that wrong either.

I appreciate you signing up to watch the story . . .

You wanna know why? Here's why.

Here, the word "you" serves as the noun while "signing up" can serve as the "participial phrase" that modifies the noun. For clarity, here's another sentence:

I appreciate the lid covering the bottle from spilling its contents.

Here, the lid is the noun, while "covering the bottle" is the participial phrase modifying it. See what I did there? "Modifying it" is also a participial phrase.

Okay, in conclusion, both of them are correct, so don't worry.

4
  • 1
    In "your signing up ...", "signing" is ambiguous between a noun and a verb. It's a noun in "your generous signing up ..." (adj as modifier), but it's a verb in "your generously signing up ..." (adv as modifier).
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 12:24
  • How is it ambiguous? "Signing up" is a clear gerund phrase.
    – Jeloh Simo
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 12:43
  • Just to clarify, it's not "signing"; rather, it's "signing up."
    – Jeloh Simo
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 12:44
  • I explained both those points in my comment. Please read again.
    – BillJ
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 13:43

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .