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The Finite and Non-finite Forms of the English Verbs be found in finite forms and non-finite forms or verbals of which there are three - the Infinitive, the Gerund, and the Participle. The finite and non-finite forms of the English verb have a number of features in common, but at the same time they have a number of differences.
Let us compare their lexical meaning, syntactical functions and morphological characteristics. The finite forms express actions in themselves while the non-finite forms denote an action which is presented as a thing or as a characteristic of a thing. So the Infinitive and the Gerund denote an action as a thing while the Participle denotes an action as a characteristic of a thing.
Their syntactical characteristics have some differences. The main syntactical function of the finite form is that of a predicate while the non-finite forms never perform such a function. They may be used in such functions as a subject, an object, an attribute, an adverbial modifier or as parts of compound predicates, e.g. Your answer is promising. (Participle I in the function of a predicative) What I hate is promising things. (Gerund in the function of a predicative) What I mean you to do is to read the text. (Infinitive in the function of a predicative) He is to go. (Part of a modal compound verbal predicate) We started working. (Gerund, part of an aspective compound verbal predicate)
The differences are also found in their morphological characteristics. The finite forms possess such morphological categories as the category of person, number, tense, relativity or correlation, aspect, voice, and mood. Incidentally for this reason that these verbs are called finite, i.e. limited by person, number, etc. Non-finite forms possess only such categories as relativity, aspect, and voice. Still these categories of non-finite forms are nowhere to be found but in the verb. As a result of this, different opinions exist about the place of the Infinitive, the Gerund, and the Participle in the system of parts of speech. Many authors consider the function of a predicate to be the main property of a verb and therefore they insist that the non-finite forms of the verb cannot belong to the verb as a part of speech because they never perform such a function. Thus, Henry Sweet in his classification mentions the Infinitive and the Gerund as belonging to the noun and the Participle to the adjective. However we should regard the non-finite forms as belonging to the verb because the morphological categories which are found in their forms do not exist in any part of speech but the verb.
The Infinitive is the most generalized, the most abstract form of the verb, serving as the verbal name of a process; it is used as the derivation base for all the other verbal forms. That is why the infinitive is traditionally used as the head word for the lexicographic entry of the verb in dictionaries.
The infinitive combines verbal features with features of the noun; it is a phenomenon of hybrid processual-substantive nature, intermediary between the verb and the noun. It has voice and aspect forms, e.g.: to write, to be writing, to have written, to be written, to have been written;. The non-verbal properties of the infinitive are displayed in its syntactic functions and its combinability. The infinitive performs all the functions characteristic of the noun
The gerund is another verbid that serves as the verbal name of a process and combines verbal features with those of a noun; the gerund, like the infinitive, can be characterized as a phenomenon of hybrid processual-substantive nature, intermediary between the verb and the noun. It is even closer to the noun, because besides performing the substantive functions in a sentence like the infinitive, it can also be modified by an attribute and can be used with a preposition, which the infinitive can not do, e.g.: Thank you for listening to me; Your careful listening to me is very much appreciated
Participle I (present participle) is fully homonymous with the gerund: it is also an ‘ing-form’ (or, rather, four ‘ing-forms’, cf.: writing, being written, having written, having been written). But its semantics is different: it denotes processual quality, combining verbal features with features of the adjective and the adverb; participle I can be characterized as a phenomenon of hybrid processual-qualifying nature, intermediary between the verb and the adjective/adverb
Participle II, like participle I, denotes processual quality and can be characterized as a phenomenon of hybrid processual-qualifying nature. It has only one form, traditionally treated in practical grammar as the verbal “third form”, used to build the analytical forms of the passive and the perfect of finites, e.g.: is taken; has taken.
