Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Facultatea de LITERE
Anul II, semestrul I
UDJG
FACULTY OF LETTERS
NON-FINITE FORMS
OF THE ENGLISH VERB
(AN ELECTIVE COURSE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
FOR 2ND YEAR STUDENTS)
COURSE TUTOR:
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR STELUTA STAN, PHD
Galai
2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. FINITE/NON-FINITE 7
APPLICATIONS .... 37
The forms of the English verb (the base form, the s form, the ing form, the ed/en form)
and the phrases they are part of are usually classified into two broad types, based on the
kind of contrast in meaning they express.
The notion of finiteness is the traditional way of classifying the differences. This term
suggests that verbs can be limited in some way, and this is in fact what happens when
different kinds of endings are attached to them.
The finite forms are those which limit the verb to a particular number, tense, person,
or mood. If there is a series of verbs in the verb phrase, the finite verb is always the first,
as in I was being given.
The non-finite forms (infinitive, gerund, participles) do not limit the verb in this way. For
example, when the ing form is used, the verb can be referring to any number, tense,
person, or mood, as in Seeing what happened, I/you/hecalled for the police.
As the examples show, a nonfinite form stays the same in a clause, regardless of the
grammatical variation taking place around it.
LEARNING UNIT 1
THE INFINITIVE
He still loves the Chinese civilization. You can always say that.
They have already been working for five hours.
The forms of the infinitive in the passive voice, progressive aspect, are
hardly ever used.
Generally speaking, depending on the context, the present tense of the
verbals/non-finites indicates time simultaneous or future with reference
to the time expressed by the main verb. This also applies to the infinitive.
The perfect indefinite infinitive expresses time prior to that of the main
verb, so the relationship between the two is one of anteriority. It indicates
actions completed before a certain moment or action in the past, present
or future.
Did you watch the football match yesterday? He will tell you the whole
story.
Note that if the infinitive has a subject of its own, that one is usually
introduced by for:
Its difficult for me to find a solution to this problem.
The infinitive may also postmodify nouns denoting time, place and
manner:
The infinitive often retains the preposition used in the construction V+O:
He is not a man to trifle with.
There is nothing to worry about.
To sympathize is to understand.
The most important thing is for us to reach an agreement before the
deadline.
apply for, bother about, care for, consent to, fail in, hesitate about, insist
on, long for, persist in, plead for, proceed with, etc.; able, afraid, angry,
anxious, careful, certain, concerned, content, eager, fit, glad, pleased,
prepared, proud, ready, sorry, welcome, willing, etc.
5) direct object. Infinitives often function as DOs with simple transitive verbs
(arrange, attempt, decline, endeavour, learn, manage, omit, refuse), with
verbs of liking/disliking and intention (desire, dislike, expect, hate, intend,
like, mean, prefer, want, wish), with verbs of mental perception, with verbs
of linguistic communication (ask, claim, conclude, threaten).
Some of the verbs followed by an infinitive as direct object can also be
followed by a THAT clause:
a) after the following verbs, either the infinitive or the gerund may be used
without any difference in meaning:
b) after verbs expressing like/ dislike and preference, the gerund is used for
general statements, whereas the infinitive is preferred in statements about
a particular situation.
c) after the verb to bid (bade-bidden/bid), but only with the simple forms,
not with the compound ones, or with such verbs as forbid, followed by
the long infinitive.
His parents bade him find a job as their financial situation was rather
difficult.
He has not bid us to start work yet.
He says the new law forbids us to smoke in public areas.
d) after the verbs TO LET and TO HELP, the latter one in spoken English
not in Written English.
The children wouldnt let me go.
Would you help me find a reliable traveling agency?
e) after the verbs to make and to have, when they act as causatives,
and are in the active voice.
The news made her cry for joy.
I promise Ill have him answer for his carelessness.
Note that the passive voice of the verbs in c), d), e), f) is followed by the
to-infinitive.
She was heard to call your name, so she must have needed you badly.
I was never made to do something I didnt want to.
Note also that this infinitive is part of a complex subject (the infinitival
construction the nominative with the infinitive), having the syntactic
function of subject complement.
g) after such modal expressions as had better/best/rather/sooner, would
rather/sooner, better/rather/sooner/more than, cannot but, do nothing but.
She would rather stay in tonight, cause she doesnt feel like going out.
I had better go now, its getting late and the streets are not secure.
He would sooner speak than do something.
Rather than suffer, I would tell him how I feel.
e) after some transitive/ intransitive verbs, when the infinitive may also
be introduced by in order, so as
We stopped in order/so as to take a little rest.
f) in correlation with too, enough, soas
She is too angry to admit she was wrong.
