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Finite / Nonfinite

Verbs and clauses

Charlie

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Primary vs. Secondary Verbs
PRIMARY VERBS – FINITE CLAUSE

Primary (finite) verbs can be inflected for tense, person and number. That is to say, they are marked by tense (usually -ed in past) and number (usually -s for 3rd person) Note: In the 2002 revision of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, fiinite and nonfinite verbs were renamed primary and secondary verbs. The words finite and nonfinite were reinterpreted as a syntactic category of the clause.        
ARE MARKED FOR TENSE

Charlie raises / raised his hand.  (regular tensed verb)

Charlie is silly . Charlie and Jill were silly.  (irregular)

Charlie does his math. Jill did her math. (irregular)
HAVE A SUBJECT

Charlie hopes that he knows the answer. 

The verb hopes has the subject Charlie, and knows has the subject he.

It is annoying that he answers all the questions. 
ARE MARKED FOR PERSON

Charlie raises his hand. 3rd person

 

 

 
FORM NEGATIVES WITH DO + NOT (USES "DO" SUPPORT)

Charlie does not want to sit in class all day. 

 

Charlie is not here today.  (BE is an exception)

 

 
SECONDARY VERBS – NONFINITE CLAUSE

Secondary or nonfinite verbs are not marked for tense, aspect, mood, number and person.  For this reason, it cannot serve as a predicate, nor can it be used in an independent clause (unless combined with an auxiliary verb (e.g., can, may, will). Clauses whose verb is secondary are called nonfinite clauses, which are almost always subordinate.  Below, the nonfinite clauses are illustrated with brackets [ ]. 
ARE NOT MARKED FOR TENSE

[To speak in class] is difficult.

 

[Speaking in class] is encouraged.

[Prepared students] are more likely to succeed.    

RARELY HAVE A SUBJECT

Charlie hopes to [ __ know the answer].   

The verb hopes has the subject Charlie, but knows has no subject.

It is unusual for [him to [answer questions].   
The exception is the "It…for" structure in which the subject is subordinated with for (him, her, them, etc.)
ARE NOT MARKED FOR PERSON

Charlie wants to [raise his hand]. 

 

Charlie stands up to [speak in class].  (purpose)

Charlie helps us [answer the question].  

It is hard for Charlie to [sit quietly.]   

FORM NEGATIVES WITH NOT

Charlie wants not to [sit in class all day].

Charlie prefers not [sitting in class all day]

Charlie seems not to [be here today].

[Not wanting to sit all day] is understandable.

 

(CaGEL — finite-nonfinite 1173; to and for as subordinators  1181; gerund-participle distinction 80, 1120; be 113)

 

 

 

 

Primary and Secondary Verb Forms

Finite & Nonfinite

 

 

 

Primary vs. Secondary Verb Forms
PRIMARY VERB TYPES

A primary (finite) verb can be marked by tense and number. In English, these include the past and the present tense verb forms. All other tenses are formed with one or more verb types: auxiliaries, modals and participles. Clauses whose verbs are primary are called finite clauses.
PRIMARY FORMS

Charlie raised his hand.  (has inflectional forms for tense and person)

Charlie believes that he knows the answer.
PLAIN FORM – IMPERATIVE¹

Raise your hand.  imperative  (You) raise your hand.

 

 Don't you raise your hand.  (use "do" support)

 
PLAIN FORM – SUBJUNCTIVE²

I suggest that you raise your hand. 

 

 

 
(FULL CLAUSE)

Charlie, who sits in class, finds it difficult.

Charlie dislikes when he sits in class.

(FULL CLAUSE)

Charlie, [who is admired by his classmates], raised his hand.
SECONDARY VERB FORMS IN NONFINITE CLAUSES

A secondary (nonfinite) verb is one of three verb form types: infinitival, gerund-participle (-ing) or past participle (-ed).   Clauses whose verb are secondary are called nonfinite clauses.  Below, nonfinite clauses are illustrated with brackets [ ].  (a.k.a. – also known as [traditionally])
SECONDARY FORMS

    ↓   ↓

 

 
PLAIN FORM –  TO + INFINITIVAL

Charlie wants to [raise his hand].   
The clause is subordinated with the to marker.

It is difficult to [sit quietly.]   

It is difficult for [him to [sit quietly.] 
The clause is subordinated with for and to.
PLAIN FORM – INFINITIVAL

Charlie helped us [answer the question].  after dare, need, help, etc.

