Cambridge Dictionary

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Finite and non-finite verbs - Grammar - Cambridge Dictionary

The night before he had to leave, they sat on the small sofa in the living-room and looked at old family photos. ... Non-finite verb forms do not show tense, person or number. Typically they are infinitive forms with and without to (e.g. to ...

Cambridge Dictionary

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Clauses: finite and non-finite - Cambridge Grammar

A relative clause can be non-finite when the subject of the relative clause is the same as the subject of the main clause: The man sitting on the sofa over there is Simon’s brother.

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Cambridge Dictionary

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NON-FINITE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

NON-FINITE meaning: 1. A non-finite verb is in the infinitive form or is a participle and does not show the tense and…. Learn more.

Grammar Monster

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Non-Finite Verbs

A non-finite verb is a verb form that does not show tense or have a subject. Therefore, a non-finite verb is never the main verb in a sentence. Non-finite verbs can function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs or combine with a finite verb for ...

Nonfinite verb

verb form that cannot complete an independent clause by itself (e.g. infinitives and gerunds); a verb that is not finite

Nonfinite verbs are verb forms that do not show tense, person, or number. They include: Infinitives (e.g., to go, to see), which are the base forms of verbs, and may also function … Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Nonfinite_verb

Nonfinite verb - Wikipedia

October 26, 2025 - The three verbs together form a ... present tense, indicative. The nonfinite verbs been and examined are, except for tense, neutral across such categories and are not inflected otherwise....

Theories of syntax

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"Non-finite Clauses" in English Grammar | LanGeek

5 days ago - Non-finite clauses are dependent clauses, also known as embedded clauses, which means they cannot express a complete idea on their own. Although they look like verbs, they do not act as verbs in sentences, but as nouns, adjectives, complement, ...

linguistics.stackexchange.com › questions › 39111 › what-do-finite-and-non-finite-mean-in-linguistics

terminology - What do "finite" and "non-finite" mean in linguistics? - Linguistics Stack Exchange

In traditional grammar a finite form of a verb is a fully specified verb form according to all verbal categories relevant to the specific language, like voice, aspect, mood, tense, person, or number.

Non-finite verb forms are underspecified in this respect, leaving out some of the categories required for a finite verb form (typically tense, person and number). Examples of non-finite verb form include infinitives, gerunds, participles, or the Latin gerundive. Languages vary in the number of non-finite verb forms they have, and there are languages not having them at all.

fscj.pressbooks.pub › engcomp1 › chapter › non-finite-verbs

Non-Finite Verbs – English Composition I

By definition, a non-finite verb cannot serve as the main verb in an independent clause. In practical terms, this means that they don’t serve as the action of a sentence. They also don’t have a tense.

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Non-Finite Verbs | English Composition I

By definition, non-finite verbs cannot serve as the main verb in an independent clause. In practical terms, this means that they don’t provide the action of a sentence. They also lack a tense. While the sentence around them may be past, present, or future tense, the non-finite verbs themselves ...

reddit.com › r/grammar › struggling to understand finite vs. non-finite clauses.

r/grammar on Reddit: Struggling to understand finite vs. non-finite clauses.

April 14, 2015 -

Hey there -

I can't seem to wrap my mind around this concept. Let me provide some example problems that my textbook offers for additional help and maybe you all can help ELI5.

Identify as Finite/Non and the Grammatical Role/Function:

The woman who lives next door is a famous actress.

Okay - this one I understand. The verb "lives" makes it finite and who lives next door is a relative pronoun. Here's where it gets trickier for me:

2. I don't believe that she is the right choice.
Finite, right? And is "that" a relative pronoun?

3. He was working on his paper while I was working on mine. Finite? Grammatical function?

4. Do you mind opening the door? I have no idea...

5. To learn a new language takes time and effort. Pretty sure this is non-finite because it's the infinitive form, but what would the grammatical function be?

The book doesn't have answers listed, so I just want to make sure I'm on the right track here. Thanks for your help.

