Points of Differences with the Finites

Points of Similarities with the Finites

1. The verbals express the idea of action(to write, writing, written, writing: There are a lot of things to marvel at but, first, a lot of questions to ask. A man to see you! S.Plath).

2. They all have the categories of correlation and voice, the infinitive has one more verbal category, that of aspect (to be writing, to have written, to be written, to have been written, to have been writing; being written, having written, having been written). The distinction between the active and the passive, the non-perfect and perfect forms can be neutralized in the non-finites (The house is to let àThe house is to be let; I am awfully surprised to find you here à I am awfully surprised to have found you here The book isn’t worth buying àThe book isn’t worth being bought. Your stomach wants educating àYour stomach wants being educated. Arriving there he immediately understood everything à Having arrived there he immediately understood everything ).

3. The non-finites, like the finites, are seldom used singly, without complements (Marriage is not a hopeless affair doomed to failure. He seems to have done it).

1. The verbals cannot refer actions to the present, past, or future. They show precedence, simultaneity, or successiveness of some actions as regards those expressed by the finites {I am surprised at your having done it (precedence). He seems to be standing over there(simultaneity) }.

2. The verbals lack the categories of person, number, tense and mood. Still an infinitive can imply, in some contexts, some modality, which is revealed transformationally (He is the easiest man to do business with à He is the easiest man that you can do business with. Here is a book for you to read. Here is a book that you can(could, may, should) read. To look at his pictures you would have thought that Impressionists had never been. If you had looked at his pictures you would have thought that Impressionists had never been (W.S.Maugham)}. Lacking the categories of person, number and tense, non-finites cannot function as predicates in the sentence. But they can acquire some predicative force, they can imply predicativity which can be seen transformationally(A man of eighty to marry a girl of twenty four!? à That a man of eighty five should marry a girl of twenty!). Non-finites become potential predicates (secondary predicates) in predicative constructions (I saw thee weep. à I saw that you wept. I am surprised at yourhaving done it. à I am surprised that you have done it).

Participle II differs from the rest of the verbals. It has no forms (passive and perfect) as the meanings of passivity and completeness are implicit in it(It is a poem translated into many languages). The verbal nature is less prominent here, so it can be easily adjectivized (an offended look). It is in the periphery of the verbals. It may turn into a structural element, a functional word. Such is the preposition given)(Given the circumstances (с учётом обстоятельств), America is likely to launch a war here).

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