CASES OF USE
- In the passive voice, these verbs are followed by the long infinitive:
He was noticed to sneak out of the room.
The verbs mentioned above can also take a present participle to indicate
an action in progress and not (as is the case with the infinitive) an already
completed action:
He was noticed sneaking out of the room.
3. after the verbs know (in the past and perfect tenses), bid, help (Br.E).
I dont think I have ever known (seen) him (to) smile.
He bade them leave the room.
I helped them (to) take the necessary steps.
2. after declarative verbs, such as: declare, admit, report, announce, state,
confess, pronounce, reckon.
The jury pronounced the defendant (to be) not guilty.
There is nothing for us to do here. There was nowhere for her to go.
c) After some transitive or prepositional verbs, which accept both the for-
to infinitive and a for-prepositional object or a prepositional object
introduced by a different preposition: wait, long, consent, beg, vote, be
happy, provide:
Here are some clues for you to use in solving the case.
There are some letters for you to sign before you leave.
2. anaphoric TO: verbs, nouns and adjectives that may take an infinitive
with TO, may also be followed by TO without an infinitive, to refer to a
preceding verb/verb group:
Dont go there alone unless you simply have to.
LEARNING UNIT 2
THE -ING FORM
The reading of this novel does not mean too much for me.
d) may have plural forms:
His unexpected comings and goings madden me.Her writings are widely
appreciated.
e) may perform the syntactic functions of a noun (subject, subject
complement, attribute, object):
Living and dying are individual experiences. Drinking is a social disease.
Touching is seeing with your fingers. The pleasure of meeting new people
is a hobby I cannot give up so easily. We pray hoping for the backing of
God.
One can achieve almost anything through training and learning.
VERBAL ADJECTIVES
They have a verbal origin and behave as true adjectives, i.e. they express
a quality, are pre-modifiers to a noun and have the syntactic function of an
attribute:
The prepositions EXCEPT, BUT, THAN (the last two only when they have
the same meaning as the first one), may also be followed by an infinitive:
She does nothing except/but/than sing(ing) all day.
- it may perform the syntactic function of subject, direct object (after AVOID,
ENJOY, FANCY, FINISH, CONSIDER, TRY, DELAY/POSTPONE),
adverbial modifier of time, cause, purpose, manner, part of a prepositional
object, attribute or part of a prepositional attribute, functioning as a noun
modifier:
Watching T.V. is fun, but also a terrible waste of time. Avoid interfering in
other peoples businesses. His essay is worth reading. On hearing the
news, he left. She apologized for starting the experiment without me. We
started at dawn intending to reach the chalet before dark. I will go on by
pointing out the second aspect of the matter. She aims at getting the gold
medal in the Olympics. Its a pity to miss the opportunity of hearing this
violinist.
CASES OF USE
The indefinite gerund is used:
after certain prepositions: after, through, before, by, for, from, on, with, like,
to, in, without.
I raised the necessary amount of money by selling my house in Brasov.
* Note that
- the gerund is used for general statements, the infinitive for statements
about a particular occasion: I like skating, but I dont like to skate today, on
such a cold weather.
- the infinitive expresses a perfective action, the gerund an imperfective
one:
He likes to smoke a cigarette and then go for a walk. He likes smoking a
cigarette by the fireplace.
- the infinitive often refers to the subject of the sentence, the gerund may
also refer to some other agent:
I dont like to trifle with serious things (myself). I dont like trifling with
serious things (either myself or someone else).
LEARNING UNIT 3
THE PRESENT/-ING PARTICIPLE
The traditional name present participle is open to the objection that the
verbal form it denotes does not necessarily refer to the present, just as a
past participle need not refer to the past. We also have the alternatives
imperfect and perfect participles, considering that a form like 'going'
usually expresses incomplete action, a form like 'gone' a completed one,
or also -ing participle and -ed participles. None seems to cover all the uses
of these forms. This is the reason why we shall not discard the traditional
terms.
CHARACTERISTICS
1. VERB characteristics
The same as the gerund, with which it is often mistaken, the present
participle has distinct forms for voice and aspect:
2. ADJECTIVE characteristics
2.1. The participle as NOUN PREMODIFIER
*Note that the gerund may also be the premodifier of a noun. We can
distinguish between them by asking what the person or thing is doing. For
example, of the phrase wrapping paper we cannot ask whats the paper
doing, as the answer would be a nonsense. We must ask what is it for?,
thus identifying the gerund. On the other hand, of the phrase sleeping child
we can ask whats the child doing?, because sleeping makes sense. This
is a participle. Moreover, when a gerund is used as a premodifier, there is
a primary stress on it and a second stress on the noun. We usually place a
primary stress on the noun when it is preceded by a present participle,
which may have a primary or secondary stress.
