A General Presentation Of Nonfinite English Verbal Forms
Most of the English grammars register the nonfinite English verbal forms as falling into :
1. The Infinitive
2. The Participle
3. The Gerund
4. The Verbal Noun
5. The Verbal Adjective
In contrast with finite or personal forms , nonfinite forms do not
express person, number, or mood, and cannot be used as predicates of sentences.
Leon Levitchi in “ Limba Engleza Contemporana” (Morfologie) affirms that in contemporary English grammar there are three nonfinite forms :
1. The Infinitive
2. The – ING form (represented by)
a) The Indefinite Participle
b) The Perfect Participle
c) The Indefinite Gerund
d) The Perfect Gerund
3. The Past Participle
Levitchi also mentions three nonfinite forms of a ver 525g69f b which are present in Romanian : infinitivul (“ modul care denumeste actiunea exprimata de verb , adica este numele unei actiuni dupa cum substantivul este numele unui obiect “) participial (“ modul care , sub forma de adjective denumeste actiunea suferita de un obiect “) ; gerunziul (“ forma verbului care exprima actiunea in desfasurare fara referire sau la moment “) supinul (“ care denumeste actiunea verbala comportandu-se ca un infinitive lung , deci ca un substantive verbal , dar si ca un verb. A characteristic feature of the nonfinite forms of the English verb is their marked homonymy , one and the same verbal form being capable to discharge several functions which are brought out in a context ( thus , reading may be an indefinite participle or an indefinite gerund ). Another characteristic is that they can form predicative constructions , that is syntactic units resembling units.
Weather permitting ( if the weather permits ) we shall climb the
mountain.
Budai Laszlo in his book “ Gramatica Engleza – Teorie si Exercitii” gives a detailed presentation on the verbals , which combine the characteristics of a verb with those of some other parts of speech. The infinitive and the gerund besides verb characteristics , also have traits in common with the noun. They may have syntactical functions typical of the noun.
To ski is pleasant. (A schia este placut ) – Subject
It is beginning to snow ( Incepe sa ninga ) – Object
Swimming is pleasant. ( Inotatul este placut ) – Subject
He stopped drinking. ( A incetat sa mai bea) – Object
The participle can have the force of an adjective as wel as that of a verb.
I looked at the sleeping child. (Premodifier)
She was a caring mother. ( Ea era o mama careia ii pasa)
We have his written promise.(Avem promisiunea lui scrisa)
The autorney had his written statement.
(Avocatul avea declaratia scrisa).
In some of its functions the participle combines the characteristics of a verb with those of an adverb :
She came in laughing. (Adverbial modifier)
(A intrat razand)
He entered the room crying.
(A intrat plangand).
2. The verbals have the following verb – characteristics[3] :
a) All the infinitives are used in the formation of tenses :
She will study hard. (Ea va studia din greu)
They should have been home by now.(Ei ar fi trebuit sa fie acasa)
I must be going.(Trebuie sa plec)
The present participle is used in the active voice to form the six continuous tenses :
The boy is crying.(Baiatul plange) – Present Tense Continuous
The dog was lying on the bed.(Cainele era pe pat) – Past Tense
Continuous
You will be working all day.(Veti lucra
The past participle is used to form perfect tenses and the passive voice:
I have not eaten yet . (N-am mancat inca)
Present Perfect Simple
Dinner is served at seven o’clock. (Cina este servita la ora 7)
Present Tense Simple – Passive Voice
b) All the verbals have voice and tense distinctions.
The forms that are called tenses in the verbals comprise relative time indication
- the Present Tense of the verbals indicates time simultaneous (the time expressed by the verbal and time expressed by the main verb are more or less the same ) or future with reference to that of the main verb :
She felt her heart beat with joy.(Simultaneity)
(Inima ii batea de bucurie).
We plan doing it next week.(Posteriority)
(Avem de gand s-o facem saptamana viitoare).
- the Perfect Tense of the verbals indicates time prior to that of the main verb (anteriority)
She is said to have changed the plan.
