Phenomenal English

What are Finite and Non-finite Verbs

Verbs are mainly divided into the two catagories finite and nonfinite verbs. Both types of verbs play their part to fully express the action of verb used in the sentence and they help sentence convey its complete meanings.

Finite Verbs

A finite verb is a verb that has a subject, shows the tense (present, past, future), voice (active, passive), mood, aspect of sentence along with number (singular, plural) and person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) of the subject. It changes its form if there is a change in the person or number of subject and assumes different forms in different tenses. Action of the subject can be seen in the finite verb. Words in the bold are finite verbs in the following sentences.

• He went to London with Marry.
• My father guided me to the right.
• Elizabeth was our one of the best queens.

Some more about Finite Verbs

Finite verb is a must constituent of sentence in order to complete it and convey its complete meanings. Without a finite verb, sentence would not be more than a subject or be like such a part of sentence which does not express its action, tense (present, past, future), voice, mood ect. In other words sentence can not function properly without finite verb. For example

• The bird.
• The bird in the sky.
• The bird in the sky over the trees.

All the above mentioned sentences without a finite verb are not conveying proper meaning and also not functioning properly. We do not know what is tense and voice of the sentence and what action this sentence is performing.

• The bird flies.
• The bird flies in the sky.
• The bird flies in the sky over the trees.

Now after adding finite verb 'fly' in all sentences, every sentence is showing complete meaning, tense (present) and voice (active).

Non-finite Verbs

A Non-finite verb is a verb that does not have a subject, and does not show the tense (present, past, future), voice (active, passive), mood, aspect of sentence along with number (singular, plural) and person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) of the subject. It does not change its form if there is a change in the person or number of subject and does not assume different forms in different tenses because it lacks inflection. In simple words non-finite verb does not have subject and tense. Words in the bold are non-finite verbs in the following examples.

• He wants to marry her cousine.
• My wandering in the streets is not liked by my Mom.
• My repeated requests were not accepted.  

Some more about Non-finite Verbs

Non-finite verbs do not participate in the making of tense and voice of a sentence or person and number of a subject. They are usually infinitives, gerunds or participles (present participle, past participle) and function in the sentence as nouns, pronouns and adjectives. For example

• He wants to marry her cousine.   (Infinitive)
• My wandering in the streets is not liked by my Mom.   (Gerund)
• My repeated requests were not accepted.   (Past Participle)