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Prerequisites:
1. Types of Sentences based on purpose
2. Parts of sentences
3. Verbs and its major types: Action verbs and Modal verbs
4. Types of action verbs: Regular and Irregular verbs
5. Auxiliary verbs and types of auxiliary verbs: Primary and Modals
6. Vern-tense forms
7. Active and Passive voice

8. Finite verb and Non-finite verb

Finite Verbs Non-finite Verbs

(Informally called as infinite verbs)

Finite verb is the type of verb that can be Non-Finite verb is the type of verb that
changed or limited by subject (person), number CANNOT be changed or limited by subject
(subject-verb agreement) or time (tenses). (person), number (subject-verb agreement) or
time (tenses).

*Note: Actually, non-finite verb is NOT an action

verb. It might seem like an action verb but it is not.
So, it should NOT BE CONFUSED with an action
verb.
General examples: Action verbs & Modal verbs
General examples: Verb forms that RATHER ACT
AS noun, adjective, adverb, and other parts of
sentences.

Finite verbs act as a main verb or action verb. Non-finite verbs DO NOT act as main verb or
action.
Examples: Examples:
• Pema is swimming very well. • Swimming is Pema’s favourite hobby.
(In this case, we are talking about Pema who is (In this case, we are talking about the technique of
actually swimming). swimming, Pema is NOT actually swimming).

• We are drinking wine. • Drinking is injurious to our health.

Finite verbs need to follow subject-verb agreement. Non-finite verbs need NOT follow subject-verb
Examples: agreement.
• He runs every day. e.g. Running is good for his health.
Singular subject (He) follows singular verb (runs)
Running is good for our health.
• They run every day.
Plural subject (They) follows plural verb (run) (For both (his) and (our), the verb remains the
same, that is, (Running).

Finite verb indicates “tenses”. Non-finite verb does NOT indicate “tenses”.
Examples: Example:
• She writes a letter. (Simple present tense)
Her writing needs to be improved.
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• She wrote a letter yesterday. (Simple past (In this case, it is NOT SPECIFIED WHEN her
tense) writing needs to be improved)
• She will write a letter tomorrow. (Simple
future tense)

Types of Finite and Non-finite Verbs

There are two types of finite verbs There are 3 types of non-finite verbs:
1. Action verb (The typical finite verbs)
1.To-infinitives
(Action verb basically includes all verb-tense forms (To+ Base form/Verb 1)
for any regular verbs or irregular verbs, active and -acts as noun, adjective, or adverb.
passive voice)
2. Gerunds
2. Auxiliary/Helping verbs (Special finite verbs) (NOUN ending in “-ing”)
→ Primary auxiliary verbs -Acts as subject, object and object complement.
• Be forms:
(be/is/am/are/was/were/been/being) 3. Participles
• Have forms (have/has/had/having) • Present participle (acts as adjective, and object
• Do forms (do/does/did/done/doing) complement)

→ Modal auxiliary verbs (Can, could, Shall, • Past participle (acts as adjective/adjective
should, May, might, Will, would, Must, had to) phrase and adverb/adverb phrase)

Finite Verb (Detail Study)

1. Action verb (typical finite verb)
Action verb basically includes all verb-tense forms for any regular verbs or irregular verbs, active and
passive voice
1.1. Regular verbs
Regular verbs are verbs which form their past form (verb 2) and past participle (verb 3) in a regular pattern
by adding ‘d/ed/ied’.
Verb 1: Base/root form Verb 2: Past form Verb 3: Past participle
Refuse Refused Refused
Look Looked Looked
Cry Cried Cried

Examples:
Dorji cooked potatoes.
Pema cried.
Tshering looked at Asmita.

1.2. Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs are verbs which DO NOT form their past form (verb 2) and past participle (verb 3) in a
regular pattern but in a different manner.
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Verb 1: Base/root form Verb 2: Past form Verb 3: Past participle

Write Wrote Written
Read Read Read
Take Took Taken
Go Went Gone

Examples:
Yuden wrote a letter.
The book was taken by Lhmo
Penjor went home.
I read a story yesterday.

1.3. Verb-Tense-Forms
Any regular and irregular verbs can come in 12 verb-tense forms. All of them are finite verbs.
Some examples are given below:
Dorji writes a letter. (simple present tense)
Dorji has cooked the potatoes. (present perfect tense)
They were cooking potatoes. (past continuous tense)

Dorji will write a letter. (simple future tense)

1.4. Active and Passive voices

Active voice is a verb form which shows that subject actively does something to the object: (subject + verb +
object)
e.g. Shyam takes the book.
Shyam is taking the book.
Passive voice is a verb form which shows that, without doing anything, subject simply receives the action
from the object. (Object becomes a subject + auxiliary + verb 3 + subject becomes an object)
e.g. The book is taken by Shyam
The book is being taken by Shyam..

