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Grammatical Categories of The Verb

This document discusses the grammatical categories of verbs. It describes finite and non-finite forms of verbs. Finite verbs can function as predicates in independent clauses while non-finite verbs cannot. Non-finite forms include infinitives, gerunds, and participles. Infinitives are the base form listed in dictionaries and can take different tenses, aspects, and voices. There are full infinitives with "to" and bare infinitives without "to." The document provides examples of usage for different types of infinitives.

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313 views

Grammatical Categories of The Verb

This document discusses the grammatical categories of verbs. It describes finite and non-finite forms of verbs. Finite verbs can function as predicates in independent clauses while non-finite verbs cannot. Non-finite forms include infinitives, gerunds, and participles. Infinitives are the base form listed in dictionaries and can take different tenses, aspects, and voices. There are full infinitives with "to" and bare infinitives without "to." The document provides examples of usage for different types of infinitives.

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boldymik
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© © All Rights Reserved
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF THE VERB

FINITE FORMS OF THE VERB


(fomele personale ale verbului)

NON- FINITE FORMS OF THE VERB


(formele nepersonale ale verbului)

1 THE INDICATVE MODE


2.THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE

1. THE INFINITIVE
2. THE GERUND
3. THE PARTICIPLE (present and past)

CHARACTERISTICS
The verb HAS the categories of:
-tense : PRESENT-PAST-FUTURE
-mood: INDICATIVE, SUBJUNCTIVE, IMPERATIVE,
OPTATIVE, etc

The verb DOES NOT have the categories


of
-mood
-person
-number
They have instead tense, voice and aspect(for
the Infinitive)

-voice (ACTIVE and PASSIVE)


-aspect (SIMPLE,PERFECT and CONTINUOUS)
-person (FIRST, SECOND, THIRD)
-number (SINGULAR, PLURAL)
-gender (FEMININE, MASCULINE)
The verb CAN function as predicate in an
independent clause.

The verb CAN NOT function as predicate


in an independent clause.

EXAMPLES
The following sentences each contain one finite verb (underlined) and multiple nonfinite verbs
(bolded):
The proposal has been intensively examined today.
What did they want to have done about that?
Someone tried to refuse to accept the offer.
Coming downstairs, she saw the man running away.
I am trying to get the tickets.
In the above sentences, been, examined and done are past
participles, want, have, refuse, accept and get are infinitives, andcoming, running and trying are
present participles (for alternative terminology, see the sections below).
In English, certain finite and nonfinite forms of a given verb are often identical, e.g.
a. They laugh a lot. - Finite verb (present tense) in bold
b. They will laugh a lot. - Nonfinite infinitive in bold
a. Tom tried to help. - Finite verb (past tense) in bold
b. Tom has tried to help. - Nonfinite participle in bold
Despite the fact that the verbs in bold have the same outward appearance, the first in each pair is
finite and the second is nonfinite. To distinguish the finite and nonfinite uses, one has to consider the
environments in which they appear. Finite verbs in English usually appear as the leftmost verb in a
verb catena.[2] For details of verb inflection in English, see English verbs

TYPES OF NONFINITE VERBS


English has three kinds of nonfinite verbs:
1. INFINITIVES (Indefinite /Present, Perfect)
2. PARTICIPLES (Present , Past)
3. GERUNDS
Each of these nonfinite forms appears in a variety of environments.
1. THE INFINITIVE

-The infinitive of a verb is considered the "base" form;


-It is the form that is listed in dictionaries.
TYPES OF INFINITIVE:
THE LONG INFINITIVE (+to)
THE TO INFINITIVE
THE FULL INFINITIVE

SHORT INFINITIVE/ BARE


INFINITIVE (- to)

SPLIT INFINITIVE (with an


adverb between to and verb)

To leave is not an option.


I want to leave as soon as I
can.

You must clean your desk.


Leave and say nothing!

It will take weeks to really


master the Infinitve.
to clearly understand= a
intelege clar
to fully appreciate= a aprecia
cum trebuie
to flatly refuse= a refuza
categoric
to thankfully receive
to cautiosly require
to quietly await
to totally agree
to wholly agree
to cordially greet
to gladly consent
to again meet
to quickly restore
to definitely assert
to promptly reply.
The Split Infinitive is often
used for the sake of clarity.