Charlie should sit quietly.  after modals

All he did was talk out loud.  after do
GERUND-PARTICIPLE³  

[Sitting in class] is hard.  (a.k.a. "a gerund subject")
Charlie dislikes sitting in class. (a.k.a. "a gerund object")

Charlie, [knowing the answer], annoyed the other students.  (a.k.a. "a reduced adjective clause" or "participial adjective")
PAST PARTICIPLE 

Charlie, [admired by his classmates], raised his hand. (a.k.a. "a reduced adjective clause")
 

¹Imperatives were added to the primary verb category despite the fact that they are always inflected with the same person (you) and tense (plain form). The reason is that they use "do" support and they are always found in a main clause, a characteristic of other finite verbs.    

²Subjunctives were added to the primary verb category despite the fact that they do not use "do" support and are usually subordinate (except: So be it?, Be that as it may, Long live!, Far be it for me to…) The reason they are included as primary verbs is that they are more like tensed verbs in that they always have a subject, they use that as their subordinator, and in most cases they can be restated as a tensed verb:  It is important that he raise his hand before speaking. (suggestion, imposition of will) / It is important that he raises his hand before speaking. (statement of observation)

³Historically, the gerund and present participle of traditional grammar have different sources, but in Modern English the forms are identical. (CaGEL 82, 1220) In traditional grammar, gerunds were mostly nouns while participles were adjectives. 

 

 

 

 

Secondary Verbs

Nonfinite Clause Examples and Links

 

 

 

Infinitival
PRIMARY VERBS

Primary verbs can be marked for tense, person, and in some cases, number (raise, raises, raised; is, was, were).

1a. Charlie raised his hand.

2a. Charlie believes that he knows the answer.

 

 
SECONDARY VERB: INFINITIVAL

Infinitives are base (plain form) verbs that usually, but not always, occur with to. In modern linguistic analysis, to is not part of the verb form, but rather the subordinator to the infinitival verb phrase. 

1b. Charlie wants to raise his hand.   Verb + Infinitive

2b. Charlie stands up to speak in class.  "In order" + Infinitive

3b. Charlie helped us answer the question.  Bare Infinitives

4b. It is hard for Charlie to sit quietly.   Verb + Obj + Infinitive
 

 

 

Gerund-Participle
PRIMARY VERBS

Primary verbs can be marked for tense, person, and in some cases, number (raise, raises, raised; is, was, were).

1a. Charlie dislikes [He sits quietly.]

2a. Charlie believes that he knows the answer.
 

 

4a. Charlie who enjoys attention raises his had all the time.
SECONDARY VERB: GERUND-PARTICIPLE

Gerunds are "ing" verb forms that are not marked for tense, person, or number. See the following links for examples of how they are used and where they occur in sentences.

1b. Charlie dislikes sitting quietly.   Gerund Objects

2b. Charlie isn't interested in sitting quietly.  Verb Phrs + Gerunds

3b. Charlie regretted shouting the wrong answer. 

3c. Charlie regretted [his shouting the wrong answer].    Gerund Ind Obj

4b. [Charlie enjoying attention] raises his hand all the time.   Clause Reduc 2
 

 

Past Participle
PRIMARY VERBS

Copular and static verbs can be followed by adjectives and participles. (is, seems, appears, looks,etc.

1a. The children [who were annoyed ] told Charlie to "zip his lips".

2a. The children [who were annoyed by Charlie ] told him to zip his lips.

3a. Charlie likes ice cream [that is dipped in chocolate].
SECONDARY VERB: PAST PARTICIPLE

Past participles are final "ed" or "en" verb forms that are also not marked for tense or 3rd person.   See  -ed vs. -ing.

1b. Annoyed, the children told Charlie to zip his lips.    Part Mod 2 -ed / -ing

2b. The children [annoyed by Charlie] told him to zip his lips.  Clause Reduc 1

3b. Charlie likes ice cream[dipped in chocolate].   Clause Reduc 1
 

 

 

 

 

 

Grammar Notes

Traditional and Linguistic Description

Advanced

 

 

 

BIBER ET. AL. HUDDLESTON, PULLUM, ET. AL.

