NON FINITE VERBS

There are three types of non-finite verbs: gerunds, infinitives, and participles.
 I hate camping.
(Camping is a non-finite verb. In fact, it is a gerund, i.e.,
a noun formed from a verb. The giveaway for a gerund is the -
ing ending.)
 I want to go there.
(To go is a non-finite verb. It is an infinitive, i.e., the base form of a
verb. The giveaway for an infinitive is often, but not always,
the to before it.)
 We ate our roasted marshmallows.
(Roasted is a non-finite verb. It is a participle, a type of adjective.
There is no real giveaway for a participle, but lots of participles end
in -ed and -ing.)

Participles

A participle is a form of a verb that is used in a sentence to modify a noun, noun

phrase, verb, or verb phrase, and then plays a role similar to an adjective or adverb.

The two types of participle in English are traditionally called the present
participle (forms such as writing, singing and raising) and the past participle (forms
such as written, sung and raised).

The Present Participle

Even though they look exactly the same, gerunds and present participles do different
things. As we just learned, the gerund acts as a noun: e.g., “I like sleeping“; “Sleeping is
not allowed.”

Present participles, on the other hand, act similarly to an adjective or adverb: e.g.,
“The sleeping girl over there is my sister”; “Breathing heavily, she finished the race in
first place.”

The present participle, or participial phrases (clauses) formed from it, are used as
follows:

 as an adjective phrase modifying a noun phrase: The man sitting over there is my
uncle.
 adverbially, the subject being understood to be the same as that of the main
clause: Looking at the plans, I gradually came to see where the problem lay. He
shot the man, killing him.
  more generally as a clause or sentence modifier: Broadly speaking, the project
was successful.

The present participle can also be used with the helping verb to be to form a type of
present tense: Marta was sleeping.

The Past Participle

Past participles often look very similar to the simple past tense of a
verb: finished, danced, etc. However, some verbs have different forms. Reference lists
will be your best help in finding the correct past participle

Past participles are used in a couple of different ways:

 as an adjective phrase: The chicken eaten by the children was contaminated.

 adverbially: Seen from this perspective, the problem presents no easy solution.
 in a nominative absolute construction, with a subject: The task finished, we
returned home.

The past participle can also be used with the helping verb to have to form a type of past
tense ;

The chicken has eaten. It is also voted as most likely to succeed. When the passive
voice is used following a relative pronoun (like that or which) we sometimes leave out
parts of the phrase:

 He had three things that were taken away from him

 He had three things taken away from him

In the second sentence, we removed the words that were. However, we still use the
past participle taken. The removal of these words is called elision. Elision is used with a
lot of different constructions in English; we use it shorten sentences when things are
understood. However, we can only use elision in certain situations, so be careful when
removing words!
 Finite and non-finite verbs -
When a verb has a subject and a tense, it can be referred to as a finite verb.

 We want Charlie to act as club secretary.

 I like taking photographs of insects.
 Coming home last night, I saw a deer run across the road.

 A verb is finite if it is found in a clause in combination with a subject and a tense.
 I walked home.
 We saw a deer.
 They appreciate a little praise now and then.

 It is non-finite if it is used:

 without the verb having a tense.

 To open, tear off the tab.
 Looking around, he noticed a letter on the floor.
 Worn out by the heat, they stopped for a drink.

 with no agreement between the subject (if there is one) and the verb.
 That plan failing, he gave up.
 Our guests departed, we felt a little depressed.

A compound verb is actually made up of one finite part, which is always the first auxiliary verb,
while the remaining non-finite parts are the base form or the participles.In the following
examples the finite part of the verb phrase is in blue italic:

 I may have been joking when I said that.

 Helen was running around screaming.
 I had been living in a dream for months.
 Olivia is coming round at 6 o’clock this evening.

The present simple and past simple forms of a verb are always finite.

 I sing.
 We tell stories at night.
 Maya laughed.
 The shelter collapsed.

 A non-finite verb is sometimes used immediately after a finite verb.
 I like to get up early at the weekend.
 Harriet really dislikes cleaning the cooker.
 I certainly wouldn’t want to see him again.
 We persuaded them to join us.

Often a noun or pronoun can come between the finite verb and the non-finite one.
We want Charlie to act as club secretary.
  She wanted him to wash his hands in the bathroom.
 I don’t like you cleaning your boots over the sink.
 When the second verb is an -ing form coming after a noun or pronoun, there can be a difference in
grammar between two similar sentences. Both sentences below are acceptable, although the first
example might seem ambiguous to some people. In the second sentence, the -ing form is used as a
verbal noun.
 She didn’t like him cleaning his boots over the sink.
 She didn’t like his cleaning his boots over the sink.