FINITE AND NON-FINITE VERBS (Unit 5)
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FINITE AND NON-FINITE VERBS Verb forms which have tense or which are conjugated are called FINITE. Every sentence must contain a finite verb and therefore it must have TENSE. In the diagram below you can see how to represent TENSE in a tree diagram
“Liked” has an inflection which shows that the verb is in the past. It has an inflectional morpheme. If we had a modal verb preceding the main verb, it would also be placed before the main verb as you can here:
The verb forms which are not tensed are NON-FINITE. The [-Fin] VP always follows the functional Main Verb Phrase. The [-Fin] verbs are always verb-second within the predicate--that is, they always occupy the second verb slot of a sentence.
The non finite forms of the verb are: 1. -The infinitive 2. -The gerund 3. -The participles THE INFINITIVE The infinitive usually performs the same roles of a NOUN. The infinitive is a form of the verb and in this sense it has a notional subject which may be present in the sentence or not.
-I want to laugh (I laugh) -I want you to laugh (You laugh) -I heard him laugh (He laughs) -It’s silly of you to laugh (You laugh) -To err is human, to forgive, divine. (Human beings err and God forgives) There are two types of infinitive: a) The full or TO infinitive b) The bare or incomplete infinitive A) The TO infinitive TO +base form of the verb ACTIVE SIMPLE INFINITIVE (TO) BUILD PERFECT INFINITIVE (TO) HAVE BUILT PROGRESSIVE INF. (TO) BE BUILDING PERF.PROGRESSIVE INF. (TO) HAVE BEEN BUILDING
PASSIVE (TO) BE BUILT (TO) HAVE BEEN BUILT (TO) BE BEING BUILT (TO) HAVE BEEN BEING BUILT
Functions of the infinitive
1.a. SUBJECT To deny any person their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. (Nelson Mandela)j 1.b. Extraposed subject In my opinion, it's a mistake to put education before learning. campusforpeace.org It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. (Chuck Palahniuk)
2. Subjective complement My ambition is to be a political leader and a role model for the Dalit community. (Pabitra Bishwokarma)
3. Direct object The two ministers also agreed to ensure coordination of their nations’ oil policies, Saudi Press Agency reported Thursday. (Bloomberg News) Peter agreed to give me a lift. We intended to leave 4. Objective complement I never intended things to turn out the way they did. I want you to leave now. My Spanish teacher made us write about our favorite childhood I saw him cross the street 5. Adverb She went to the supermarket to get some coffee. (Adverb of purpose) President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja Sunday for New York to join other world leaders at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA 72. (Adverb of purpose) He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own. (Adverb of result) Source: http://www.imdb.com I shudder to think what my parents will say when I tell them I've failed my exams. ( Adverb of cause) Source: Cambridge Dictionary. I cried to see that sight. 6. Post modifier of a noun and appositive His anxiety to play the final match became an obsession. I could never understand his anxiety to play the final match The person to consult is Ms Scagnetti.
7. Post modifier of an adjective He was reluctant to accept the offer You are eager to learn English. The perfect infinitive is used: 1. With temporal function a) To establish a connection between the present and the past for things which might have happened. She claims to have won two gold medals, but I don’t believe her. (or she claims that she has won….) He seems to have worked hard. b) refer to something that will be completed at a point in the future: We expect to have finished the work by the end of the year.