"Non finite clauses are regularly dependent. They are more compact and less explicit than finite clauses: they are not marked for tense and modality, and they frequently lack an explicit subject and subordinator." (LGSWE 198)
Roles of finite clauses:

infinitive clause —  subject, extraposed subject, subject predicative, direct object, object predicative, adverbial, part of noun phrase, part of adjective phrase

ing -clause — subject, extraposed subject, subject predicative, direct object, prepositional object, adverbial, part of noun phrase, part of adjective phrase, complement of preposition

ed-clause — direct object, adverbial, part of noun phrase
 

"The general term 'finite' is related to its everyday sense of "limited", a finite verb is characteristically limited with respect to person and number [marked for person and tense].…Non-finite clauses are characteristically subordinate and non-finiteness can be see as an instance of the phenomenon known as 'desententialisation', the loss of properties that are associated with a clause standing alone as a full sentence." [not marked for person and tense, dependent] (CaGEL 88-9)

Finiteness is a syntactical rather than an inflectional category in English:

"In the past linguistic analysis of English verb inflection, the first division is between the finite and non-finite forms, but the revision we have made means that the finite/non-finite distinction is no longer definable simply in terms of inflection. We will see that there are grounds for not discarding it altogether, however, and we therefore reinterpret it as a syntactic category of the clause, rather than as an inflectional category of the verb. Clauses whose verb is primary form are finite, those whose verb is a past participle or gerund-participle are non-finite, but those with a plain form verb can be either depending on the construction. … In the revision, imperative and subjunctive, which use plain form are included in the category of primary verbs." (CaGEL 88-9)

Form Types:
infinitival (to-infinitival, bare-infinitival) —  subject (NP), verb complement (VP), subordinate (adjunct or supplement)  
gerund-participle (ing) — subject (NP), verb complement (VP), subordinate (adjunct or supplement)  
past participle (ed) — verb complement (VP), subordinate (adjunct or supplement)  (CaGEL 1173)
 

INFINITIVAL CLAUSE — SUBJECT

     Diagram: To start a sentence with an infinitive is uncommon  Click a diagram to enlarge it.
 

GERUND CLAUSE —  SUBJECT

Diagram: Starting a sentence with a gerun is common

INFINITIVAL CLAUSE — OBJECT (VERB COMPLEMENT)

diagram - Charlie wants to raise his hand.
 

GERUND CLAUSE —  OBJECT (VERB COMPLEMENT)

Charlie dislikes sitting all day

INFINITIVAL CLAUSE – WITH A SUBJECT (HIM)

Diagram: It is hard for him to sit all day

GERUND CLAUSE — WITH A SUBJECT (YOUR)

ing clause with a subject

Clause; Subject / Predicate; Finite / Nonfinite; NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Comp – complement; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; Sub – Subordinator

 

 

Resources

 

 

 

 

Practice 1

Strange Weather

raining and floodingdrought
 
Read

The weather is strange this year. In the South, the weather marked by exceptionally high temperatures and little precipitation has destroyed crops.  In the East, rain falling endlessly has flooded city streets.

It is unusual for us to have so much rain in the East and none in the South.  In the West, temperatures remain about the same.

crops (n.) – produce that farmers grow such as corn, wheat, cotton, and hay

flood (v.) – fill with too much water

 

 

 

 

Identify the verb category in each sentence.
  1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence. 
  2. Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "Check 1-5" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left  as you go.

 

1.
The weather is strange this year.


2.
In the South, the weather marked by exceptionally high temperatures and little precipitation has destroyed crops.


3.
In the East, rain falling endlessly has flooded city streets.


4.
It is unusual for us to have so much rain in the East and none in the South.


5.
In the West, temperatures remain about the same.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice 2

Hurricane Irene Spoils Wedding Plans

wedding in the rain
 

 

Read

Several couples hoped to marry this weekend. A hurricane pounding the East Coast, changed their plans. It was impossible to hold a wedding as planned.

Three couples not wanting to delay decided to marry in Central Park. They said their vows standing in the rain and undisturbed by barely anyone.

pound (v.) – strike, hit

vow (n.) – a promise

 

 

 

 

Identify the nonfinite clause.
  1. Select the nonfinite clause from the list.
  2. Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "Check 6-10" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left  as you go.

 

6.
Several couples hoped to marry this weekend.


7.
A hurricane pounding the East Coast changed their plans. 


8.
It was impossible to hold a wedding as planned.


9.
Three couples not wanting to delay decided to marry in Central Park.


10.
They said their vows standing in the rain and undisturbed by barely anyone.


 

 

 

 

 

Practice 3

Weather

walking in rain with an umbrella
 

 

Identify the verb form type
  1. Select the verb form type from the menu.
  2. Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "Check 11-15" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left  as you go.

 

11.


Verb form type:

12.

13.

14.

15.