2. Finite verb phrases
A finite verb phrase – a verb phrase in which the first
or only word is a finite verb, the rest of the verb
phrase (if any) consisting of nonfinite verbs.
3. Finite verb phrases
Characteristics of finite verb phrases:
(I) finite verb phrases can occur as the verb phrase of
independent clauses;
(II) finite verb phrases have tense contrast, i.e. the
distinction between present and past tenses:
(1) He is a journalist now.
(2) He worked as a travel agent last summer.
(III) there is person concord and number concord
between the subject of a clause and the finite verb phrase
(concord is agreement in person and number between the
subject of a clause and the verb phrase). Concord is
particularly clear with the present tense of be:
4. Finite verb phrases
(3) I am/You are/he, she, it is/we, they are here.
But with most full verbs overt concord is restricted to
a contrast between the 3rd person singular present and
other persons or plural number:
(4) He, she, Jim reads/I, we, you, they read the paper
every morning.
With modal auxiliaries there is no overt concord at
all:
(5) I/You/She/We/They can play the cello.
5. Finite verb phrases
(IV) Finite verb phrases have mood, which indicates
the factual, nonfactual, or counterfactual status of
the predication.
We distinguish between the ‘unmarked’ indicative
mood and the ‘marked’ moods imperative (used to
express commands and other directive speech acts)
and subjunctive (used to express a wish,
recommendation, etc.)
6. Finite verb phrases
A clause with a finite verb phrase is called a finite
clause, and the one with a nonfinite verb phrase a
nonfinite clause.
7. Nonfinite verb phrases
The nonfinite forms of the verb are: the infinitive
((to) call), the –ing participle (calling), and the –ed
participle (called). Hence any phrase in which one of
these verb forms is the first or only word
(disregarding the infinitive marker to) is a nonfinite
verb phrase.
Such phrases do not normally occur as the verb
phrase of an independent clause.
8. Nonfinite verb phrases
FINITE VERB PHRASES NONFINITE VERB PHRASES
He smokes. To smoke like that must be dangerous.
Mary is having a smoke. I regret having started to smoke.
He must smoke 40 a day. The cigars smoked here tend to be
expensive.
You’ve been smoking all day. That was the last cigarette to have been
smoked by me.
9. Simple and complex finite verb
phrases
The finite verb phrase is simple when (without ellipsis) it
consists of only one word. It is complex when it consists
of two or more words:
The auxiliaries follow a strict order in the complex verb
phrase:
(I) MODAL, followed by an infinitive: must go;
(II) PERFECT (the aux have), followed by an –ed participle:
has examined, must have examined;
(III) PROGRESSIVE (the aux be), followed by an –ing
participle: was talking, must have been talking;
(IV) PASSIVE (the aux be), followed by an –ed participle:
was visited, must have been being visited.
10. Contrasts expressed in the verb
phrase
The contrasts in which the verb phrase plays an
important part:
(I) Tense requires a choice between present and past
in the first or only verb in a finite verb phrase:
(6) She works hard. She worked hard.
11. Contrasts expressed in the verb
phrase
(II) Aspect requires a choice between the nonperfect
and the perfect and between the nonprogressive and
the progressive:
(7) He writes poems. (simple: nonperfect, nonprogressive)
(8) He has written poems. (perfect, nonprogressive)
(9) He is writing poems. (progressive, nonperfect)
(10) He has been writing poems. (perfect, progressive)
12. Contrasts expressed in the verb
phrase
(III) Mood requires a choice between the indicative,
imperative, and subjunctive:
(11) He listens/is listening to me. (indicative)
(12) Listen to me. (imperative)
(13) I demand that he listen to me. (subjunctive)
(IV) Finiteness requires a choice between the finite
and nonfinite:
(14) She plays tennis.
(15) Playing tennis is good for your health.
13. Contrasts expressed in the verb
phrase
(V) Voice involves a contrast between active and
passive:
(16) A doctor will examine the applicants.
