18 Non-Finite Verbs
Just when we thought we had verbs figured out, we’re brought face-to-face with a new animal: non-finite verbs. These words look similar to verbs we’ve already been talking about, but they act quite different from those other verbs.
By definition, a non-finite verb cannot serve as the main verb in an independent clause. In practical terms, this means that they don’t serve as the action of a sentence. They also don’t have a tense. While the sentence around them may be past, present, or future tense, the non-finite verbs themselves are neutral. There are three types of non-finite verbs: gerunds, participles, and infinitives.
Gerunds
Gerunds all end in -ing: skiing, reading, dancing, singing, etc. Gerunds act like nouns and can serve as subjects or objects of sentences. They can be created using active or helping verbs:
- I like swimming.
- Being loved can make someone feel safe.
- Do you fancy going out?
- Having read the book once before makes me more prepared.
Often the “doer” of the gerund is clearly signaled:
- We enjoyed singing yesterday (we ourselves sang)
- Tomás likes eating apricots (Tomás himself eats apricots)
However, sometimes the “doer” must be overtly specified, typically in a position immediately before the non-finite verb:
- We enjoyed their singing.
- We were delighted at Bianca being awarded the prize.
Practice
Identify the gerunds and their roles in the following sentences:
- Sam was really bad at gardening.
- Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
[practice-area rows=”4″][/practice-area]
[reveal-answer q=”274304″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”274304″]
- Sam was really bad at gardening.
- Gardening is the object of the prepositional phrase “bad at gardening.”
- Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
- Studying is the subject of the sentence.
[/hidden-answer]
Participles
A participle is a form of a verb that is used in a sentence to modify a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase, and then plays a role similar to an adjective or adverb. It is one of the types of nonfinite verb forms.
The two types of participle in English are traditionally called the present participle (forms such as writing, singing and raising) and the past participle (forms such as written, sung and raised).
The Present Participle
Even though they look exactly the same, gerunds and present participles do different things. As we just learned, the gerund acts as a noun: e.g., “I like sleeping“; “Sleeping is not allowed.” Present participles, on the other hand, act similarly to an adjective or adverb: e.g., “The sleeping girl over there is my sister”; “Breathing heavily, she finished the race in first place.”
The present participle, or participial phrases (clauses) formed from it, are used as follows:
- as an adjective phrase modifying a noun phrase: The man sitting over there is my uncle.
- adverbially, the subject being understood to be the same as that of the main clause: Looking at the plans, I gradually came to see where the problem lay. He shot the man, killing him.
- more generally as a clause or sentence modifier: Broadly speaking, the project was successful.
The present participle can also be used with the helping verb to be to form a type of present tense: Marta was sleeping. (We’ll discuss this further in Text: Complex Verb Tenses.) This is something we learned a little bit about in helping verbs and tense.
The Past Participle
Past participles often look very similar to the simple past tense of a verb: finished, danced, etc. However, some verbs have different forms. Reference lists will be your best help in finding the correct past participle. Here is one such list of participles. Here’s a short list of some of the most common irregular past participles you’ll use:
| Verb | Simple Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| to be | was/were | been |
| to become | became | become |
| to do | did | done |
| to go | went | gone |
| to know | knew | know |
| to see | saw | seen |
| to speak | spoke | spoken |
| to take | took | taken |
| to write | wrote | written |
Past participles are used in a couple of different ways:
- as an adjective phrase: The chicken eaten by the children was contaminated.
- adverbially: Seen from this perspective, the problem presents no easy solution.
- in a nominative absolute construction, with a subject: The task finished, we returned home.
The past participle can also be used with the helping verb to have to form a type of past tense (which we’ll talk about in Text: Complex Verb Tenses): The chicken has eaten. It is also used to form the passive voice: Tianna was voted as most likely to succeed. When the passive voice is used following a relative pronoun (like that or which) we sometimes leave out parts of the phrase:
- He had three things that were taken away from him
- He had three things taken away from him
In the second sentence, we removed the words that were. However, we still use the past participle taken. The removal of these words is called elision. Elision is used with a lot of different constructions in English; we use it shorten sentences when things are understood. However, we can only use elision in certain situations, so be careful when removing words! (We’ll discuss this further in Text: Using the Passive Voice.)
