NON-FINITE FORMS OF THE VERB (VERBALS)

§ 95. There are four non-finite forms of the verb in English: the infinitive (to take), the gerund (taking), participle I (taking), participle II (taken). These forms possess some verbal and some non-verbal features. The main verbal feature of the infinitive and participles I and II is that it can be used as part of analytical verbal forms (is standing, is built, have come, will do, etc.)

Lexically non-finites do not differ from finite forms. Grammatically the difference between the two types of forms lies in the fact that non-finites may denote a secondary action or a process related to that expressed by the finite verb.

Non-finites possess the verb categories of voice, perfect, and aspect. They lack the categories of person, number, mood, and tense.

None of the forms have morphological features of non-verbal parts of speech, neither nominal, adjectival or adverbial. In the sphere of syntax, however, non-finites possess both verbal and non-verbal features. Their non-verbal character reveals itself in their syntactical functions. Thus, the infinitive and the gerund perform the main syntactical functions of the noun, which are those of subject, object and predicative. Participle I functions as attribute, predicative and adverbial modifier; participle II as attribute and predicative. They cannot form a predicate by themselves, although unlike non-verbal parts of speech they can function as part of a compound verbal predicate.

Syntactically the verbal character of non-finites is manifested mainly in their combinability. Similarly to finite forms they may combine with nouns functioning as direct, indirect, or prepositional objects, with adverbs and prepositional phrases used as adverbial modifiers, and with subordinate clauses.

Non-finites may also work as link verbs, combining with nouns, adjectives or statives as predicatives, as in: to be/being a doctor (young, afraid). They may also act as modal verb semantic equivalents when combined with an infinitive: to have/having to wait, to be able/being able to stay. So the structure of a non-finite verb group resembles the structure of any verb phrase.

All non-finite verb forms may participate in the so-called predicative constructions, that is, two-component syntactical units where a noun or a pronoun and a non-finite verb form are in predicative relations similar to those of the subiect and the predicate: I heard Jane singing; We waited for the train to pass; I saw him run, etc.

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