2. Auxiliary/Helping verbs (Special finite verbs)

Auxiliary verbs are of two types: Primary auxiliary verbs and modal auxiliary verbs. All of them are finite
verbs.
2.1 Primary auxiliary verbs
*Be forms: (be/is/am/are/was/were/been/being)
− She is happy.
− I am a student.
− They were being noisy.
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*Have forms (have/has/had/having)

− I have a new bicycle.
− She has a beautiful garden.
− They had many problems to solve.
*Do forms (do/does/did/done/doing)
− I do my homework every evening.
− He does his duty sincerely.
− They did their best in the competition.

2.1 Modal auxiliary verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs are the verbs that shows a person’s attitude toward an action such as ability,
possibility, permission etc. All of them are finite verbs.

• I can swim across the river. (ability)

• She may join us later. (possibility)
• You must wear a seatbelt. (necessity)
• He had to leave early. (necessity)

Non-finite Verbs (Detail Study)

1. To-infinitives (To+ Base form/Verb 1)
To-infinitive is the ‘to+ base form of verb’ which is not an action word but acts as noun, adjective or adverb.
Therefore, it is a non-finite verb.
e.g. To travel is my passion.
‘Is’-auxiliary verb: Finite verb
‘To travel’-subject (noun) of the sentence: Non-finite verb

e.g. I love to swim.

‘love’-action verb: Finite verb

‘to swim’-object (noun) of the verb ‘love’: Non-finite verb

e.g. I have a lot of work to do.

‘have’-auxiliary verb: Finite verb
‘to do’-adjective-describes the noun ‘work’: Non-finite verb

e.g. He came to see me.

‘came’-action verb: Finite verb
‘to see’-adverb-explains the purpose of the verb ‘came’: Non-finite verb

2. Gerunds
Gerund is the word ending in ‘ing’ which acts as noun. It acts as subject, object and subject complement.
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Thus, it is a non-finite verb.

Examples:
• Drinking is injurious to health. (Drinking = subject)
• Seeing is believing. (Seeing = subject)
• I like playing chess. (I-subject, like-verb, playing-object)
• I love dancing. (I-subject, love-verb, dancing-object)
• I look forward to seeing you. (I-subject, look forward to-phrasal verb, seeing-object)
• She gave up smoking. (She-subject, gave up-phrasal verb, smoking-object)
• She is good at dancing. (at-preposition, dancing-object of preposition)
• He succeeded by working hard. (by-preposition, working- object of preposition)

→ Gerund as subject complement where Subject=subject complement.

• Seeing is believing. (seeing=believing)
• The secret to success is loving your work. (secret to success=loving your work)

3. Participles
There are two types of participles in English: Present participle and past participle. They can act as non-
finite verbs in certain ways.
3.1. Present participle
Present participle is an ‘ing form’ of word without any auxiliary verbs attached to it. When used as an
adjective, adverb phrase and object complement it acts as non-finite verb.
Examples:

As an adjective: The running water is cold. (‘running’ describes the noun ‘water’)
The smiling child waved at us. (‘smiling’ describes child)
Barking dog seldom bites. (‘barking’ describes dog)
I watched the rising sun in the morning. (‘rising’ describes sun)

As adjective phrase
e.g. The man having a long beard is my uncle.
(‘having a long beard’ acts as an adjective phrase describing the ‘uncle’)
(so, non-finite verb-having, finite verb-is)

e.g. The woman driving the car is my boss.

(‘driving the car’ acts as an adjective phrase describing the ‘boss’)
(so, non-finite verb-driving, finite verb-is)

e.g. The boy swimming in the backyard, is my son.

(‘swimming in the backyard’ acts as an adjective phrase describing the ‘son’)
(so, non-finite verb-swimming, finite verb-is)

e.g. The book lying in the corner is your portfolio.

(‘lying in the corner’ acts as an adjective phrase describing the ‘the book’)
(so, non-finite verb-lying, finite verb-is)
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As adverb phrase
e.g. Knowing that it is a holiday, she planned a trip to Samtse.
(‘knowing that it is a holiday’ is an adverb phrase that explains or reasons the verb ‘planned’)
(so, non-finite verb-knowing, finite verb-planned)

Driving to work in the morning, she saw a deer.

(‘driving to work’ is an adverb phrase that shows the timing and manner of the verb ‘saw’)
(so, non-finite verb-driving, finite verb-saw)

Knowing the bitter truth, she left the room crying.