2. After the past verb of wish/intention/hope/duty, to indicate that the action was unfulfilled He wished to have passed the exam (he didn´t pass) He wished to pass the exam (we don´t know). THE GERUND The gerund has the function of a NOUN (nominalization) Functions Subject Reciting a poem aloud the reciter comes to understand and then to be the 'voice' of the poem. Source: Committed to Memory. New York: Riverhead Books. Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Source: Wikipedia. Lying is considered by many experts to be a natural human tendency. Source DO Consider, for example, what happens when you stop doing the following things. Source: lifehacker.com Object of a Prep Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Source: Wikipedia. SC That is cheating. Modifier of a NOUN Dining-room: a room for dining Walking-stick: a stick for walking
OC I never understood how people considered this lying. Source: allkpop.com THE PARTICIPLE The participle may have the function of an adjective or an adverb Functions -to form tenses With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her poodle. Source: chompchomp.com -modifier of a noun
The crying baby drew a long breath and sucked in a spider crouching in the corner of the crib. Source: chompchomp.com The mangled pair of sunglasses, bruised face, broken arm, and bleeding knees meant Genette had taken another spill on her mountain bike. Source: chompchomp.com
-SC A respectable portion of the community felt alarmed at the methods practised by the new president in his conduct of public affairs. -OC Well, witnesses saw her running away from the shooter. -In coordination with the main clause Dressed in rags, she made her way among the guests. Rereading his speech, Alex smiled to himself. -As an adverb He spent the whole evening playing the game, until Karan came back home at 10:30. Being poor, he could not afford getting healthy food. -As a noun preceded by “the” The defeated. "The Handicapped" is a science fiction short story written in 1967 by Larry Niven, set in the Known Space universe The From Grammar to Get Things Done Participles add specific focus, detail, and texture to S and can indicate IMPLICATION, SPECIFICITY and CAUSATION. IMPLICATION Typical sentence: When I climbed the stairs, I was nervous. Action: I climbed the stairs Mental state: I was nervous. Physical indication: trembling I climbed the stairs, trembling. Trembling, I climbed the stairs. SPECIFICITY Typical sentence: I waited outside the station.
Slapping mosquitoes, I waited outside the station. Counting the change in my pocket, I waited outside the station. CAUSATION Typical sentence: I ate half a pizza because I was starving after volleyball practice. Starving after volleyball practice, I ate half a pizza. John couldn’t go to the dance because he was punished for staying out late. Punished for staying out late, John couldn’t go to the dance.
Bibliography and references -
-
Armendáriz, A., A. Blanco & E. Terrevazzi de Guaragna (1991) Gramática Inglesa Buenos Aires: I.S.P. “Dr. Joaquín V. González” Chapter 2. http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/apw/files/2013/03/finite-and-non-finite-verbs.pdf Biber, D., S. Johanson, G. Leech, S. Conrad & E. Finegan (2007). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Chapter 5, sections 5.1 &5.2. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Burton-Roberts, N.(2016). Analysing Sentences. An Introduction to English Syntax. Chapter 7. New York: Routledge Crovitz, D & M. Devereaaux. (2017) Grammar to Get Things Done: A Practical Guide for Teachers Anchored in Real-World Usage. New York: Routledge Monash University (2017) Finite and no-finite Verbs. Available at: artsonline.monash.edu.au
“Liked” has an inflection which shows that the verb is in the past. It has an inflectional morpheme. If we had a modal verb preceding the main verb, it would also be placed before the main verb as you can here:
The verb forms which are not tensed are NON-FINITE. The [-Fin] VP always follows the functional Main Verb Phrase. The [-Fin] verbs are always verb-second within the predicate--that is, they always occupy the second verb slot of a sentence.
The non finite forms of the verb are: 1. -The infinitive 2. -The gerund 3. -The participles THE INFINITIVE The infinitive usually performs the same roles of a NOUN. The infinitive is a form of the verb and in this sense it has a notional subject which may be present in the sentence or not.
-I want to laugh (I laugh) -I want you to laugh (You laugh) -I heard him laugh (He laughs) -It’s silly of you to laugh (You laugh) -To err is human, to forgive, divine. (Human beings err and God forgives) There are two types of infinitive: a) The full or TO infinitive b) The bare or incomplete infinitive A) The TO infinitive TO +base form of the verb ACTIVE SIMPLE INFINITIVE (TO) BUILD PERFECT INFINITIVE (TO) HAVE BUILT PROGRESSIVE INF. (TO) BE BUILDING PERF.PROGRESSIVE INF. (TO) HAVE BEEN BUILDING
PASSIVE (TO) BE BUILT (TO) HAVE BEEN BUILT (TO) BE BEING BUILT (TO) HAVE BEEN BEING BUILT
Functions of the infinitive
1.a. SUBJECT To deny any person their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. (Nelson Mandela)j 1.b. Extraposed subject In my opinion, it's a mistake to put education before learning. campusforpeace.org It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. (Chuck Palahniuk)
2. Subjective complement My ambition is to be a political leader and a role model for the Dalit community. (Pabitra Bishwokarma)
3. Direct object The two ministers also agreed to ensure coordination of their nations’ oil policies, Saudi Press Agency reported Thursday. (Bloomberg News) Peter agreed to give me a lift. We intended to leave 4. Objective complement I never intended things to turn out the way they did. I want you to leave now. My Spanish teacher made us write about our favorite childhood I saw him cross the street 5. Adverb She went to the supermarket to get some coffee. (Adverb of purpose) President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja Sunday for New York to join other world leaders at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA 72. (Adverb of purpose) He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own. (Adverb of result) Source: http://www.imdb.com I shudder to think what my parents will say when I tell them I've failed my exams. ( Adverb of cause) Source: Cambridge Dictionary. I cried to see that sight. 6. Post modifier of a noun and appositive His anxiety to play the final match became an obsession. I could never understand his anxiety to play the final match The person to consult is Ms Scagnetti.
