§ 527. The growth of grammatical categories in the verb paradigm in ME and Early NE periods is summarised in Table 10. The figures indicate the number of members distinguished within the categories.
Table 10
Development of Verbal Grammatical Categories
in Middle English and Early New English
Grammatical categories
Mood
Tense
Voice
Time correlation
Aspect
OE Lafe ME or NE
OE Late ME or NE
OE Late ME or NE
OE Late ME or NE
OE Late ME or NE
Finite verb
3[62]
—
—
Non-Finite verb:
Infinitive
—
—
—
—
—
-ing-Form
—
—
—
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYNTACTIC SYSTEM IN MIDDLE ENGLISH AND EARLY NEW ENGLISH
§ 528. The evolution of English syntax was tied up with profound changes in morphology; the decline of the inflectional system was accompanied by the growth of the functional load of syntactic means of word connection. The most obvious difference between OE syntax and the syntax of the ME and NE periods is that the word order became more strict and the use of prepositions more extensive, The growth of the literary forms of the language, the literary flourishing in Late ME and especially in the age of the Renaissance, the differentiation of literary styles and the efforts made by 18th. c. scholars to develop a logical, elegant style — all contributed to the improvement and perfection of English syntax.
The structure of the sentence and the word phrase, on the one hand, became more complicated, on the other hand — were stabilised and standardised.