(‘knowing the bitter truth’ is an adverb phrase that explains action verb-why she ‘left’)
(so, non-finite verb-knowing, finite verb-left)

While playing football, I got my foot injured.

(‘while playing football’ is an adverb phrase that shows the timing of the verb-when he ‘got’ injured)
(so, non-finite verb-playing, finite verb-got)

As an object complement.
Object complement is a word that comes after the object to rename the object or describe what it has
become. Thus, it does not show an action and is a non-finite verb.
e.g. I saw the boy jumping. (Object-boy, object complement-jumping)
I saw a dog running down the street. (Object-dog, object complement-running)
The class left the fan spinning after school. (Object-fan, object complement-spinning)
He kept the engine running all night. (Object-engine, object complement-running)

3.2. Past participle

Past participle is the verb 3 without any auxiliaries attached to it. When used as an adjective and participial
phrase it acts as non-finite verb.
As an adjective
e.g. Sonam is repairing the broken window.
(‘broken’ describes the noun glass)
(non-finite verb-broken, finite verb-is repairing)

We found a hidden treasure.

(‘hidden’ describes what type of treasure it is)
(non-finite verb-hidden, finite verb-found)

He is a retired soldier.
(‘retired’ describes the soldier)
(non-finite verb-retired, finite verb-is)

As an adverb
Exhausted, he fell asleep.
(Verb-‘fell’-finite verb. Adverb-‘exhausted’ which tells why he fell asleep; non-finite verb)
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Frightened, she ran out of the house.

(Verb-‘ran’-finite verb. Adverb-‘frightened’ which tells why she ran out of the house; non-finite verb)

As an Adjective phrase
a) The leaves fallen on the ground were blown away by the wind.
(‘fallen on the ground’ is an adjectival phrase that describes which leaves we are taking about)
(non-finite verb-fallen, finite verb-were blown away)

b) The book written by Orwell is interesting.

(‘written by Orwell’ describes what kind of book it is)
(non-finite verb-written, finite verb-is)

c) The man, having lived in Bhutan for twenty years, speaks fluent Dzongkha.
(Adjective phrase ‘having lived in Bhutan’ reveals which type of man we are talking about)
(non-finite verb-lived, finite verb-speaks)

As an adverb phrase
Examples:
d) Built in 1978, this house still stands strong.
(‘built in 1978’ is an adverb phrase that describes the condition under which the house still ‘stands’)
(so, non-finite verb-built, finite verb-stands)

e) Having completed the work, she went to rest.

(‘having completed the work’ is an adverb phrase that shows the timing of the verb-when she ‘went’ to rest)
(so, non-finite verb-completed, finite verb-went)

f) He died after being bitten by a dangerous snake.

(‘after being bitten’ is an adverb phrase that shows the time that he ‘died’)
(so, non-finite verb-bitten, finite verb-died)

g) Written in a clear handwriting, the note looks beautiful.

(‘written in a clear handwriting’ is an adverb phrase that tells why it ‘looks’ beautiful)
(so, non-finite verb-written, finite verb-look)

h) Having lived in Bhutan for twenty years, he speaks Dzongkha fluently.

(‘having lived in Bhutan’ is an adverb phrase that shows why he ‘speaks’ Dzongkha fluently)
(so, non-finite verb-lived, finite verb-speaks)

i) He left the room being shocked by the news

(‘being shocked by the news’ is an adverb phrase that shows the reason he ‘left’ the room)
(so, non-finite verb-shocked, finite verb-left)

j) She entered the hall accompanied by her friends.

(‘accompanied by her friends’ is an adverb phrase that shows how she entered the room)
(so, non-finite verb-shocked, finite verb-left)
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***Summary (important for students)

General formula to identify a finite verb: General formula to identify a finite verb

1. Finite verb = [Verb 1 (s/es/ies)] 1. Non-finite verb = To + Verb 1

e.g. Sonam speaks English. e.g. To travel is my passion
He came to see me.

2.Finite verb=verb 2 2. Non-finite verb = ‘Ing’ form (without

e.g. He went home. auxiliary attached to it)
e.g. I love singing.
3. Finite verb = (auxiliary verb + Action verb Reading improves your speaking ability.
forms)
e.g. Sonam has spoken very nicely. (auxiliary=has, 3. Non-finite verb = Verb 3 form (without
action verb form=spoken) auxiliary attached to it)
e.g. Sonam is repairing the broken window.

ACTIVITY: Write examples for each kind of finite and non-finite verbs stated below:
Finite verb:
1. regular verb
2. irregular verb
3. Verb-tense forms: present perfect and future continuous
4. active voice: simple past
5. passive voice: simple past

Non-finite verb
1. To-infinitive
2. Gerund
3. Present participle as object complement
4. Past participle as an adjective