7. Post modifier of an adjective He was reluctant to accept the offer You are eager to learn English. The perfect infinitive is used: 1. With temporal function a) To establish a connection between the present and the past for things which might have happened. She claims to have won two gold medals, but I don’t believe her. (or she claims that she has won….) He seems to have worked hard. b) refer to something that will be completed at a point in the future: We expect to have finished the work by the end of the year.
2. After the past verb of wish/intention/hope/duty, to indicate that the action was unfulfilled He wished to have passed the exam (he didn´t pass) He wished to pass the exam (we don´t know). THE GERUND The gerund has the function of a NOUN (nominalization) Functions Subject Reciting a poem aloud the reciter comes to understand and then to be the 'voice' of the poem. Source: Committed to Memory. New York: Riverhead Books. Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Source: Wikipedia. Lying is considered by many experts to be a natural human tendency. Source DO Consider, for example, what happens when you stop doing the following things. Source: lifehacker.com Object of a Prep Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Source: Wikipedia. SC That is cheating. Modifier of a NOUN Dining-room: a room for dining Walking-stick: a stick for walking
OC I never understood how people considered this lying. Source: allkpop.com THE PARTICIPLE The participle may have the function of an adjective or an adverb Functions -to form tenses With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her poodle. Source: chompchomp.com -modifier of a noun
The crying baby drew a long breath and sucked in a spider crouching in the corner of the crib. Source: chompchomp.com The mangled pair of sunglasses, bruised face, broken arm, and bleeding knees meant Genette had taken another spill on her mountain bike. Source: chompchomp.com
-SC A respectable portion of the community felt alarmed at the methods practised by the new president in his conduct of public affairs. -OC Well, witnesses saw her running away from the shooter. -In coordination with the main clause Dressed in rags, she made her way among the guests. Rereading his speech, Alex smiled to himself. -As an adverb He spent the whole evening playing the game, until Karan came back home at 10:30. Being poor, he could not afford getting healthy food. -As a noun preceded by “the” The defeated. "The Handicapped" is a science fiction short story written in 1967 by Larry Niven, set in the Known Space universe The From Grammar to Get Things Done Participles add specific focus, detail, and texture to S and can indicate IMPLICATION, SPECIFICITY and CAUSATION. IMPLICATION Typical sentence: When I climbed the stairs, I was nervous. Action: I climbed the stairs Mental state: I was nervous. Physical indication: trembling I climbed the stairs, trembling. Trembling, I climbed the stairs. SPECIFICITY Typical sentence: I waited outside the station.
Slapping mosquitoes, I waited outside the station. Counting the change in my pocket, I waited outside the station. CAUSATION Typical sentence: I ate half a pizza because I was starving after volleyball practice. Starving after volleyball practice, I ate half a pizza. John couldn’t go to the dance because he was punished for staying out late. Punished for staying out late, John couldn’t go to the dance.
Bibliography and references -
-
Armendáriz, A., A. Blanco & E. Terrevazzi de Guaragna (1991) Gramática Inglesa Buenos Aires: I.S.P. “Dr. Joaquín V. González” Chapter 2. http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/apw/files/2013/03/finite-and-non-finite-verbs.pdf Biber, D., S. Johanson, G. Leech, S. Conrad & E. Finegan (2007). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Chapter 5, sections 5.1 &5.2. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Burton-Roberts, N.(2016). Analysing Sentences. An Introduction to English Syntax. Chapter 7. New York: Routledge Crovitz, D & M. Devereaaux. (2017) Grammar to Get Things Done: A Practical Guide for Teachers Anchored in Real-World Usage. New York: Routledge Monash University (2017) Finite and no-finite Verbs. Available at: artsonline.monash.edu.au
