Saturday, August 13, 2011

FINITE VERB

finite verb
A form of the verb that is complete in itself and can be used alone as the verb phrase in a sentence. In the sentences that follow there is one finite verb, which is printed in bold type:
Then I examined the three main rooms.
Science tells us about the structural and relational properties of objects.
The finite form of the verb is either the simple past tense (as in the first example) or the simple present tense (as in the second example). The sentences that follow do not contain finite verbs; the verbs in bold type are non-finite:
Habit of appearing to stand on tiptoe, stretching the neck.
So kitsch, frozen in time.
If the verb phrase in a sentence consists of more than one verb word, then one of the verbs should be finite. In the sentences that follow, the verb phrase is printed in italics and the finite verb is in bold:
Magazine editors in 1955 were hit by the same problem.
The jazz scene must have sounded to Parker like a musical hall of mirrors.


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