It takes entire chapters in grammar books to cover this topic, so it's hard to do it any justice in a short space. But I'll give it a go. A finite clauses has a subject and a verb that is finite--that is, it is marked for tense, case, and number. A finite clause beings with that (which is sometimes elided) a wh- word one of these: "while, since, because, although, if, when, so that, as, such, before, after, until, aslong as, as soon as, by the time that, now that, once, inasmuch as..." Those are relatively easy to identify. Nonfinite clauses are trickier. The main identifying feature is that the verb is not makred for tense, case, or number. It's an infinitive, or bare infinitive (infinitive minus the to), past participle, or present participle. Laurel J. Brinton, in her book The Stucture of Modern English, provides a good way to understand and identify nonfinite clauses: A characteristic of nonfinite clauses is that they are often incomplete, missing obligatory elements such as subject or direct object. For this reason, nonfinite clauses are called “phrases” in traditional grammar. But they are better understood as deriving from complete clauses by the omission of obligatory elements. These omissions are called PRO, or “big PRO” (PRO for “pronoun”); PRO refers to the phonetically null subject and object NPs of nonfinite clauses. If you identify where PRO would go, you've found your nonfinite clause. Let's look at your examples: Do you mind opening the door? Find PRO! Do you mind [PRO opening the door]? Because the implied person/pronoun doing the opening is you. To learn a new language takes time and effort. Find PRO! [PRO To learn a new language] takes time and effort. Again, there's an implied someone who will to learn a new language. Again, it's more complicated than this, and I am just starting to build an understanding of it myself. But I hope this at least begins to help.

reddit.com › r/linguistics › finite vs non-finite verbs.

r/linguistics on Reddit: Finite vs non-finite verbs.

April 16, 2012 -

Can someone explain the difference, and show some examples? Are there any universal rule, or does it depend on the context/sentence. Are auxiliary verb also finite or non-finite?

Generally speaking, a finite verb form is a form of the verb that is marked for tense in some way, while non-finite verb forms are forms that lack tense marking. In English, the verb forms "does", "did", and "doing (participle)" are finite, while "to do" and "doing (gerund)" are infinitive. Whether languages make a distinction between finite and non-finite verb forms and how they use them in their grammar varies from language to language. The definition varies a little too (especially since tense is not universal); verb forms that mark aspect or person are often considered finite as well. English auxilliary verbs are by their nature finite.

Collins Dictionary

collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english › non-finite

NON-FINITE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

English Easy Learning GrammarWhat are the non-finite parts of the verb in English?Non-finite parts of a verb are those that do not indicate number, person or tense. The common non-finite forms are: the base form the present participle or -ing ...

ucl.ac.uk › internet-grammar › verbs › finite.htm

Finite and Non-finite Forms @ The Internet Grammar of English

Finite and Non-finite Forms @ The Internet Grammar of English

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Non-finite_clause

Non-finite clause - Wikipedia

July 18, 2025 - In meaning-independent descriptions of language, a non-finite clause is a clause whose verbal chain is non-finite; for example, using Priscian's categories for Latin verb forms, in many languages we find texts with non-finite clauses containing infinitives, participles and gerunds.

Different traditions

Collins Dictionary

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What are finite and non-finite verbs in English? | Learning English Grammar | Collins Education

When a verb has a subject and a tense, it can be referred to as a finite verb. We want Charlie to act as club secretary.I like taking photographs of insects.Coming home last night, I saw a deer run across the road.Some forms of a verb are referred to as non-finite.

englicious.org › lesson › verbs › verbs-nonfinite-and-finite

Verbs: Nonfinite and finite | Englicious.org

So, past and present tense verb forms are finite. Nonfinite verbs do not carry tense, and do not show agreement with a Subject. Put differently, they are not 'limited' by tense or agreement.

House of Griffin

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Key Differences: Finite VS Non-Finite Verbs | House of Griffin

August 19, 2025 - Some are finite, meaning they do the heavy lifting of showing tense and subject agreement. Others are non-finite—they’re more like assistants, helping out without taking center stage. Knowing the difference between the two can sharpen your writing, boost your grammar confidence, and help ...

Kellogg Community College

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Non-Finite Verbs | English Composition I

By definition, a non-finite verb cannot serve as the main verb in an independent clause. In practical terms, this means that they don’t serve as the action of a sentence. They also don’t have a tense. While the sentence around them may be past, present, or future tense, the non-finite verbs ...

Encyclopedia Britannica

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Nonfinite Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary

NONFINITE meaning: not showing differences in tense, grammatical person, or number not finite

langeek.co › home › grammar › phrases and clauses › non-finite clauses

What Are "Non-finite Clauses" in English Grammar? | LanGeek

September 8, 2025 - In this lesson we learn about non-finite clauses, which are groups of words containing a verb form that does not show tense and do not act as the main verb in a sentence. Improve with simple explanations and easy examples.