Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An item such as eating this cake in the foregoing example is an example of a non-finite verb phrase; however, because phrases of this type do not require a subject, it is also a complete clause. (Traditionally, such an item would be referred to as a phrase , but in modern linguistics it has become common to call it a clause.)
The gerund takes the same form (ending in -ing) as the present participle, but is used as a noun (or rather the verb phrase introduced by the gerund is used as a noun phrase). [23] Many uses of gerunds are thus similar to noun uses of the infinitive. Uses of gerunds and gerund phrases are illustrated below: As subject or predicative expression:
Nonfinite verb. A nonfinite verb, in contrast to a finite verb, is a form of a verb that lacks inflection (conjugation) for number or person. In the English language, a nonfinite verb cannot perform action as the main verb of an independent clause. [1] In English, nonfinite verb forms include infinitives, participles and gerunds.
Although the subject is usually a noun phrase, other kinds of phrases (such as gerund phrases) work as well, and some languages allow subjects to be omitted. In the examples below, the subject of the outmost clause simplex is in italics and the subject of boiling is in square brackets. There is clause embedding in the second and third examples.
Clause. In language, a clause is a constituent or phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. [1] A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, [2] the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with or without any objects and other modifiers.
English grammar. -ing is a suffix used to make one of the inflected forms of English verbs. This verb form is used as a present participle, as a gerund, and sometimes as an independent noun or adjective. The suffix is also found in certain words like morning and ceiling, and in names such as Browning.
Verb phrase. In linguistics, a verb phrase (VP) is a syntactic unit composed of a verb and its arguments except the subject of an independent clause or coordinate clause. Thus, in the sentence A fat man quickly put the money into the box, the words quickly put the money into the box constitute a verb phrase; it consists of the verb put and its ...
More examples can be found at Verb patterns with the gerund. English has a number of ergative verbs : verbs which can be used either intransitively or transitively, where in the intransitive use it is the subject that is receiving the action, and in the transitive use the direct object is receiving the action while the subject is causing it.