I'm not sure "Being away" is a present participle or a gerund ? If it's a gerund , according to the rule "possessive before gerund" ,then "I'm used to his being away" should be correct. Am i right ?
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Think this way - I'm used to his absence (being away). – Maulik V Mar 14 '14 at 11:18
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Before I checked anything, I thought, "I'm used to him being away sounds more natural". After I tried to analyzed the sentence, I thought, "Probably, his being away is more correct." So I checked Google Ngram, and I got this. – Damkerng T. Mar 14 '14 at 12:54
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Similar: in spite of him/his at EL&U. – choster Mar 14 '14 at 14:41
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Generally speaking either cases may be correct:
1. I saw him doing the job.
2. Despite his being away I did it.
In our case the gerund (the noun form of the verb in its progressive form) is more appropriate.
As a result, using a verb as a noun, it becomes possessive.
The phrase should read: "I’m used to his being away”.
Lucian Sava
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