(17) The applicants will be examined by a doctor.
(VI) Questions generally involve subject-operator
inversion:
(18) I should pay for you. ~ Should I pay for you?
(19) The students objected. ~ Did the students object?
14. Contrasts expressed in the verb
phrase
(VII) Negation makes use of operators:
(20) I should pay for you. ~ I shouldn’t pay for you.
(21) The students objected. ~ The students didn’t
object.
(VIII) Emphasis is frequently carried by an operator:
(22) I SHOULD pay.
(23) The students DID object.
15. Verbal categories: time and tense
In abstraction from any given language, we can think
of time as a line on which is located, as a continuously
moving point, the present moment. Anything ahead
of the present moment is in the future, and anything
behind it is in the past.
16. Verbal categories: time and tense
When we talk about time and temporal meaning, we have
to take into consideration the position of the speaker in
time, time orientation, and time reference.
POSITION OF THE SPEAKER IN TIME - Every human
being is embedded into the flow of time in such a way that
the actual point of speaking is always experienced as
present, although it is continually moving with the flow of
time. Every utterance is made from a point which can be
described as NOW in time, HERE in place and FIRST
SINGULAR in person. This HERE-NOW-I position is the
invariant basis of every utterance:
Flow of time → speaker’s position → flow of time
HERE-NOW-I
17. Verbal categories: time and tense
TIME ORIENTATION- From this invariant HERE-
NOW-I basis, speakers can direct their orientation
towards the present, the past or the future, or towards
states or events which have the status of general
truths and cannot be assigned to any specific period
of time (timelessness)
Present time orientation – used for a state or event
where speaker and hearer or reader and writer share
the experience of simultaneousness in time. Present
time orientation is often found in conversations or in
reports about actual events.
18. Verbal categories: time and tense
Present time orientation can be further differentiated
into actual and extended present:
(a) actual present – is used for a state or event which
applies to the moment of speaking or writing;
(b) extended present – is used for a state or event
which applies to the moment of speaking or writing,
and is assumed to persist as long as present
conditions prevail (e.g. the brewery owns more than
500 pubs in the north-west)
19. Verbal categories: time and tense
Past time orientation – is used for a state or event which
is prior to the moment of speaking or writing, very often
found in novels and narratives.
Future time orientation – is used for a state or event
which is expected to become true at a time which follows
the moment of speaking or writing, often found in
predictions or suppositions or in the expression of plans,
intentions, possibilities or apprehensions.
Timelessness – is used for a state or event which is not
restricted to any particular period of time, often found in
rules which apply to all times or in the expression of
general truths (e.g. remember that children learn by
example)
20. Verbal categories: time and tense
TIME REFERENCE – speakers can direct their
orientation towards the present, the past, the future.
From this orientation they can again refer to a state or
event which occurs simultaneously, which precedes
their temporal orientation, or which follows their
temporal orientation.
The speaker can also refer to a state which can be
described as a general rule and which has no temporal
relation with the speaker’s time orientation
(timelessness).
21. Verbal categories: time and tense
Referencing can be made from any type of time
orientation. To exemplify this, we choose referencing from
past time orientation. There are four types of
referencing: preceding, simultaneous, following,
neutral:
(24) Lee, I noticed, had asked for Coca-Cola. (time
orientation: past, reference: preceding)
(25) but what he saw was an ageing hesitant Australian
woman. (time orientation: past, reference: simultaneous)
(26) for a moment Andrea thought she was going to burst
into tears (time orientation: past, reference: following)
(27) he won because he’s forty years younger than you
(time orientation: past, reference: neutral)
22. Verbal categories: time and tense
TENSE (glagolsko vrijeme) – is a grammatical
category that is realized by verb inflection. Since
English has no future inflected form of the verb, the
threefold semantic opposition is reduced to two
tenses: the PRESENT TENSE and the PAST TENSE,
which typically, but not necessarily, refer to present
and past time respectively.