Compare greying hair, balding man, setting sun, running water, coming
year, falling star with bathing resort, drawing room, fishing rod, swimming
pool. Some present participles have become mere adjectives with the
corresponding characteristics: they can be added the suffix ly to form
adverbs, have degrees of comparison, can be part of a participial
construction with the syntactic function of an attribute:
blood - freezing scream, heart breaking story, body building exercises,
fast spreading fire, sweet smelling cream, good looking girl,
never ending story.
CASES OF USE
1. To form the progressive aspect, in the active or passive;
2. in incidental participial phrases (stereotyped phrases), where the participle
does not refer to any particular word in the sentence that could be
considered its subject. This is called UNRELATED/DANGLING
PARTICIPLE: considering the circumstances, strictly/generally/roughly
speaking, seeing that, counting from today, beginning with, judging by
appearances, taking everything into account;
Non-Finite Forms of the English Verb 28
The present/ ing participle
3. the present participle as preposition or conjunction: concerning, providing,
supposing, regarding, barring: Barring accidents he should be here in two
days. We can leave providing/provided (that) he agrees.
Supposing/suppose we lose everything, what then?
4. in special constructions:
the ACCUSATIVE with the - ING PARTICIPLE,
the NOMINATIVE with the -ING PARTICIPLE,
the ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE with the ING
PARTICIPLE.
SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS
1.2. Other verbs, but without the alternative construction with a bare
infinitive: catch, find, get, imagine, keep, leave, set, start, have, spot,
discover: You wont catch me doing that again. The news set him
thinking. The search team discovered/spotted/found the man clinging to a
rock. Never keep a lady waiting.
His answer left me wondering what he was getting at. Her few words said
in passing set me thinking.
-SPOT, FIND and DISCOVER can also be followed by an object + past/-
ed participle:
The police found the money hidden in an old garage.
They may also be followed by a that clause, or by an object + to be/to
have, in which case the verbs suggest the discovery of a fact rather than
the act, an intellectual awareness rather than a physical perception:
Men of science found that the theory was correct. Men of science found
the theory to be correct.
- LEAVE and KEEP (someone in a certain situation or condition) share
some of the characteristics of FIND and DISCOVER. They can be followed
by an object + a pres./past part.: He left/kept everybody waiting in the
restaurant. He left his car parked nearby.
- GET + -ing part./to-inf.: I found it difficult to get things going. I cannot get
him to apologize.
2. NOMINATIVE with PRESENT PARTICIPLE: the verbs that take an
accusative with present participle may also stand in the passive:
He admitted that he had been discovered stealing.
3. ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE with PRESENT PARTICIPLE
All types of participles may have a subject of their own expressed by a
noun-personal pronoun.
The absolute phrase may be active or passive:
My car being out of order, I had to walk. Everybody having left, nothing
could be done. The question being settled, we went home. None of the
people present having any further remarks to make, I suppose we can
close our meeting.
The syntactic function is that of an adverbial modifier which can be
developed into a corresponding adverbial clause of time, cause, condition.
PARTICIPLES OR GERUNDS
The distinction between a present participle and a gerund is made on the basis of the
functions they perform, not on their outward form. As stated before, gerunds either function
as nouns standing alone, or operate as verbs in non-finite noun clauses: Thank God the
fighting has stopped! Shutting down the factory means putting so many people out of work.
Participles either function as verbal adjectives, or operate as verbs in non-finite clauses,
most often than not, the equivalent of adjectival or adverbial clauses:
Two children were trapped in the blazing house. Having signed the final agreement, the
two primeministers shook hands and were taken photos by the press representatives.
(=When they had signed )
*Note that the participle is related to a noun (the subject of the main clause), and students
should avoid what is called a misrelated participle:
Standing in the middle of an immensely large and empty room, the feeling of loneliness
and frustration could be deeply felt. (instead of: I could feel)
Being a wet day, we stayed at home. (instead of: The day being wet, we )
LEARNING UNIT 4
THE PAST/-ED PARTICIPLE
As the present participle is identical in form with the gerund, so the past
participle of all regular and some irregular verbs is identical with the past
tense, and is to be distinguished from this one by its functions in the
sentence.
SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS
1. ATTRIBUTE/NOUN MODIFIER
Like the present participle, the past/-ed participle of a transitive verb may
be used in the absolute participial constructions, where it has its own
subject, different from that of the predicate of the sentence:
This done, we packed up everything and went home. All things
considered, it is not such a bargain.
APPLICATIONS
* Keep in mind that the infinitive can have the following syntactic functions:
1. subject: To drink too much is, at least, unwise. It is necessary to read the whole
article.
2. subject complement: To decide is to act. He is believed to be the best so far.
3. object: Why should you refuse to go with her? I dont know what to do first.
