Non -Finite Forms

 The infinitive, the Participle & the Gerund

*A verb that is limited by the person and number of the subject is called a finite verb.

Example: He goes to school.

Here the verb goes has he as its subject and it agrees with it.So goes is a finite verb.

* A verb that is not limited by person and number is called a non- finite verb.

Example: He goes to school to study.

In the above sentence there is also another verb,to study which does not have a subject. It simply names the action denoted by the verb study.Its form does not change. So it's a non-finite verb.

There are three groups of non- finites:

1.The infinitive: to write, to eat, to play etc. ( present infinitive)

                            to have written, to have eaten, to have played. ( perfect infinitive)

2. The participle: writing, eating , playing ( present participle)

                             written , eaten ,   played ( past participle)

3. The gerund: writing, eating,   playing 

The present participle and the gerund have the same form - what we normally describe as the-ing form. But their functions are quite different. The participle is partly a verb and partly an adjective; the gerund is partly a verb and partly a noun.

The infinitive.

The infinitive is also referred to as to-verb. But it can also be used with or without to:

1.She wants to study.

2. She ought to have studied

      ( to infinitive)

3.He can run very fast.

4.My teacher made me do this exercise.

  (The infinitive without to)

The infinitive without to

1.After the verbs, shall,will ; shall, should, would,; may, might; and the verbs must and can, could, we use the infinitive without to:

a) You shall accept these conditions.(= You will be forced to accept these conditions.)

b) I will help her. (= I have decided to help her.)

c) You should consult a lawyer . (= I advise you to consult a lawyer.)

d) You must leave today.(= You are ordered to leave today)

e) She can deliver a good speech.( = She knows how to deliver a good speech)

 

2.Infinitive without to is used after these verbs: let, make , bid, dare, need , as well as after the following verbs of perception: see, hear, watch, know, feel:

a) Let her solve this problem.

b) The teacher made me stand in the class.

c) Bid him leave at once.

d) He bade him shoot.

e) You dare not touch my bag.

f) They need not wait for us.

g) I saw her take your purse away.

h) I heard her cry bitterly.

i)I felt something hard touch my legs.

Note. It should be clear that we retain to in the positive sentence but drop it in the negative sentence.:

He dared to defy his father.     He dared not defy his father.

2) He needs to go there.          He needs not go there.

3. We use the infinitive without to after these expressions: had, better, would rather, sooner than, rather than:

(a) You had better return my money in time.

(b) I would rather die  than beg.

(c) He would sooner shout than request.

(d) He would shout at his friends rather than request them.

4. To before the infinitive is omitted after than and after but when but means except:

(a) She can better draw than paint.

(b) She did no more than cry.

(c) She did nothing but cry.

The use of the infinitive with the adverb too

Look at these sentences:

1. This house is very small; it cannot accommodate our family.

2. This house is so small that it cannot accommodate our family.

We can express the same idea by using the too...to pattern:

    This house is too small to accommodate our family.

Similarly the two sentences

1. It is very dark; I cannot go out alone.

2. It is so dark that I cannot go out alone.

can be expressed as:

    It is too dark for me to go out alone.

The Participle

Look at this sentence now:

1. Nobody could enter the burning house.

The word burning is formed from the verb burn by adding _ing. It is therefore like a verb

But it is also describing the noun house. So it is performing but it is performing the work of an adjective.

Let us take one more example:

2. We found the guests waiting  for us.

The word waiting  is formed from the verb wait. So it is like a verb. But waiting  is also describing the noun guests. So it is performing the work of an adjective.

* A word which is like a verb but performs the work of an adjective is called a participle.

we may say that a participle is a verbal adjective.

In the sentences below, the words printed in the bold letters are also participles:

3. The broken  door had to be replaced.

4. The wounded lady was taken to the hospital.

There are two kinds of participles:

1.  The present participle: burning, waiting

    (a) The present participle is formed by adding _ing to the root from the verb.

