NON-FINITE FORMS OF THE VERB

The verb has finite and non-finite forms which are also called verbals. Unlike the finite forms of
the verb the verbals do not express person, number or mood. Therefore they cannot be used as the
predicate of the sentence.
Like the finite forms of the verb the verbals have tense and voice distinctions. But their tense
distinctions differ greatly from those of the finite verb.
There are three verbals in English: the participle, the gerund and the infinitive.
The characteristic traits of the verbals are as follows:
1) They have double nature, nominal and verbal. The Participle combines the characteristics of a
verb with those of an adjective; the gerund and the infinitive combine the characteristics of a verb with
those of a noun.
2) The tense distinctions of the verbals are not absolute, but relative; the form of the verbal does
not show whether the action it denotes refers to the present, past or future; it shows only whether the
action expressed by the verbal is simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb or prior to it.
3) All the verbals can form predicative constructions, i. e. constructions consisting of two
elements, a nominal (noun or pronoun) and a verbal (participle, gerund or infinitive); the verbal element
stands in predicate relation to the nominal element, i. e, in a relation similar to that between the subject
and the predicate of the sentence. In most cases predicative constructions form syntactic units, serving as
one part of the sentence.
e. g. I saw him crossing the street.

THE INFINITIVE

The Infinitive is a non-finite form of the verb which names a process or an action in a most
general way. It is historically a noun. The Infinitive has double nature, i. e. it has nominal and verbal
features.
1. The nominal character of the Infinitive is manifested in its syntactic functions. The infinitive
can be used as:
a) the subject of a sentence
e. g. To go on like this was dangerous.
b) as a predicative
e. g. My desire is to help you.
c) as an object
e. g. I don’t want to be questioned.
2. The verbal characteristics of the Infinitive are as follows:
a) the infinitive of transitive verbs can take a direct object
e. g. He began to feel some curiosity.
b) the infinitive can be modified by an adverb
e. g. I cannot write so quickly.
c) the infinitive has tense and aspect distinctions; the infinitive of transitive verbs has also
voice distinction
Active Passive
Indefinite/Simple To translate To be translated
To go -
Continuous To be translating -
To be going -
Perfect To have translated To have been translated
To have gone -
Perfect Continuous To have been translating -
To have been going -

Like the tense distinctions of all verbals those of the infinitive are not absolute, but relative.
The indefinite infinitive expresses an action simultaneous with that expressed by the finite verb,
so it may refer to the present, past or future:
e. g. I am/was/will be glad to see you.
e. g. He is said to write books.
 The continuous infinitive also denotes an action simultaneous with that expressed by the finite
verb, but it is an action in progress:
e. g. He is said to be writing a new book.
The perfect infinitive expresses an action which is prior to that expressed by the finite verb:
e.g. He is said to have written three books last year.
The perfect continuous infinitive denotes an action which lasted a certain time before the action
of the finite verb:
e.g. He is said to have been writing this book for two years.
The active infinitive denotes an action directed from the subject to the object while the passive
infinitive denotes an action directed to the subject:
e. g. She wanted to love and to be loved.
NOTE. Both active and passive infinitives can be used with the similar passive meaning. The
active infinitive is found when we think more about the person who has to do the action than about the
action itself:
e. g. There are 6 letters to write/to be written.
e. g. Give me the names of people to attend/to be attended.

THE USE OF THE INFINITIVE WITHOUT THE PARTICLE TO

In modern English the infinitive is mainly used with the particle to. Still, there are cases when the
infinitive is used without the particle to. They are as follows:
1) After auxiliary verbs:
e. g. I shall come in time.
2) After modal verbs (except have to, be to, ought to):
e. g. You may take any of my books.
3) After verbs of sense perception (hear, see, feel, watch, observe, notice):
e. g. I heard him say something.
NOTE 1. The verb to be after feel is used with the particle to:
e. g. I felt it to be true.
4) After the verb to let:
e. g. Let us discuss it.
5) After the verbs to make, to have in the meaning заставлять in positive statements and the
verb to have in the meaning не позволять, не допускать in negative sentences:
e. g. He made me do this work.
e. g. I won’t have you come to this house.
6) After the verb know when it means see, observe (usually in the Present Perfect):
e. g. I have never known her speak so frankly.
NOTE 2. After the verbs to hear, to see, to make, to let, to know in the passive voice the to-
infinitive is used:
e. g. He was heard to mention my name.
e. g. The boy was made to leave the room.
e. g. He was never known to deceive anybody.
7) After the expressions had better, would rather, would sooner, cannot but (не могу не),
nothing but, cannot choose but:
e. g. You had better read another story,
e. g. I cannot but do it so.
8) In special questions beginning with why:
e. g. Why not go to the cinema?
9) The verb help may be followed both by a to-infinitive and by a bare infinitive:
e. g. He helped me carry/to carry my bag.
10) If two infinitives are joined by and or or, the to of the second infinitive can be omitted:
e. g. I want to call Mr Jones and fax or post him a letter.
The particle to is often used without the infinitive if the meaning of the infinitive is easily
understood from the context:
e. g. I don’t ask such questions even if I want to.
The particle to may be separated from the infinitive by an adverb (split-infinitive):
e. g. However he was unable to long keep silence.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE INFINITIVE IN THE SENTENCE