(Se spune ca ea ar fi schimbat planul)
She was angry at my having disturbed her.
(Era furioasa ca o deranjasem).
When the time expressed by the gerund is earlier than that expressed by the main verb , we can a perfect gerund , if we wish; a present gerund , on the other hand , is equally correct. The perfect gerund simply emphasizes the fact that its time is earlier than that of the other:
He was accused of having murdered
a policeman.
murdering
She looked forward to having met
him.
meeting
Besides distinctions of voice and tense, the active infinitive has also distinctions of aspect :
I must be going.(Trebuie sa plec)
They must have been working in the garden.
(Trebuie sa fi muncit in gradina)
Depending on the context , the past participle of a transitive verb expresses either that the action of the participle precedes the action of the main verb , or that it is simultaneous with the action of the main verb in the sentence :
The cars made in
(Masinile fabricate in Franta sunt faimoase)
The houses built in this neighbourhood are beautiful.
(Casele construite in aceasta zona sunt frumoase)
The poems written by Shelley are beautiful.(anteriority)
(Poemele scrise de Shelley sunt frumoase)
The verbals are not limited by number , person an mood. They cannot express predication by themselves ; they must always be in connection with finite forms of the verb.
c) Nonfinites derived from transitive verbs can take an object:
I helped the old woman cross the street .
(Am ajutat-o pe batrana sa traverseze strada)
He likes telling jokes to his friends.
Nonfinites can be modified by adverbials :
The girl wants to play in the garden .
(Fata vrea sa se joace in gradina)
She does not like going there.
(Ei nu-i place sa mearga acolo)
Almost all the grammars say that the infinitive is the basic form of the verb much in the same sense in which the nominative case is the basic form of the noun or the positive degree is the basic form of the adjective ; if one knows the infinitive of a verb , one can conjugate it in all moods and tenses. (Irregular verbs are an exception ; in order to conjugate them one must know their preterite and past participle too). Mention has been made that certain English verbs have no infinitive form (shall , will , can , must , may , ought to ) so that the respective Romanian infinitives (a trebui , a voi , a putea , a se cuveni ) are translated by other words and word – combinations , such as “ to have to , to be obliged to , to want “ although the use of these infinitives is not very frequent. “To be to” is only a theoretical form ; it is never met with in the actual usage of the language.
Alice Badescu in her book “ Gramatica limbii engleze” makes a short comparison between Romanian and English participle. English grammar differs very much from the Romanian one as far as it concerns the way the participle is treated.
a) English grammar gives participle a larger meaning than in Romanian grammar because it has all the participial forms : indefinite participle , perfect participle and past participle under both aspects, perfective and imperfective , and for both voices; participle in Romanian grammar has as a correspondent in English grammar only the term “Past Participle”
b) English grammar has only two verbal forms ; Present Participle and Gerund , which , although they are not different formally , have different functions.
c) English grammar has a Perfect Participle which does not exist in Romanian.
d) English grammar does not have the mood “supin” whose functions are completed by the gerund.
In traditional grammar , the present participle, the gerund , the verbal noun and the verbal adjective have received the name of ING forms for having all the same form ending in –ing and the differences between them are very subtle. In fact , the verbal noun was a form of the gerund , and the verbal adjective represented a function of present participle.
As the present participle is identical in form with the gerund , so the past participle of all irregular verbs is identical with the past tense , and is to be distinguished from it by in the sentence.
Cobb and Gardiner[5] exemplify the past participle in their book saying that like certain quasi-participial forms in -ing (amusing , charming) and some past participles may be purely adjectival in meaning. Such are “distinguished” (“a distinguished [eminent , famous ] guest , “fixed “ or “set” (“a fixed or set [steady] store) , pleased (I am very pleased [glad] to meet you) , surprised (I was surprised to hear it) , tired (my tired [weary] limbs.
Like the –ing forms , these forms may also , of course , occur as real participles : he had distinguished himself by great gallantry.
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