TENSES, ASPECT AND VOICE of the INFINITIVE


FORMS OF THE INFINITIVE
The Infinitive has
- 2 tenses: PRESENT and PERFECT
- 2 aspects: SIMPLE and CONTINUOUS
- 2 voices: ACTIVE and PASSIVE
FORMS:
AFFIRMATIVE FORM:
TENSE
THE PRESENT (indefinite)*
INDEFINITE SIMPLE INFINITIVE
(PRESENT)
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS
INFINITIVE
PERFECT

ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

To
work

to be worked

to be working

THE PERFECT SIMPLE INFINITIVE

to have worked

THE PERFECT CONTINUOUS


INFINITIVE

to have been working

______
to have been worked
________

NEGATIVE FORM: it is formed by placing the negation NOT before the particle TO:
Eg: To be or not to be, that is the question
TENSE
THE PRESENT (indefinite)* SIMPLE
PRESENT INFINITIVE

PERFECT

ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

NOT to
work

NOT to be worked

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS


INFINITIVE

NOT to be working

THE PERFECT SIMPLE INFINITIVE

NOT to have worked

THE PERFECT CONTINUOUS


INFINITIVE

NOT to have been


working

Exercises: forms of the infinitive Galateanu verde p 287: 4.11 a.b.c

______
NOT to have been
worked
________

THE BARE INFINITIVE (without TO)


It is used after the following verbs and expressions:
1. Modal verbs: can, may, must, shall, will
You may talk in Romanian.
He can speak English
He must listen to his mother.
You shall obey the rules.
He will follow my advice.
2. Let (in the active voice)+ object (complement)
My dad lets me use his computer.
Please let me know when you arrive.
OBS: in the passive voice (let = was allowed), let is followed by the Full Infinitive
I was allowed to use my dads computer.
3. Make (in the active voice)+ object
He made me laugh.
4. Feel, hear, see, watch (in the active voice)
(the infinitive implies that the action is complete)
I saw him drive the car.
I heard him open the door.
OBS: 1. see and hear in the passive voice are followed by the Full Infinitive.
He was seen to open the door.
He was heard to say that ......
2. see, hear and watch are usually followed by present participles- it implies that the
action is in development, the action is incomplete.
I see him passing my house every day.
Didnt you hear the clock striking?
I smelt something burning.
5. Would rather/sooner ; had better
Shall we go? Id rather wait till tomorrow.
You had better start at once
6. Help (can be used with full or bare Infinitive)
He helped us (to) move the furniture.
7. If there are two infinitives in a sentence, and they are joined by the conjunction and, the
seconfd infinitive is without TO:
I want to sit in the garden and read a book.

The FULL INFINITIVE (TO INFINITIVE)


USES

1.It is used as
subject of a sentence at the
beginning of a sentence
or at the end of a sentence:
2. It is used as complement of a verb

To be a teacher was my dream.


It was my dream to be a teacher.

3.to express commands or


instructions with to be+inf
construction
4. It is used to express purpose
(scopul)

He is to stay here till we return (He must stay here)

5.It is used in Infinitive phrases in the


beginning or end of a sentence:

6. It is used After : certain adjectives:

7. It is used after the verbs:

8.after transitive verbs (as direct


object)

His plan is to hide the treasure.

He went to France to learn.


I want a case to keep my records in.
+In order to/ not to: He repeated the words every day in order
not to forget them.
To tell (you )the truth...
To cut a long story short.....
To be honest.....
To be honest, you are a bad driver.
To cut a long story short, we said No.
To tell you the truth, Ive never met him.
Ive never met him, to tell you the truth.
angry, glad, happy, sorry, pleased, annoyed....
He was glad to begin school.
He was sorry to leave school.
would love, would like, would prefer
I would like to see you tomorrow.
I would prefer to go home.
Advise, agree, appear, decide, expect, forget, hope, manage,
offer, promise, refuse, seem, want....
They decided to take English classes.
I hope to meet him again.

9.after
Have (to)/ Ought (to) trebuie sa
Used (to)- obisnuiam sa
10.After too or enough
11. After wh-question words:

I have to get up early every day.

He is too old to drive.


She is clever enough to understand it.
Where, how, what, who, which
Exception: why- it is not used with to-infinitive
I dont know what to do.
I dont know where to go.
Which way to go?

Show me where to go.


Tell me what to buy.
Show him how to do it.
12. in the construction
Accusative+Infinitive
13. In the construction
Nominative+Infinitive
14. Infinitive with For-to
15. to- can replace a verb already
mentioned

A:Lets go. (Sa mergem)


B: I dont want to . (Nu vreau sa merg)

Translation
The Infinitive is translated in
Romanian by conjunctiv or by a
subordinate sentence.

I want to see her. Vreau sa o vad.


He could not come. Nu a putut sa vina.

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