1. Non - Finites
A nonfinite verb is any of several verb forms that are not finite verbs; that is, they cannot serve as the root of an independent clause. The nonfinite verb forms found in English are infinitives, participles and gerunds.
Since English lacks inflectional morphology* to a large extent, the finite and nonfinite forms of a given verb are often identical. In such cases, one has to examine the environment in which the verb appears to be finite or nonfinite.
* Inflectional morphology - Is used to indicate number and case and tense and person etc
By – Shubh Pahwa
X-B Roll No. - 6

2. Three point check for non-finite verbs
Remember, to find a non-finite verb, check: Is it a noun?
(Does it end -ing?. See gerunds.) Is it an infinitive?
(Is it preceded by to. See infinitive verbs.) Is it a participle?
(Does it end -ed or -ing and is it being used like an adjective? See participles.)
*Click on hyperlinks to know more about them.

3. Examples – Non Finite Verbs
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.
In the above sentences, been, examined and done are past participles, want, have, refuse and accept are infinitives, and coming, running and trying are present participles

4. Types of Nonfinite Verbs
The nonfinite verbs found in English are mainly of three types :-
INFINITIVES
GERUNDS
PARTICIPLES
*CLICK ON THESE THREE TYPES TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM

5. INFINITIVES
The infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its basic form. It is the version of the verb which will appear in the dictionary.
The infinitive form of a verb is usually preceded by to (e.g., to run, to dance, to think). The infinitive form is not always preceded by to. Look at these examples:
I need to run every day.(The infinitive form with the word to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.)
I must run every day.(After certain verbs, the to is dropped.)
I run every day.(This is not in the infinitive form. This is a finite verb, i.e., a verb functioning as the main verb.)

6. GERUNDS
A gerund is a noun formed from a verb. All gerunds end -ing. For example:
Swimming
Running
Drinking
Even though a gerund is a noun, a gerund can still take a direct object (like a verb). This is known as a gerund complement. For example:
Swimming the lake
Running a mile
Drinking a beer

7. PARTICIPLES
A participle is a word formed from a verb which can be used as an adjective.
The two types of participles are the present participle (ending ing) and the past participle (usually ending -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n).
Here are some participles being used as adjectives:

8. EXERCISES