What is the meaning of this "my wife insisted on my putting on my thick winter woollies this morning"? Especially this part "insisted on my putting on my thick winter woollies"?
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1Does this answer your question? "...his parents' dream of *him* achieving a Cambridge degree." What is the function of "him" here?. The POSS-ing construction here sounds starchy and uncomfortable; 'insisted that I put on ...' is more idiomatic. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 01 '20 at 14:34
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Note that "putting" here is a form of the verb "put", not the verb "putt". – Hot Licks Apr 01 '20 at 14:57
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1@HotLicks Not that that would actually change the grammar, despite the unusual image. – Andrew Leach Apr 01 '20 at 16:54
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- My wife insisted on my putting on my thick winter woollies this morning.
This is grammatical, but it's not the only grammatical construction. It could also be said:
- My wife insisted on me putting on my thick winter woollies this morning.
The gerund phrase can have a subject that's in the possessive (e.g, my), or in the objective (me). Both work and neither is incorrect; it's a case of speakers' choice. And from now on, let's dispense with the woollies, OK? Simpler sentences have fewer distractions.
- She insisted on me/my wearing a parka today.
There are two clauses here. The main clause is about her insisting on something,
- She insisted on
S(whereSrepresents some clause as object)
S, the subordinate gerund object complement clause, is about what she insisted on.
- my wearing a parka today ~ me wearing a parka today
The confusing point may be the on, which is part of the construction insist on, winding up right before the my that's part of the subordinate clause. They're not really related; on is just a part of the verb, like the at of look at, but my is the subject of the subordinate clause and isn't related to on at all.
John Lawler
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