Non-finite verbs & the "verbiness" of participles gerunds infinitives

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

Verbs indicate an action or state of existence.

  • If the verb has a subject, it is "finite"
    • the subject is the "person" of the sentence
    • the finite verb is "idea" of the sentence (predicate)
  • If the verb does not have a subject, it is "non-finite"
    • and thereby is not acting grammatically like a verb (it is acting like an adjective, adverb, or noun instead)
      • even though the verb may not be acting like a verb, it still retains its sense of action or state of existence
        • thus it retains its "verbiness," or sense or indication of an action
          • even though there is no direct "actor" causing the action (subject)

Getting started: an example[edit | edit source]

Present and Past Participles: finite and non-finite forms of the verb "to spend"
Past

Participle

Finite Verb

(has a subject)

I spent money on a new phone.

Non-finite Verb

(does not have a subject)

My old one is more than spent.
Present

Participle

Finite Verb

(has a subject)

I am spending too much money on phones.
Non-finite Verb

(does not have a subject)

Spending so much money on new phones is annoying

Finite v. Non-Finite Verbs[edit | edit source]

Finite verb[edit | edit source]

  • = action verb
  • has a subject

Non-finite verb[edit | edit source]

  • = verbs acting as adjective, adverb or noun
  • does not have a subject
  • also called “verbals”

Participle[edit | edit source]

Participle = present continuous (-ing) or simple past (-ed) tense of a verb

  • can be a finite or non-finite verb
  • called “participle” because it is a verb form that “participates” (takes “part”) in different Parts of Speech (
    • i.e. a verb that can be a verb, adjective or noun

Non-finite verb forms:[edit | edit source]

present participle = -ing[edit | edit source]

  • = an adjective (“present participle adjective”) or
  • = a noun (“gerund”)
    • a gerund is a "present participle adjective"
      • sometimes called "verb noun"

past participle = -ed[edit | edit source]

  • = an adjective (“past participle adjective”)

infinitive = “to” form of a verb[edit | edit source]

  • as in "to go" or "to enjoy"
  • “infinitive” is from Latin for “indefinite” or “unrestricted” because the verb form is not tied to a specific case (person or number)
    • can be an adjective, adverb or noun

Purpose of non-finite verbs[edit | edit source]

The non-finite verbs do not indicate a direct action, but they convey a “sense” of action. So, when we say,

Learning grammar is boring, but to know a little is quite useful

  • "learning" = gerund (noun)
  • "grammar" = the object of the gerund "learning"* "is" = finite verb
    • the subject of "is" is the gerund (non-finitve verb) "learning"
  • "to know" = infinitive
    • "to know" is acting as a noun and is the subject of the verb of the second clause "is"
      • "a little" is a compound adverb that modifies "to know"

Whereas both “learning” and “to know” are the subjects (nouns) of the two verbs “is”, they convey the action of learning and knowing.

Additionally, while non-finite verbs do not have a subject, they maintain the grammatical properties of finite verbs of objects and complements. Thus, in

             Learning grammar is boring

“grammar” is the object of “learning” and thus indicates what is learned (an action)

Participles[edit | edit source]

Finite form Non-finite forms:
verb: participle

(finite verb form)

present participle

adjective

gerund

(noun form)

past participle

adjective

boil The water is boiling

The water boiled

The boiling water is very hot Boiling makes water very hot Boiled water is very hot
cook Dad is cooking dinner

Dad cooked dinner

Dinner cooking on the stove makes me happy Cooking is fun Cooked food is better for you than raw food
finish I am finishing my hw

I finished my hw

Finishing is the hardest I have my homework finished
smile The boy is smiling

The boy smiled

The smiling boy is happy Smiling makes other people happy
swim The dog is swimming fast

The dog swam fast

The swimming dog is getting there fast The dog got there fast by swimming

Infinitives[edit | edit source]