The infinitive can be used in different syntactic functions:

1.The infinitive as a subject. In this function it may precede or follow the predicate. In the latter
case it is introduced by the introductory it:
e. g. To speak with her was a real pleasure.
It was a real pleasure to speak with her.
2. The infinitive as a predicative (usually after the link verb to be):
e. g. My habit is to get up early.
To see her is to admire her.
What we want to do is to help our friends.
The question was difficult to answer.
3. The infinitive as a part of compound verbal predicate:
a) with modal verbs, modal expressions:
e. g. The train was to leave at midnight.
b) with phasal verbs (verbs denoting the beginning, duration, repetition or end of the action, such
as to begin, to start, to cease, to continue, used to, would, etc.):
e. g. They gradually ceased to talk.
c) in Subjective Infinitive Construction;
e. g. He seems to have proposed to Mary.
4. The infinitive as an object:
a) after the verbs to advise, to allow, to ask, to compel, to order, to persuade, to recommend, to
tell, to teach, to promise, to want:
e. g. He promised to come in time.
b) after some adjectives and statives (anxious, glad, happy, proud, amused, horrified, surprised,
pleased):
e. g. I’m ready to help him.
c) after the verbs to find, to consider, to believe, to think. In this case the infinitive is preceded by
the introductory object it:
e. g. I find it impossible to leave the spot.
5. The infinitive as a part of complex object:
e. g. I never saw you act this way before.
6. The infinitive as an attribute can modify:
a) both abstract and concrete nouns:
e. g. I have no desire to go there.
b) the noun-substitute “one”:
e. g. He is the one to be trusted.
c) pronouns ending in –body, -thing, -one:
e. g. She is someone to admire.
d) ordinal numerals:
e. g. He is always the first to come.
e) such adjectives as next, last, much, little, little more, enough:
e. g. I’ve got no more to add.
7. The infinitive as adverbial modifier:
a) of purpose (often with in order to, so as not to):
e. g. I stopped for a minute in order to rest.
I went to London to learn English.
b) of result (chiefly occurs after enough and too, so+adj.+ as, such+noun+as):
e. g. He didn’t run fast enough to catch the train.
He is so kind as to help me.
She is not such a fool as to think you innocent.
c) of attendant circumstances:
e. g. She rushed home to find a thief exploring the house (= She rushed home and found a
thief exploring the house).
d) of condition:
e. g. To look at his pictures you would have thought that Monet (= If you had looked…)
 she would be unhappy to marry for money (= If she married for money…).
e) of time:
e. g. She was surprised to learn how much he’d spent (= when she learnt).
f) of exception (after prepositions but or except):
e. g. She does nothing but grumble.
g) of comparison (with conjunctions as if, as though):
e. g. Her lips moved as if to warn me.
8. parenthesis:
To begin with, to be more precise, to be sure, to crown it all, to cut a long story short, to put it
mildly, to say the least, to say nothing of, to sum it up, to tell the truth:
e. g. To tell the truth, I don’t really like her.

THE OBJECTIVE WITH THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION

The construction consists of:

1) a nominal element (a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case
2) an infinitive which is in predicate relation to a nominal element

The Objective with the Infinitive

Construction
Noun in the common
case
Subject Predicate Infinitive
Pronoun in the
objective case
We want John to come
her son to visit us
him to study well

