3 Things to Know About Finite and Nonfinite Verb Phrases

1) Finite verb phrases show contrast in the meaning expressed by the verb. For example, they show contrast in:

a) Tense - He plays football. / He played football.

b) Number and Person - He plays. / They play. / I am. / You are.

c) Allow the expression of facts, possibilities, wishes, and other contrasts of mood - He asked the car to be moved. / It was moved.

2) If there is a series of verbs in the verb phrase, the finite verb is always the first. For example:
I was being paid. / They have been asked.

3) Nonfinite forms do not express contrasts of tense, number, person, or mood. They stay the same in clause regardless of any grammatical variation which may be taking place alongside them. There are three nonfinite forms in the verb:

a) The -ing participle - I'm going. / They're going. / He was going. / Going home, I/we/they felt concerned.

b) The -ed participle - I've asked. / He was asked. / They were asked. / Asked to come early, I/you/we arrived at 3.

c) The base form used as an infinitive - They might see. / I'll see. / He wants to see.

5 Things to Know About Irregular Verbs

1) There are less that 300 irregular verbs.

2) Most irregular verbs change the vowel of the base to make their past or -ed participle forms. This is called vowel gradation. For example:

meet-met / take-took / speak-spoken

3) The -ed ending is never used in a regular way with an irregular verb. It is often not used at all - won, met, cut, sat - An important pattern with some verbs is the use of a variant form, in which the 'd' sound of the ending changes to a 't'. For example:

burned - burnt / spilled - spilt / kneeled - knelt.

4) Burned is more common in American English than British English. The 'd' and 't' forms do not convey the same thing. The 'd' form emphasises the duration of an action - it burned for weeks. Whereas the 't' form would be more appropriately used when saying - ow, that burnt me.

5) There are seven classes of irregular verb:

a) There are about 20 verbs whose only irregular feature is the ending used for both past and -ed participle forms: have - had / send - sent / burn - burnt - burned.

b) There are about 10 verbs whose past tense is regular, but their -ed participle has an -n ending and a variant form in -ed: mow - mown - mowed / swell - swollen - swelled.

c) There are about 40 verbs that have the same ending for both the past and -ed participle forms, but they are irregular because the vowel of the base form changes: keep - kept / sleep - slept / teach - taught / sell - sold.

d) There are about 75 verbs that have an -n ending for the -ed participle form and an irregular past form. The vowel of the base also changes: blow - blew - blown / take - took - taken / see - saw - seen / undo - undid - undone.

e) There are about 40 verbs that have the same form throughout: cut / let / shut / broadcast / outbid.

f) There are about 70 verbs that have no ending for both past tense and the -ed participle. The vowel used in the base changes: spin - spun / mislead - misled / sit - sat / stand - stood.

g) There are about 25 verbs that have no ending, the past and -ed participle forms are different, and the vowels change with each form: swim - swam - swum / begin - began - begun / go - went - gone.

3 Things to Know About Verb Phrase Structure

1) The verb element in a sentence comprises of one or more words that make up the verb phrase. For example:

I SAW a cat. 

I HAVEN'T SEEN anything. 

DID I SEE that? 

I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SEEING her.

2) The verb phrase consists of at least one main verb and can have up to four auxiliary verbs. For example:

a) kiss.

b) is kissing.

c) has been kissing.

d) must have been kissing.

e) must have been being kissed. (This is rare).

3) Three types of verb can occur with the verb phrase.

a) Full - Or lexical - These have a clearly statable meaning and act as main verbs:

run, jump, go, look, want, think, find.

b) Modal auxiliary - These express a range of judgments about the events and can only be used as auxiliary verbs:

will, shall, may, might, can, could.

c) Primary - These can be either main or auxiliary verbs and there are three of them - BE, HAVE, DO. For example:

Main use: 

They ARE happy. 

She HAS a dog. 

They DO sums.

Auxiliary use:

They ARE going.

She HAS seen it.

DO they go?

There are certain other verbs that do not fall clearly into these types.