The infinitive expresses a state or result of action – not the action itself:

infinitive adjective infinitive adverb infinitive noun
soup to serve completes dinner it is prudent to boil the water to boil water makes it hot
the best way to cook is baking I am hoping to cool off tomorrow I learned how to cook fish
I have homework to finish * she works to advance her career We want to go home
* note how the adjective and adverb forms of “to finish” are essentially interchangeable
Testing for participle adjective Testing for participle noun (gerund) Testing for infinitive modifier or noun
if the sentence is grammatically correct and/or still makes sense, the participle is an adjective, as adjectives are not essential sentence elements if the sentence is not grammatically correct and/or still makes sense, it is a noun, as nouns are essential sentence elements if the sentence is not grammatically correct and/or still makes sense, it is a noun, as nouns are essential sentence elements; however, if it is still grammatically correct, then the infinitive is a modifier (adjective or adverb)
Boiled water is hot.

remove the participle “boiled”:

--> Boiled Water is hot.

= a valid sentence

<-- therefore “boiled” is an adjective

Boiling water takes 5 minutes.

remove the participle “boiling”:

--> Boiling Water takes 5 minutes.

= incoherent sentence

<-- therefore “boiling” is a noun

To boil water makes it hot.

remove the infinitive “to boil”

--> To boil Water makes it hot.

= incoherent sentence

<-- therefore “to boil” is a noun

or:

I have homework to finish

--> I have homework to finish

= valid sentence

<-- therefore “to finish” is an adjective

To test whether the participle or infinitive is an adjective/adverb or noun, remove it from the sentence, and see…

“Verbiness”[edit | edit source]

Participle adjectives, gerunds and infinitives retain their “verbiness”, or their indication of an action:

I enjoy “watching” tennis “watching” = the action or state of watching
Studying hard pays off “studying” = the state or action of studying
The time to go is now “to go” = the state or action of going


Just like finite verbs, non-finite verbs can have “complements

= adverbs, objects, or prepositional phrases

but they do not have a subject (if so, they’d become a finite-verb)


Let’s review those grammatical forms:

Adverb = usually describes a verb as to how, how much where, when, etc.

             She runs fast

                           “fast” describes how she runs

Object = recipient of the action of a verb

             direct object = what was acted on by the verb

                          I gave a book

                                        = “book” is what I “gave”

             indirect object = the recipient what was acted on by the verb

                          I gave her a book 

= I gave a book “to her”

Prepositional phrase = a modifying phrase to describe another noun or verb

      The keys are on the table by the door.

                    “on the table” and “by the door” are prepositional phrases


Non-finite verbs can be modified by all of these sentence parts.

Let’s see how:

Verbiness of Participle Adjectives:[edit | edit source]

- participle adjective indicating an action:

I prefer my food cooked

Running, I was still late.

- participle adjective with an adverb:

I prefer my food cooked thoroughly

·      “thoroughly” modifies the “cooked” not the verb “prefer”


- participle adjective with an object:

             Running home, I was still late

·      “home” is the object of “running”, which describes “I was still late”


- participle adjective with prepositional phrase*:

             Running to my house, I was still late

·      “to my house” = prepositional phrase

Verbiness of Gerunds:[edit | edit source]

- gerund indicating an action:

             Cooking takes practice

·      “cooking” = subject (a noun)

·      but it still retains a sense of the action of “to cook”, even though it is not a direct action with a subject

- gerund with an object:

Cooking food takes practice

·      food = the object of "cooking"

·      practice = the object of "takes"


- gerund with an adverb:

Cooking food well takes practice

           

Verbiness of Infinitives:[edit | edit source]

- infinitive as object:

             I learned to build

·      “to build” = direct object infinitive noun of “learned”


- infinitive with adverb:

I learned how to build

·      “how” modifies the infinitive “to build” and not the verb “learned”


- infinitive w/ object:

             I learned how to build a computer

·      "computer" = the object of infinitive noun "to build"

Worksheet printout[edit | edit source]

File:Verbiness of participles gerunds infinitives.pdf