Future meaning is conveyed by various means,
including the modal verb will, semi-aux be going to,
and the present tense.
23. Verbal categories: aspect
ASPECT (vid) – a grammatical category that reflects the
way in which the meaning of a verb is viewed with respect
to time. It expresses action or state as being in progress,
or as being completed. We recognize two aspects in
English, the PERFECT and the PROGRESSIVE, which may
combine in a complex verb phrase, and are marked for
present or past tense:
PRESENT PERFECT – has examined
PAST PERFECT – had examined
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE – is examining
PAST PROGRESSIVE – was examining
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE – has been examining
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE – had been examining
24. Verbal categories: aspect
Progressive aspect – focuses on the situation as
being in progress at a particular time. In consequence,
it may imply that the situation has limited duration,
and that it is not necessarily complete.
Progressive aspect can also be expressed by verbs like
keep, or continue (e.g. She keeps singing; They
continued to laugh at him.)
26. Verbal categories: aspect
Aspect in Slavic languages – nesvršeni glagoli
(bacati, dolaziti, donositi, spavati, vikati, etc.); svršeni
glagoli (baciti, doći, donijeti, naspavati se, viknuti,
etc.).
27. Verbal categories: mood
MOOD (način, modus) – a grammatical category
associated with the semantic dimension. Mood refers
to the special form of a verb showing whether the act
or state it expresses is thought of as a fact, condition,
command, or wish.
Three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and
subjunctive.
The imperative mood is used to express commands,
requests, instructions, suggestions, etc. (e.g. bring me
some coffee, please.)
28. Verbal categories: mood
The subjunctive mood – 2 forms of the subjunctive:
present and past subjunctive.
The present subjunctive is expressed by the base form of
the verb. For the verb be, the subjunctive form be is
distinct from the indicative forms am, is, are.
For other verbs, the subjunctive is distinctive only in the
3rd person singular:
(28) I insist that we reconsider the Council’s decisions.
(indicative or subjunctive)
(29) I insist that the Council reconsider its decisions.
(subjunctive)
(30) I insist that the Council’s decision(s) be reconsidered.
(subjunctive)
29. Verbal categories: mood
The past subjunctive (or were-subjunctive) survives only
in were as a past form of be. It is distinguishable from the
past indicative of be only in the 1st and 3rd person singular:
(31) If she was leaving, you would have heard about it.
(indicative)
(32) If she were leaving, you would have heard about it.
(subjunctive)
The indicative was is more common in less formal style.
Negation of the present subjunctive does not require an
operator:
(33) I insist that we not reconsider the Council’s decisions.
30. Verbal categories: mood
Uses of the subjunctive:
(I) the MANDATIVE SUBJUNCTIVE is used in a that-
clause after an expression of such notions as demand,
recommendation, proposal, intention (e.g. We insist,
prefer, request; It is necessary, desirable, imperative;
the decision, requirement, resolution). (NOTE: the
example that illustrates this use is on the previous
slide, with the verb insist)
This use is more characteristic of AmE than BrE, but
seems to be increasing in BrE. In BrE the alternatives are
putative should and indicative.
31. Verbal categories: mood
(II) the FORMULAIC ( or OPTATIVE) SUBJUNCTIVE
is used in certain set expressions:
God save the Queen
Long live the king
Come what may,…
Heaven forbid that…
Be that as it may,…
Suffice it to say that…
32. Verbal categories: mood
The past subjunctive is hypothetical in meaning. It is
used in conditional and concessive clauses and in
subordinate clauses after wish and suppose:
(34) If I were a rich man, I would…
(35) I wish the journey were over.
(36) Just suppose everyone were to act like you.
33. Verbal categories: voice
VOICE (stanje) – a grammatical category that
expresses the relationship between the subject of a
clause and the event. The difference between active
and passive applies only to sentences where the verb
is transitive.
In B/C/S the terms used for active and passive are
radno stanje (aktiv) i trpno stanje (pasiv).