The whole construction forms a complex object and is translated into Russian by an object clause.
The objective with the infinitive construction is used in the following cases:
1. after verbs of sense perception (to see, to hear, to listen to, to feel, to watch, to observe, to
notice). In this case the only possible form of the infinitive is active indefinite infinitive without the
particle to:
e. g. I saw the man break the window.
I heard the dog bark.
If a process is expressed, participle I is used:
e. g. I saw the man breaking the window.
She watched them completing the work.
If the meaning is passive, participle II is used:
e. g. I saw the window broken.
She watched the work completed.
NOTE 1. If the verb to see is used with the meaning to realize or the verb to hear with the
meaning to learn, the objective with the infinitive construction cannot be used. Here only subordinate
object clause is possible:
e. g. I saw that he didn’t understand me (= я понял…).
I hear that he lives in Moscow again (= я узнал…).
NOTE 2. After the verbs to see, to notice when they denote sense perception the infinitive of the
verb to be is not used. Instead a subordinate clause is used:
e. g. I noticed that he was unwell.
I saw that he was ill.
2. after verbs of mental activity (to think, to believe, to consider, to expect, to understand, to
suppose, to find, etc.):
e. g. I know him to be an honest man.
I believed her to be watching TV in the next room.
3. after verbs of feeling and emotion (to like, to love, to hate, to dislike, cannot bear, etc.):
 e. g. She hated him to speak like that.
I cannot bear him to be separated from me.
4. after verbs of wish and intention (to want, to wish, to desire, to mean, to intend, etc):
e. g. I didn’t mean you to come so early.
I wanted the fax to be sent today.
5. after verbs of declaring (to declare, to report, to pronounce):
e. g. They reported the plane to have landed.
6. after verbs of inducement (to force, to have, to make, to get, to cause, etc.):
e. g. I hope you’ll have him sign the papers.
She caused a telegram to be sent to him.
7. after verbs of order or permission (to order, to allow, to suffer, to ask, to let, to tell, etc.):
e. g. I didn’t allow the name to pass my lips.
He ordered the picture to be carried away.
8. after some verbs requiring a prepositional object (to count on, to look for, to listen to, to rely,
to wait for):
e. g. I rely on you to come in time.
We counted on you to come and help us.

THE SUBJECTIVE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION

The Subjective Infinitive Construction consists of:

1) a nominal element – a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative case
2) a verbal element – an infinitive which denotes a state or an action performed by the nominal
element

Noun in the common case

or A finite verb infinitive
Pronoun in the nominative case
The painter seemed to see nothing
He

The Subjective Infinitive Construction is used:

I. with verbs in the passive voice:
1) verbs of sense perception. In this case they are followed by a to-infinitive
e. g. They were heard to enter the house.
NOTE. If the process is meant, participle I is used:
e. g. They were seen swimming across the river.
2) verbs of mental activity
e. g. He was supposed to marry her.
He was known to run faster than anyone else.
3) verbs of saying and reporting (to say, to report):
e. g. The weather is reported to change.
The delegation is said to be arriving at the moment.
4) verbs of inducement and permission (to make, to allow, to let):
e. g. She was allowed to enter the room.
II. with verbs used in the active voice:
to seem, to appear – кажется, по-видимому, похоже
to happen, to chance – случаться, случайно произойти
to prove, to turn out – оказаться
e. g. His illness seemed to nave made his eyes larger.
My advice proved to be wrong.
We chanced to meet her in the street.
III. with some modal phrases (to be likely (вероятно), to be unlikely (вряд ли), to be sure,
to be certain (наверняка, несомненно)):
e. g. The secret is certain to come out.
 THE FOR-TO INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION
The For-to Infinitive Construction consists of:
1) a nominal element (a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case
2) an infinitive which is in predicate relation to a nominal element. The construction is preceded
by the preposition for.

Preposition Noun/pronoun Infinitive

They waited for the door to open

It is useless for me to speak to him

In translating this construction into Russian a subordinate clause or an infinitive is used.

The construction can have different functions in the sentence:
1) subject:
e. g. For me to do it is difficult.
It is difficult for me to do it.
2) predicative:
e. g. This work is for you to do.
3) complex object:
e. g. The boys waited for the competition to begin.
4) attribute:
e. g. The only thing for me to do is to read the story once more.
5) adverbial modifier:
a) of purpose:
e. g. He stepped aside for the girl to pass.
b) of result. In this case the construction is preceded by adverbs enough and too:
e. g. I speak loud enough for you to hear me.
NOTE. After an adjective saying how someone behaves (brave, careless, clever, foolish, generous,
good, helpful, honest, intelligent, kind, mean, nice, polite, sensible, silly, stupid, wrong), we use
of + object + to-infinitive:
e. g. It was good of you to come jogging with me (= it was a kind action by you).
e. g. It was good for you to come jogging with me (= it was good for your health).