regret the replacing of the Latin mass

N

nagomi

Senior Member
Korean
"Many Roman Catholics regret the replacing of the Latin mass by the vernacular."

This is a dictionary example sentence.

I expected no "the" before "replacing." Could there be any needs for using "the" to indicate the replacement specifically?

Source: vernacular
 
    • The ing-form usually takes 'the' when it has noun grammar:

    They regret replacing the Latin mass. [verb has direct object; verbs don't take 'the']
    They regret the replacing of the Latin mass. [noun can't have direct object, so uses a preposition phrase, but does take 'the']
     
    entangledbank said:
    The ing-form usually takes 'the' when it has noun grammar:

    They regret replacing the Latin mass. [verb has direct object; verbs don't take 'the']
    They regret the replacing of the Latin mass. [noun can't have direct object, so uses a preposition phrase, but does take 'the']
    Click to expand...
    The only difference I can see is there's "of," other than "the." Does this have to do with verb and noun?
     
    nagomi said:
    The only difference I can see is there's "of," other than "the." Does this have to do with verb and noun?
    Click to expand...
    The difference is replacing in the second sentence is a gerund noun, not a verb, which means replacement (a noun) thus requiring the and of
    Example: Many Roman Catholics regret the replacement of the Latin mass by the vernacular."

    Does that help?
     
    PaulQ said:
    I would say it is a verbal noun, but terms differ.

    In "Replacing the Latin mass has been a success", replacing is a gerund - it indicates the action of of the verb to replace.
    Click to expand...
    That's what I love about this forum. Being unfamiliar with the term, I had to look up verbal noun and came up with this definition:
    "verbal noun or gerundial noun". I cannot tell you if it is different here as opposed to BE.

    Some grammarians use the term "verbal noun" to cover verbal noun, gerund, and nominal infinitive. Some may use the term "gerund" to cover both verbal noun and gerund. "Verbal noun" has often been treated as a synonym for "gerund".
     
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