Practice
Identify the participles in the following sentences, as well as the functions they perform:
- Tucker had always wanted a pet dog.
- Rayssa was practicing her flute when everything suddenly went wrong.
- Having been born in the 1990s, Amber often found herself surrounded by nostalgia.
[practice-area rows=”4″][/practice-area]
[reveal-answer q=”397305″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”397305″]
- The past participle is wanted. In this case, it is used alongside the helping verb had to form the past tense.
- Practicing is the present participle. It, along with the helping verb was, create a sense of continuity or process.
- Having been born in the 1990s is a present participle phrase. It is used adverbially, and the subject is the same as the subject of the main phrase: Amber. Additionally, been is the past participle. It is used alongside the helping verb having to give a sense of the past tense.
[/hidden-answer]
Infinitives
To be or not to be, that is the question.
—Hamlet
The infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb, usually preceded by to (when it’s not, it’s called the bare infinitive, which we’ll discuss more later). Thus to go is an infinitive. There are several different uses of the infinitive. They can be used alongside verbs, as a noun phrase, as a modifier, or in a question.
With Other Verbs
The to-infinitive is used with other verbs (we’ll discuss exceptions when we talk about the bare infinitive):
- I aim to convince him of our plan’s ingenuity.
- You already know that he’ll fail to complete the task.
You can also use multiple infinitives in a single sentence: “Today, I plan to run three miles, to clean my room, and to update my budget.” All three of these infinitives follow the verb plan. Other verbs that often come before infinitives include want, convince, try, able, and like.
As a Noun Phrase
The infinitive can also be used to express an action in an abstract, general way: “To err is human”; “To know me is to love me.” No one in particular is completing these actions. In these sentences, the infinitives act as the subjects.
Infinitives can also serve as the object of a sentence. One common construction involves a dummy subject (it): “It was nice to meet you.”
As a Modifier
Infinitives can be used as an adjective (e.g., “A request to see someone” or “The man to save us”) or as an adverb (e.g., “Keen to get on,” “Nice to listen to,” or “In order to win“).
In Questions
Infinitives can be used in elliptical questions as well, as in “I don’t know where to go.”
Note: The infinitive is also the usual dictionary form or citation form of a verb. The form listed in dictionaries is the bare infinitive, although the to-infinitive is often used in referring to verbs or in defining other verbs: “The word amble means ‘to walk slowly'”; “How do we conjugate the verb to go?”
Certain helping verbs do not have infinitives, such will, can, and may.
Split Infinitives?
One of the biggest controversies among grammarians and style writers has been the appropriateness of separating the two words of the to-infinitive as in “to boldly go.” Despite what a lot of people have declared over the years, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this construction. It is 100 percent grammatically sound.
Part of the reason so many authorities have been against this construction is likely the fact that in languages such as Latin, the infinitive is a single word, and cannot be split. However, in English the infinitive (or at least the to-infinitive) is two words, and a split infinitive is a perfectly natural construction.
Try to versus Try and
One common error people make is saying try and instead of try to, as in “I’ll try and be there by 10:00 tomorrow.” However, try requires a to-infinitive after it, so using and is incorrect. While this construction is acceptable in casual conversation, it is not grammatically correct and should not be used in formal situations.
The Bare Infinitive
As we mentioned previously, the infinitive can sometimes occur without the word to. The form without to is called the bare infinitive (the form with to is called the to-infinitive). In the following sentences both sit and to sit would each be considered an infinitive:
- I want to sit on the other chair.
- I can sit here all day.
Infinitives have a variety of uses in English. Certain contexts call for the to-infinitive form, and certain contexts call for the bare infinitive; they are not normally interchangeable, except in occasional instances like after the verb help, where either can be used.
As we mentioned earlier, some verbs require the bare infinitive instead of the to-infinitive:
- The helping verb do
- Does she dance?
- Zi doesn’t sing.
- Helping verbs that express tense, possibility, or ability like will, can, could, should, would, and might
- The bears will eat you if they catch you.
- Lucas and Gerardo might go to the dance.
- You should give it a try.
- Verbs of perception, permission, or causation, such as see, watch, hear, make, let, and have (after a direct object)
- Look at Caroline go!
- You can’t make me talk.
- It’s so hard to let someone else finish my work.
