Guide to English grammar

Play tennis with me.
You play very well.
I'd like to play.
Simon plays very well.
They played back the film.
Playing tennis is fun.
You're playing very well.
They've played back the film.
The film was played back.

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59 Finite and non-finite verbs
1 A finite verb phrase is one that can be the main verb of a sentence. A non-finite verb phrase is an infinitive, gerund or participle.

You He The police You We

Finite leave is were informed are planning will be living

for London tonight. still at home. about the robbery. your routine . in New York.

He is still keeping They saw the thief I want

Non-finite To live staying arrested Doing to live

in villages has more advantages than the one in big city. at home. on acting a crime. things on time means that you have responsibility. in New York.

NOTE
A form with ed can be finite or non-finite, depending on the context.

They filmed the thief. (past tense - finite)
They saw the thief filmed in the act. (participle -non-finite)

2 A finite verb phrase can come in a main clause or a sub clause.

The police took action.
We were pleased when the police took action.
A non-finite verb comes only in a sub clause.
We wanted the police to take action.
We approved of the police taking action.
We approved of the action taken by the police.
Sometimes there are two verb phrases together, a finite one and then a non-finite one.
The police wanted to take action.
Things kept disappearing from the changing room.

For the to-infinitive and gerund in these patterns, • 121.

60 The structure of the verb phrase

1 In a finite verb phrase there are a number of choices.

Tense Modal Aspect Voice

Past or present? Modal or not? Perfect or not? Continuous or not? Passive or active?

It showed or It shows. They could find or They found. It has gone or It goes. It was happening or It happened. They were informed or He informed them

For meanings, • 61.

2 In the verb phrase there is always an ordinary verb. There may be one or more auxiliaries in front of it.

You The police Someone This He The police The camera Someone A man His clothes I

Auxiliary verb(s) will has was were should have has been is being had been must have been

Ordinary verb leave arrived. steal gone looking informed. worked. taking questioned stolen. dreaming.

valuable articles. them. on too long. for his clothes. things. by police.

If there is no auxiliary, the verb is in a simple tense: leave (present simple), arrived (past simple).
Auxiliary verbs come in this order: “modal verb - have - be (continuous) - be (passive)”.

A practical guide to English grammar 63

The auxiliary verb affects the form of the next word, whether the next word is another auxiliary or an ordinary verb.

Modal verb + base form have + past participle be+ active participle be+ passive participle

will steal, should have worked has gone, has been taking, have worked was looking, has been taking were informed, had been stolen

The first word of the verb phrase is present or past, e.g. leave (present), arrived (past), has (present), was (past). The exception is modal verbs, which do not usually have a tense. Sometimes the first word agrees with the subject: you leave/he leaves. • 150

NOTE

1. 
   The perfect, the continuous and the passive do not usually all come in the same phrase. A sentence like “It might have been being played” is possible but unusual.
   
2. 
   Be and have can be ordinary verbs. • 82
   

The money was in the changing room. The club has a chairman.

3. 
   An adverbial can come inside the verb phrase. • 208 (4)
   

Someone will probably steal them. A man is now being questioned.

For the imperative • 19.