Use of Non-Finites - Part - 9

Past Participle: The participle that indicates the completion of a work is called past participle. It is written by using the ‘3rd form of verb’.

Use:-
1. He is a retired army officer. (Adjective)
2. A drunken man should not drive. (Adjective)
3. A married woman was buying vegetables from a shop. (Adjective)
4. I was worried about you. (Subject complement)
5. He got selected. (Subject complement)
6. He left me stunned. (Object complement)
7. I found it placed inside the drawer. (Object complement)

Perfect participle: The participle that indicates the beginning of second work after the completion of the first is called perfect participle. It is used to combine sentences. It is written as ‘having + 3rd form of verb’. For example: having said, having completed etc.

Use:-
1. I finished my work. I went home.
Having finished my work I went home.

2. He took his bag. He went to school.
Having taken his bag he went to school.

Lessons for non-finites are complete. Read all the lessons part by part and take practice exercises to attain expertise in the use of non-finites...

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 8

3. THE PARTCIPLE

Participle: A participle acts as an adjective in a sentence and is made with a verb. A participle is also called 'verbal adjective'.

A participle has three forms:-

1. Present Participle
2. Past participle
3. Perfect participle

Present Participle: A participle that indicates the continuation of a work is called present participle. An 'ing' is used with the 'first form of verb'. It has many uses:-

As an adjective:-
a. Children like running train.
b. All the leaking taps should be repaired.
c. Smiling children are very attractive.

As a subject complement:-
a. This movie is boring.
b. All the books in the library were interesting.
c. The fighters started gossiping.

As an object complement:-
a. I saw them playing in the ground.
b. He left the people wondering.
c. We saw the couple dancing.

To combine sentences:-
a. I saw an old friend at the beach. I spoke to him.
Seeing an old friend at the beach, I spoke to him.

b. My husband bought flowers. He gave them to me.
Buying flowers, my husband gave them to me.

c. I saw that movie. I decided to watch it again.
Seeing that movie, I decided to watch it again.

In the next part you will learn past and perfect participles…

Uses of Gerund : Non-finites part 7

(a)    As a Subject:

1. Laughing is good for health.
2. Eating is necessary for life.

(b)   As an Object:

1. He hates drinking.
2. Stop running.

(c)    As the object of a Preposition:

1. Was she tired of sitting?
2. She is very good in cooking.

(d)   As complement of a Verb:

1. My hobby is planting trees.
2. TV to him is wasting time.

(e)    As case in apposition to the Pronoun ‘It’

1. It is no use repenting on your mistake.
2. It is no use spending money on shares.

(f)     Use of  Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives with Gerunds, as

1. She objects to your wasting time with friends.
2. She insisted on his wasting the money.

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 6

2. THE GERUND

See the following sentences:-

1. Smoking is harmful.
2. Teaching is very difficult.
3. He hates drinking.

Smoking, teaching and drinking are the gerunds in these sentences.

Let us analyze these sentences:-

In the Ist and IInd sentence, smoking and teaching are used as subjects and in the IIIrd sentence drinking is used as object. Therefore, these are acting as nouns.

The gerund acts as a noun in a sentence and an 'ing' is placed with the Ist form of verb that is, as a 'verb + ing'. For example: working playing, bathing, running etc.

In the next part you will learn uses of the gerund...

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 5

Some More Uses of Infinitive:-

Along with ‘too’ and ‘enough’:-

a. He is too fat to run.
b. He is fast enough to win.
c. Patient is too weak to walk.

To combine two sentences:-

a. He is vey nice. He cannot do bad works.
    He is too nice to do bad works.
b. You are very short. You cannot walk the ramp.
    You are too short to walk the ramp.

To remove the relative clause:-

a. He is no one who can comment on me.
    He is no one to comment on me.
b. I know a person who can teach you.
    I know a person to teach you.

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 4

The Infinitive without ‘to’:- Though the infinitive is usually recognized by a ‘to’ before the verb (to + verb) yet there are certain conditions under which the infinitive is used without the use of ‘to’. See the following to find out:-

After verbs like: Hear, see, bid, feel, make, behold, observe, watch, let, please, help need etc.

a. She saw me bath.
b. I bade him leave.
c. She felt his touch.
d. He watched her cook.

After a Modal:-

a. You need not go out.
b. He dare not misbehave with me.
c. You should listen to your parents.

After the conjunction ‘but’ when it means ‘except’:-

a. She was so much in pain that she could do nothing but cry.
b. He did nothing but sleep.
c. Under the weekend, I would do nothing but relax.

In next part you will learn more about infinitive....

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 3

Gerundial Infinitive : The infinitives that are used as an adjective or an adverb are called 'gerundial infinitives'. A gerundial infinitive has many uses:-


To modify a Verb:-
a. He decided to work there. (Purpose)
b. He went to the place to save him. (Purpose)
c. We eat to live. (Cause)

In these sentences infinitive is representing a 'purpose or cause'. Therefore, it modifies a verb here.


To qualify an Adjective:-
a. It is good to go for a walk daily.
b. She is quick to learn things.
c. He is hard to cope with.

In these sentences infinitive is representing the feature of an adjective. Therefore, it qualifies adjectives like good, quick and hard.


To qualify a Sentence:-
a. To go there, I need some money.
b. To go for a walk, we should get up early in the morning.
c. To get a job, he had to go through many interviews.

In these sentences infinitive is featuring the sentences like 'I need some money, we should get up early in the morning and he had to go through many interviews'. And it is used as isolated from the main sentence that is, it is not related to the main sentence.


In the next part you will learn the use of infinitives without 'To'.

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 2

Types of Infinitives

Infinitives are of two types:-
Simple infinitive
Gerundial infinitive

Simple Infinitive : Infinitives that are used as a noun in a sentence are called 'simple infinitives or noun infinitives'. A simple infinitive has many uses in a sentence:-

As a subject of Verb:-
a. To quarrel is inhuman.
b. To read is a good habit.
c. To drink is a bad habit.

As an object of Verb:-
a. Children like to play.
b. Gisele loves to dance.
c. The coward fear to die.

As an object of Preposition:-
a. I was about to move.
b. She was about to start.
c. He woke up early to go to church.

After superlatives and situation of adjectives:-
a. David Beckham is the greatest player to see in football.
b. He is the only boy to reach here on time
c. Who was the first man to go on moon?

Case in apposition to noun or pronoun:-
a. It is my hobby to play football.
b. It is easy to win this game.
c. It is good to be with you.

In next part you will learn Gerundial Infinitive…

Use of Non-Finites - Part - 1

Non-Finites:- Non-Finites are a kind of verb that do not completely act as a verb. Non-Finites have no subject, no modals and no tense. They have no effect of number of subject or person.

Non-Finites are of three types:-

1. The Infinitive
2. The Gerund
3. The Participle

1. THE INFINITIVE

The infinitive acts as a noun, as an adjective or as an adverb in a sentence. It is written by adding a ‘to’ with the Ist form of Verb. For example: to + verb (to learn, to teach, to work etc.). Here are some sentences to give you a better idea of infinitive:-

1. To dance is a good hobby.
2. It is time to take exercise.
3. He fights to win.

Let us analyze these sentences:-

1. In the first sentence, to dance is the subject of sentence. Therefore, here it is acting as a noun.
2. In the second sentence, to take is used after the noun ‘time’ ands adds to its meaning. Therefore, here it is acting as an adjective.
3. In the third sentence, to win is used after the verb ‘fight’ and adds modification. Therefore, here it is acting as an adverb.

In the next part you will learn different types of the infinitive...