The verb mind
A) This verb is used chiefly in the interrogative and negative:
Would you mind waiting a moment?
I don't mind walking.
B) It can be followed directly by a gerund, or by a noun/pronoun or possessive adjective + gerund;
I don't mind living here. (I live here and don't object to it.)
I don't mind his/him living here. (He lives here and I don't object to this./I don't object to his/him living here.)
He didn't mind leaving home. (He left home quite happily.)
He didn't mind Ann leaving home. (Ann left home and he was quite
happy about it. )
C) would you mind? is one of the most usual ways of making a request:
Would you mind not smoking? (Please don't smoke.)
Would you mind moving your car? (Please move it.) Note the change of meaning when a possessive adjective precedes the gerund:
Would you mind my moving your car? = Would you object if I moved your car? (This is not a request but a polite query.)
Do you mind if I move it? is a possible alternative to Would you mind my moving U? but Do you mind my moving it? may mean that the action has already started.
mind can never be followed by an infinitive,
The personal pronoun object can be used with gerunds instead of a possessive adjective
The perfect gerund (having worked, having spoken etc.)
This can be used instead of the present form of the gerund (working, speaking etc.) when we are referring to a past action:
He was accused of deserting his ship or
He was accused a/having deserted his ship. The perfect gerund is fairly usual after deny:
He denied having been there. Otherwise the present form is much the more usual.
The passive gerund
Present: being written Past: having been written
He was punished by being sent to bed without any supper.
I remember being taken to Paris as a small child.
The safe showed no signs of having been touched.
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