8)The lexical(semantic) class: Terminative(non)
In accordance with aspective character of their meaning verbs may be divided into terminative and non-terminative. Terminative verbs denote actions which cannot develop beyond a certain limit of time: finish, bring, stand up. etc. Non-terminative verbs express the action which has no limit in time. e.g. continue, stand, work, and some others. But sometimes there may be intermediate cases and the verbs may be both terminative and non-terminative under different circumstances and in different context, e.g. He stood at the fence and looked at the garden, (looked here is a non-terminative verb)
He came up to the fence and looked at the garden, (looked in this sentence is a terminative verb)
Sometimes the verbs which are non-terminative if taken separately are terminative if taken in certain context, e.g. He read many books last year, (terminative)
But in all these cases we deal with the lexical meaning of the verb and not with the grammatical category of aspect. The question about terminative and non-terminative verbs was discussed by G.N. Vorontsova.
(Limitive verbs present a process as potentially limited, directed towards reaching a certain border point, beyond which the process denoted by the verb is stopped or ceases to exist, e.g.: to come, to sit down, to bring, to drop, etc. Unlimitive verbs present the process as potentially not limited by any border point, e.g.: to go, to sit, to carry, to exist, etc. Some limitive and unlimitive verbs form semantically opposed pairs, denoting roughly the same actual process presented as either potentially limited or unlimited, cf.: to come – to go, to sit down – to sit, to bring – to carry; other verbs have no aspective counterparts, e.g.: to be, to exist (unlimitive), to drop (limitive). But the bulk of English verbs can present the action as either limitive or unlimitive in different contexts, e.g.: to build, to walk, to turn, to laugh, etc. Traditionally such verbs are treated as verbs of double, or mixed aspective nature.)
9)Lexico-syntactical clas. (notional), (semi-notional: link, modal, auxiliary, verbs-substitutes)
This classification is based upon the lexical meaning of the verb and its syntactical function in a sentence.
1. Notional verbs possess full lexical meaning of their own and may be used in the function of a simple verbal predicate as they have such morphological characteristics as person, number, tense, aspect, correlation, voice, mood. Therefore these verbs are called verbs of full predication.
2. Semi-notional verbs are the verbs that preserve their lexical meaning but this meaning is very general and abstract. Therefore these verbs are used only to connect words in a sentence without naming actions or processes. They are subdivided into:
a) Link verbs which to a smaller or greater degree have lost their lexical meaning. Usually they are used as the first part of the compound nominal predicate. Their function is to connect the subject with the predicative and to express grammatical categories of number, person, mood, aspect, and voice. Link verbs occupy the intermediate position between auxiliary and notional verbs. That is why sometimes they are called semi-auxiliary or semi-notional verbs.
Link verbs may be divided into four groups:
1) of being (to be, to feel, to look, to smell, to taste, etc.);
2) of becoming (to become)
3) of remaining (to remain, to continue, to keep, to stay);
4) of seeming or appearing (to seem, to appear),
b) Modal verbs are characterized by their modal meaning and by their use as the first part of the modal compound verbal predicate. They do not denote any action, but express modality of an action, i.e. ability, assurance, obligation, possibility, etc. To this class belong such verbs such as: can, must, ought, shall, will, should, would, may, to have to, to be to, and, partly, need and dare. These verbs combined with the Infinitive of a notional verb show that the action or state expressed by the Infinitive is considered as possible, desirable, necessary, etc. The Infinitive which follows a modal verb is used without the particle to (except the verb ought, have to, and be to) which stresses the close connection of the modal verb with the Infinitive.
c) Auxiliary verbs as distinct from semi-notional verbs are completely devoid of any lexical meaning and serve only to build up analytical forms of notional verbs, i.e. morphological categories of aspect, mood, tense, voice. Cf. / have to go there (modal meaning) and He has come (an analytical form). To this group belong such verbs as: to do, to be, to have, shall, will.
d) The verbs-substitutes do not name any action or state but point to an action already named. They are used to replace a notional verb to avoid they replace. e.g. I saw him yesterday, so did he.
If we compare morphological and lexico-syntactical classification of English verbs we shall see that these classifications divide all the English verbs into a number of classes according to different principles. One and the same verb may belong to different classes, e.g.
I have a book.
I have got a book.
I have to buy a book.
In all the three cases the verb to have belongs to the same morphological class and at the same time it belongs to three different lexico-syntactical classes: In the first sentence it is a notional verb, in the second sentence it is an auxiliary verb, in the third sentence it is a modal verb.
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