1. FINITE AND NON-FINITE VERBS
Only 3 kinds of verbs – lexical (main) verbs
Auxiliary verbs – that make up verb chain
Modal verbs

2. Definition
A finite verb is limited (‘finite’) in terms of both its tense and its subject. Finite verbs are important because a written sentence normally needs at least one clause that contains a finite verb, and a finite verb must have an explicit subject. from the Grammar Annex Glossary Let’s think this through!
Finite = the whodunnit verb – tells you who did it, how many did it, when it happened
I dance – we danced

3. Finite Verbs Finite = complete; (de)finite; finished.
The ‘who dunnit’ verb: it gives you all the information about who and when and how many.
Who did it? The noun or pronoun subject
When they did it? Present or past tense
How many did it? Singular or Plural

4. Finite Verbs PRESENT TENSE Singular Plural First person I dance
we dance
Second person
you dance
Third person
he/she/it dances
they dance
Now you try to do this (conjugate) for the present tense of ‘walk’
Can you tell who did it, when and how many?
Now conjugate the past tense of ‘dance’
These changes to the verb to show person, tense and number are inflections: finite verbs inflect to indicate changes.

5. Finite Verbs: Practice
In thirty-five feet of water, the great fish swam slowly, its tail waving just enough to maintain motion. It saw nothing, for the water was murky with motes of vegetation. The fish had been moving parallel to the shoreline. Now it turned, banking slightly, and followed the bottom gradually upward. The fish perceived more light in the water, but still it saw nothing.
from Jaws by Peter Benchley
Underline every verb in the passage.
Swam
Waving
Maintain
Saw
Was
Had been movingturned
Banking
Followed
Perceived
saw

6. Finite Verbs: Practice
In thirty-five feet of water, the great fish swam slowly, its tail waving just enough to maintain motion. It saw nothing, for the water was murky with motes of vegetation. The fish had been moving parallel to the shoreline. Now it turned, banking slightly, and followed the bottom gradually upward. The fish perceived more light in the water, but still it saw nothing.
Now read the passage to a partner, but change it to the present tense. Every time that changing to the present tense doesn’t involve changing the verb, make a note of the unchanged verb.
If it’s a single word – must be a lexical verb
When more than one – is each one a lexical verb or is it a verb string with auxiliary verbs e.g. Had been moving
Waving, moving, banking – these are the ones that can’t change – non-finite verbs – these aren’t present tense

7. Finite Verbs: Practice
In thirty-five feet of water, the great fish swims slowly, its tail waving just enough to maintain motion. It sees nothing, for the water is murky with motes of vegetation. The fish has been moving parallel to the shoreline. Now it turns, banking slightly, and follows the bottom gradually upward. The fish perceives more light in the water, but still it sees nothing.
All the verbs that changed to indicate the change to past tense are finite verbs;
All the verbs that have stayed the same are non-finite verbs.

8. Finite Verbs: some easy tips
Modal verbs are always finite (could; should; would; may; might; must etc)
The first verb in a verb phrase/string is always finite; the rest are always non-finite
eg They should have been walking together.
am; is; are; was; were are always finite
has; had are always finite
Our trick of changing tense to see if the verb changes to test if it is finite works most of the time but is not 100% foolproof! (eg put)

9. Non-Finite Verbs
Non-finite = unfinished; indefinite; incomplete; unlimited.
They do not give you the information to tell you who, when, and how many.
They do not change if the tense of a passage is changed.
Because of this, they are very flexible in sentences and can be used in a variety of ways.

10. Non-Finite Verbs: Participles
Non-finite verbs come in three forms:
the infinitive – to dance; dance
the present participle - dancing
the past participle - danced
The infinitive and present participle are usually easy; there is more to think about with the past participle: more later!

11. Non-Finite Verbs: Participles
Non-finite verbs occur frequently in verb phrases/strings:
I want to dance
I am dancing
We had danced
They are dancing
You should have danced
Notice that there is a finite verb before all these participles, which does change to show person, tense and number.
Can you change each of the finite verbs to communicate a different tense?

12. Finite Recap
Non-finite verbs occur frequently in verb phrases/strings:
I want to dance
I am dancing
We had danced
They were dancing
You have danced
I wanted to dance
I was dancing
We have danced
They are dancing
You had danced
One of these I’ve made a mistake
Notice that there is a finite verb before all these participles, which does change to show person, tense and number.
Can you change each of the finite verbs to communicate a different tense?

13. Past Participles and Past Tense
This is one aspect of non-finite verbs that does cause confusion, because the past tense and past participle often look exactly the same.
Remember, non-finite verbs don’t change to show a change in tense, person or number.
I danced
I could have danced
Can you explain to each other, grammatically, why one of these is a finite verb past tense and the other is a non-finite past participle?

14. …its tail waving just enough to maintain motion.
Non-finite Clauses
These are extremely common in English.
They are clauses which do not have a finite verb;
They are clauses which often begin with a non-finite verb;
Now it turns, banking slightly, and follows the bottom gradually upward.
non-finite clause
finite verb
finite verb
Clause – anything that has a verb in it
Last example has two non-finite clauses
They are very common as post-modifiers of nouns in noun phrases
…its tail waving just enough to maintain motion.
non-finite clause
non-finite clause

15. Non-Finite Clauses
Up out of the lake came a shining sword, a hand holding it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve.
‘There,’ Merlin whispered. ‘That is Excalibur. It comes from the half-world of Avalon, the blade forged by elf-kind, the scabbard woven by the Lady Nemue herself, the Lady of the Lake, and my lady too.’
Came
Holding a hand holding it
Comes
Forged the blade forged by elf-kind
Woven the scabbard woven by the Lady Nemue
Where are the non-finite clauses in this extract?

16. Non-Finite Clauses
Up out of the lake came a shining sword, a hand holding it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve.
‘There,’ Merlin whispered. ‘That is Excalibur. It comes from the half-world of Avalon, the blade forged by elf-kind, the scabbard woven by the Lady Nemue herself, the Lady of the Lake, and my lady too.’

17. Non-Finite Clauses
Because a non-finite verb is incomplete, you can always rewrite a non-finite clause as a finite clause. This also shows how economic and useful the non-finite clause is when compared with the more laboured finite version.
Up out of the lake came a shining sword, a hand was holding it, and an arm in a white silk sleeve.
‘There,’ Merlin whispered. ‘That is Excalibur. It comes from the half-world of Avalon, the blade was forged by elf-kind, the scabbard was woven by the Lady Nemue herself, the Lady of the Lake, and my lady too.’

18. Teaching Implications
Although it is always useful for children to understand the full grammatical terminology, it is more important that the grammar learned has a purpose and that they do not get tangled up in the terminology.
Teach non-finite verbs by focusing on the infinitive, present participles and past participles.
Show examples of non-finite clauses linked to a clear purpose (such as character description or plot explanation in our Merlin scheme).
Help them to see how non-finite clauses can be expanded to create a finite clause (which may be clumsy)