    (b) The present participle describes an incomplete action or state:\

            The burning house  ( the process of burning continues)

             The waiting  guests ( the process of waiting continues)

    (c) The present participle is active in form:

            The burning house (the house was burning-active)

             The waiting  guests ( the guests were waiting -active)

2. The past participle: broken, injured

    (a) The past participle usually end in -ed, -d, -t,-en, or -n

    (b) The past participle denotes an action or state which is completed:

            The broken window (The process of getting broken is complete)

             The injured man ( the process of getting injured is complete)

    (c) If the past participle is formed from a transitive verb, it is passive in form.

            The broken window (The window was broken -passive)

             The injured man ( the man was injured -passive)

In addition to these two simple participles, there is also a perfect participle:

    Having completed  her work, she went to sleep.

 This sentence actually means:

    After completing her work, she went to sleep.

The perfect participle represents an action as having been completed at some past time.

Joining sentences by using participles

We can join pairs of sentences by using participles also. Look at the following examples:

1. The man saw a bus. The bus was coming in his direction.

    The object of the first sentence is the subject of the second sentence.

    Such sentences are very easy to join:

            The boy saw a bus coming in his direction.

2. The hunter saw the tiger.  He  took to his heels.

            Seeing the tiger , the hunter took his heels.

 

In each of the examples given above, the two actions mentioned in the two sentences occur simultaneously . In example 1, the man's seeing the train and the bus coming in his direction are taking place simultaneously. So we use the continuous form of the participle. But sometimes the second action begins only after the first has been completed. In such a case we convert a verb denoting the first of the actions into the perfect participle.

3. He had spent all his money.He wrote to his father for help.

            Having spent all his money, he wrote to his father for help.

            

4. We saw all the animals in zoo We sat down for lunch

            Having seen  all the animals, in the zoo we sat down for lunch.

We have learnt that besides being a verb, the participle is an adjective also. So it must be referring to a noun or a pronoun. If we want our meaning to be conveyed correctly, we should use the participle in such a way that it refers to the correct noun. Look at this sentences:

        Working  in his office , a strange noise disturbed him.

The way the participle working is placed in this sentence, it refers to the noun noise. But it was he and not the noise that was working in the office. Obviously, the sentence needs some improvement. We should have written it as:

        Working in his office, he was disturbed by a strange noise or perhaps as:

        When he was working in his office, a strange noise disturbed her.

 The gerund

Look at this sentence now:

        Dancing is good for health.

The verb dancing is formed from the verb dance by adding -ing. It is therefore like a verb.

But it is also the subject of the verb. So it is performing the work of a noun..

Let us take one more example:

Collecting  stamps is her hobby.

The verb collecting is formed from the verb collect. It is also has an object after it (stamps). Therefore collecting is like a verb.

But collecting is also the subject of the verb is. Therefore it is doing the work of  a noun.

* A word which is like a verb but performs the work of a noun is called a gerund.

We may say that a gerund is a verbal noun .

  The gerund and the present participle

Both the gerund and the present participle are formed by adding -ing to the verb. How are they then different from each other?

Let us recall:

        A gerund is a verbal noun.

        A present participle is a verbal adjective.

  Example:

1. I am tired of your grumbling.

2. Grumbling children are not liked.

    In sentence 1, grumbling answers the question  tired of what? It has been used as the object of the preposition of. Since only a noun or a pronoun can act as an object, grumbling is a noun. So grumbling is a verbal noun or a gerund.

    

    In sentence 2, in addition to being a verb for, the word grumbling also qualifies the noun children and therefore, acts as an adjective, So grumbling is a verbal adjective or a participle (present participle).

Underline the participles and circle the gerunds in the following sentences.

1.Crying people are not liked usually.

2.Many people were attracted by her loud crying.

3.I was scared by the barking of a dog.

4.Barking dogs seldom bite.