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They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning of a novel.

When I read the sentence, "the banning of a novel" did not sound right to me. I am not quite sure whether or not we need "of" after "banning", because we simply can say "banning a novel". We would not say "banning of a novel"

So, in my opinion the sentence should have been like this: They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning a novel. (There is no "of")

Without "of" the sentence seems more grammatical, doesn't it?

However, I am not native, so I am not 100% sure about my conclusion. Is it "banning of something", or "banning something?"

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    They are both fine. The difference is grammatical: in "the banning of a novel", "banning" is a noun with the of PP as its complement, while in "banning a novel", "banning" is a verb with "a novel" as its direct object.
    – BillJ
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 16:02
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    @BillJ There is a difference in terms of how much territory is covered in one and not the other. That's the whole point. The Taming of the Shrew is not Taming the Shrew.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 16:03
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    No: The difference is purely grammatical.
    – BillJ
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 16:07
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    @ynus There is no semantic difference between They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning of a novel and They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning a novel.
    – BillJ
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 16:45
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    We're talking here of the OP's example, not literary ones, and especially not titles. Compare these examples "I resented his questioning of my motives and "I resented his questioning my motives". Other considerations aside, they may be construed as having the same meaning.
    – BillJ
    Commented Feb 3, 2022 at 10:23

1 Answer 1

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  1. They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning of a novel.

  2. They discussed a Tennessee school board's banning a novel.

Grammar-wise, they are both fine. However, 1) is slightly more formal.

Compare:
Banning a book is a terrible thing. [emphasizes the action only]
The banning of a book is a terrible thing. [goes to the overall idea given by the noun phrase; the entire process; not just the action]

What is indeed terrible is the banning of a/the book. Not simply the action of banning. It is an entire process, right?

Think of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. He didn't write: Taming the Shrew. I thought this was a good example of the point I am trying to make here.

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  • thanks for the great comment. In addition to 2 sentences above, if I made up another sentence with almost the same structure, then what would it emphasize: "They discussed a Tennessee school board banning a novel." (no "of" and no "apostrophe"). So, in this form, does this sentence also emphasizes the "action", or does it emphasize the "school" ?
    – Yunus
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 15:59
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    @yunus Yes, Britain's leaving the EU, versus Britain's leaving of the EU, for me, works the same way for me. I think you will find most English language editors would probably agree with me.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 18:17
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    Leaving [home or a place] is a quasi-idiom. No, I do not mean Britain's leaving of the EU is flat out wrong. It is just very awkward and unnecessary in that particular sentence that defines BREXIT.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 2, 2022 at 19:20
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    Using a gerund form with "of" requires a strong feeling of an agent and a patient and not just a subject and an object. "Leaving a place" does not invoke a strong image of an effect on the object (the place) and so "the leaving of a place" does not sound as good as the "banning of a book."
    – Vegawatcher
    Commented Feb 3, 2022 at 0:40
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    Similarly, you would not use that structure with emotions. You would not talk about your "hating of bad people" or your "loving of your spouse." You would have to say "hatred of bad peope" and "love of your spouse" using the equivalent nouns. But you could talk about "Britain's abandoning of the EU to its fate" or its "exit from the EU."
    – Vegawatcher
    Commented Feb 3, 2022 at 0:45

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