The bare infinitive can be used as the object in such sentences like “What you should do is make a list.” It can also be used after the word why to ask a question: “Why reveal it?”
The bare infinitive can be tricky, because it often looks exactly like the present tense of a verb. Look at the following sentences for an example:
- You lose things so often.
- You can lose things at the drop of a hat.
In both of these sentences, we have the word lose, but in the first sentence it’s a present tense verb, while in the second it’s a bare infinitive. So how can you tell which is which? The easiest way is to try changing the subject of the sentence and seeing if the verb should change:
- She loses things so often.
- She can lose things at the drop of a hat.
Practice
Identify the infinitives in the following sentences, as well as their functions:
- Paulina will be the girl to beat.
- What you should do is stop talking for a moment and listen.
- It was really nice to hear from you again.
- Why walk when I could run?
[practice-area rows=”4″][/practice-area]
[reveal-answer q=”875706″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”875706″]
- Paulina will be the girl to beat.
- There are two infinitives in this sentence: be and to beat.Be works with the verb will. The infinitive to beat acts as an adjective, describing what kind of girl Paulina is.
- What you should do is stop talking for a moment and listen.
- There are two infinitives in this sentence: stop and listen. They are both the objects of the sentence. This sentence also includes the gerund talking, which the object in the phrase “stop talking.”
- It was really nice to hear from you again.
- The infinitive to hear is used in this instance. It acts as the object of the sentence.
- Why walk when I could run?
- There are two infinitives in this sentence: walk and run. Walk follows the word why, and it is asking a question. Run works with the helping verb could.
[/hidden-answer]
Now that we’ve learned how to use each of the different non-finite verbs, let’s take a look at how they’re used together. This practice will help you distinguish non-finite verbs from each other (as well as distinguishing them from the “normal” verbs we learned about previously in this outcome).
Practice
The Australian magpie is a medium-size black and white bird native to Australia. Feeding magpies is a common practice among households around the country, and there generally is a peaceful co-existence. However, in the spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack passersby. Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike. Using cable ties on helmets has become common as well, and it appears to be an effective deterrent.
[practice-area rows=”4″][/practice-area]
[reveal-answer q=”306830″]Show Gerunds[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”306830″]Here is the passage with all the gerunds bolded:
The Australian magpie is a medium-size black and white bird native to Australia. Feeding magpies is a common practice among households around the country, and there generally is a peaceful co-existence. However, in the spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack passersby. Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike. Using cable ties on helmets has become common as well, and it appears to be an effective deterrent.
- Feeding magpies is the subject of this sentence.
- Being unexpectedly swooped is the subject of this sentence.
- While cycling is a prepositional phrase. Cycling is the object of this phrase.
- By attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike is a prepositional phrase. Attaching is the object of this phrase.
- Using cable ties on helmets is the subject of this sentence.
[/hidden-answer]
[reveal-answer q=”306880″]Show Participles[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”306880″]Here is the passage with all the participles bolded. Past particles have also been italicized.
The Australian magpie is a medium-size black and white bird native to Australia. Feeding magpies is a common practice among households around the country, and there generally is a peaceful co-existence. However, in the spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack passersby. Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike. Using cable ties on helmets has become common as well, and it appears to be an effective deterrent.
- Breeding is a present participle serving as an adjective. It modifies the noun magpies.
- Swooped is a past participle. It works with the gerund being as a part of the subject of the sentence: Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling. “Being swooped” is a passive voice construction, so it requires the past participle.
[/hidden-answer]
[reveal-answer q=”306835″]Show Infinitives[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”306835″]Here is the passage with all the infinitives bolded:
The Australian magpie is a medium-size black and white bird native to Australia. Feeding magpies is a common practice among households around the country, and there generally is a peaceful co-existence. However, in the spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack passersby. Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike. Using cable ties on helmets has become common as well, and it appears to be an effective deterrent.
- Result is the bare-infinitive. It works with the verb can. Can indicates a possibility in this sentence.
- Cause is the bare-infinitive. It works with the verb may. May indicates a possibility in this sentence.
- Deter is the bare-infinitive. It works with the verb can. Can indicates a possibility in this sentence.
- To be is the to-infinitive. It works with the verb appears.
[/hidden-answer]