4. object complement: He asked them to attend to the guests properly. We could but
watch him go. (the acc. with the inf.)
5. adverbial modifier: We remained to finish the work.
6. noun post-modifier: Here is something for you to take care of. She is not the person
to give in so easily.
7. adjective modifier: Youre very kind to help me. Im sorry for you to leave so soon.
2. Find the subject complement in the following sentences and state what it is
expressed by:
She seems to have been crying. He appeared to have been satisfied with the results. They
were requested to be ready by the next day. You prove to be working ceaselessly when
you really want something done. She is supposed to observe the rules if she wants to play
the game.
He claims that he knows everything. He claimed that he knew everything. He claimed that
he had settled the matter. We didnt claim that we had been working on the project. We
forgot that we had to do it. I hope I didnt hurt you; I didnt mean that.
The sad news made (she, lie) awake all night and (keep, she) thinking. I didnt expect (he,
understand) what it all meant to me. The owner wanted (I, do) the job for a place to eat
and sleep. I got (they, take) care of food and drinks for the party. The talk with him made
(we, feel) beside ourselves with joy. We believe (she, be) appointed head of the
department.
Non-Finite Forms of the English Verb 37
Applications
5. State tense, aspect and voice of the infinitive forms in the following sentences:
I am glad to be flying on such a good plane. We were very honored to be invited to the
party. She seems to have done everything on her own. He is said to have been taught only
by reputed professors. The appointments in the newspaper were to be answered by letter
only. They were supposed to have been working very hard on the project which proved,
indeed to be a success.
The station began to transmit signals. He repeated all the words so as to make no
mistakes in spelling. I should take a taxi in order to get my friend to the station. It was too
late to find where they were. We stopped to have a smoke. The machinery to be installed
in the workshop was built by a Dutch machine-building plant. He seems to have been
waiting for a long time. He is said to be living in Nicaragua. The 20th century is known to be
the age of the nuclear power and of the image. This, in my opinion, is a chance not to be
missed. It must be seen to be believed. He was happy to have won the competition and to
have been given the prize money in cash. I am sorry to be giving you so much trouble.
Didnt it annoy you to be left behind? It seemed useless to go on. It would be foolish of you
not to grasp this attractive opportunity. I cant afford to pay so much/bear to see her cry.
Be careful not to let slip such an opportunity. To my mind, he was quite right to decline the
invitation.
7.b. Give perfect infinitives (both passive and active, wherever possible)
corresponding to the following ones:
8. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the infinitive (with/ without to,
active/ passive, progressive/ non-progressive, perfect/ non-perfect):
The mild climate will surely allow the tender plant (place) in the open air. The woman was
observed (follow) him closely. He hated (have) (treat) her like that the day before. The
patient was known (suffer) from the same disease for years. The house wants (paint). You
neednt (bother) so much about it. It might (be) pleasant for them (remember) on
Christmas who made lame beggars (walk) and blind man (see). It cant be true! I just know
he couldnt (react) so rudely on such an occasion. The best thing (do) is (shelve)
something you can do nothing about. He was pretty sure his wife was not the woman (say)
something like that.
9. Gerund or infinitive? Rephrase the sentences below, choosing between the two
non-finite forms; when both are possible, explain the difference in meaning, if any:
Make sure you check your spelling before handing in your paper.
Remember
Am intrat in sala de asteptare, dar nu era nimeni cu care sa pot sta de vorba.
Am repetat intrebarea destul de tare ca s-o auda si el, cu toate ca era genul de persoana
care se face ca nu aude ce nu-i convine.
El este cel care trebuie sa hotarasca in aceasta chestiune, asa ca ai face mai bine sa-l lasi
in pace.
A fost, ca sa nu spun mai mult, foarte neintelept din partea ta sa refuzi o asemena oferta.
Si cand te gandesti ca n-o sa-l mai vedem niciodata; sa-ti spun cinstit, m-am cam atasat
de el.
Ca sa vorbesc pe sleau, sa te certi cu el nu este cel mai bun lucru pe care sa-l faci acum;
mai bine incerci sa fii intrutotul de acord cu sugestiile lui.
Nu uita sa-i transmiti mesajul exact asa cum ti l-am scris; nu tu trebuie sa hotarasti daca e
potrivit sau nu; aminteste-ti ca i-ai spus parerea ta si nu a parut interesata.
N-am vrut s-o fac sa planga, dar a trebuit sa-i spun vestea.
Pentru a-i aprecia pe deplin calitatile, ar trebui sa-l cunosti mai bine.
Se spune ca a fost invitat sa participle la conferinta, dar n-ar fi putut s-o faca pentru ca
doctoral l-a obligat sa ramana acasa.