8 Classes III

8.1 Finite and non-finite clauses

 Non-finite clauses are those sequences of words which lack a finite verb
but contain a non-finite verb.

a) Henry wanted to marry Fanny.

b) Fanny regretted talking to Mary.
c) Mrs Bennet having taken the others upstairs, Mr Bingley proposed to
Jane.
d) All Mr Collins does is praise lady de Bourg.
e) Lady de Bourg tried to persuade Elizabeth to renounce Mr Darcy.

 Formerly these sequences were treated as phrases, for example, to

marry fanny (infinitive phrase), and talking to Mary (gerund phrase).
 However, there are reasons for considering them as clauses.
1. Non-finite and finite verbs have the same modifiers. For example,
marry in (a) has Fanny as a direct object, talking in (b) has to
Mary as a directional complement (oblique object), having taken
in (c) has the others as direct object and upstairs as a directional
complement.
2. Moreover, some non-finite clauses have aspect as the following
two examples show:

- Henry wanted to have married Fanny before Edmund returned.

(Perfect aspect)
- To be courting Fanny was a waste of Henry’s time. (progressive
aspect)

 On the other hand, non-finite constructions have far more limited

grammar than finite ones.
1. They exclude tense and model verb such as can, may and must.
2. Gerunds and to infinitive clauses exclude subjects

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 3. Like finite subordinate clauses, they exclude interrogative and
imperative constructions.
4. Gerunds exclude the progressive

- *Fanny regretted being talking to Marry.

- *Mrs Bennet being taking the others upstairs, Mr Bingley gave a sigh
of relief.

5. Perfect is excluded from non-finite clause (bare verb).

- *All Mr Collins has done is have praised Lady de Bourg.

 Non-finite constructions do allow some modality to be signaled.

- Fanny regretted having to talk to Aunt Norris. (necessity)

- Julia and Maria wanted to be allowed to perform a play. (permission)
- Edmund wanted Fanny to be able to ride a horse. (ability)

 However, expressing possibility is excluded by non-finite clauses or at

least rare.

- ? Henry wanted to possibly marry Fanny.

6. Unlike finite clauses, non-finite clauses do not have their own

participants independent of the participants in the main clause.

- Henry wanted to marry Fanny.

 Henry is traditionally called ‘the understood subject’ of marry

 In contemporary terms, the notion of understood subject is translated
into that of control. That is, the subject of want controls the verb in the
dependent infinitive (marry). In other words, there is dependency
relation between wanted and the infinitive. Here is another example:

- Fanny loved talking to Marry.

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 A similar analysis applied to the gerund talking to marry where the
understood subject of talking is Fanny. In modern terms, the subject of
loved controls the subject of the dependent gerund talking to Marry.

- Lady de Bourg tried to persuade Elizabeth to renounce Mr Darcy.

 In this example, the subject of tried controls the subject of the

dependent infinitive to persuade and to persuade has a dependent
infinitive to renounce. The object of persuade, Elizabeth, controls the
subject of renounce.
 Non-finite sequences are considered clauses because they have the
same set of complements and adjuncts like finite sequences.
 Moreover, verbs exercise the same control over the types and number
of their complements in both finite and non-finite constructions.

- The child put the toy on the table. (finite clause)

- The child tried to put the toy on the table. (non-finite clause)

 The verb ‘put’ requires to its right a noun phrase and a directional
phrase in both clauses.
 Meaning is also relevant; both finite and nonfinite clauses denote
situations.

 Free participles
Free participles are those adjuncts containing –ing forms as in the
following examples:

- Knowing the country well, he took a shortcut.

- Slamming the door, he ran down the steps.

 These free participles pose the following problem:

While the non-finite clauses discussed above can be correlated with
main clauses, these free participle clauses cannot

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 o Henry wanted to marry Fanny.
Henry Marries Fanny.
o Fanny regretted talking to Mary.
Fanny talks to Marry.
o Mrs Bennet having taken the others upstairs, Mr Bingley
proposed to Jane.
Mrs Bennet had taken the others upstairs.
o Knowing the country well, he took a short cut.
*He was knowing the country well.
o Slamming the door, he ran down the steps.
*When/While he was slamming the door
When he had slammed the door (involves different structure)

 Therefore, free participles are best treated as nonfinite clauses with only
an indirect connection with finite clauses.
 Non-finite constructions should contain a verb form. However, some
analysts consider the bold parts in the following sentences as clauses
although they have no verb form of any kind:

- When ripe, these apples will be delicious.

- He left the train with somebody else’s wallet in his pocket.
- She walked up the hill, her rucksack on her back.
- We found the cage empty.

 According to the writer of the book only the first one can be considered a
non-finite clause because it can be seen as resulting from ellipsis:

- When they are ripe, these apples will be delicious.

8.2 Types of nonfinite clauses

1. Infinitive nonfinite clauses and gerund nonfinite clauses

 Both infinitive and gerund nonfinite clauses are nominal; they occur
where noun phrases occur. They modify verbs and function as subjects
or objects.

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 - To see Naples and die is not my idea of fun. (subject)
- Mr Bingley wanted to marry Jane Bennet. (object)
- Talking to Maria irritated Fanny. (subject)
- Fanny regretted talking to marry (object)

 An exception is the infinitive relative clauses which modify nouns:

- A good place to eat
- The best book to read on the topic.
-
a) Infinitive nonfinite clauses
 Infinitive nonfinite clauses are marked by to or for.

- For you to give up now would be idiotic/tragedy.

- It would be idiotic/tragedy for you to give up now.
- All I want is for you to win.
- All I needed was for him to apologize.

 Infinitive nonfinite clauses can express purpose:

- Henry went to Portsmouth to visit Fanny.

 One infinitive nonfinite clause may contain another:

- Lady de Bourg tried to persuade Elizabeth to renounce Mr Darcy.

b) Gerund nonfinite clauses

 Gerund nonfinite clauses are marked by the suffix –ing on the verb:
 Like infinitive clauses gerund nonfinite clauses are nominal; they occur
where noun phrases occur. They modify verbs and function as subjects
or objects.

- Fanny regretted talking to Maria.

- Fanny regretted having talked to Maria.
- Talking to Maria irritated Fanny.

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 - Fanny regretted Edmund having agreed to take part in the play.
- Fanny regretted Edmund’s having agreed to take part in the play.
(formal writing only)

2. Free participle nonfinite clauses

 Free participle nonfinite clauses contain verbs with the suffix –ing but
unlike gerunds, they modify whole clauses like finite adverbial clauses.

- Standing at the window, Ann noticed Mrs Clay and Mr Elliot.

- Jumping up, he dashed out of the room.
- Mrs Bennet having taken the others upstairs, Mr Bingley proposed to
Jane.

 Free participle nonfinite clauses occur regularly in written English but

very rare in spoken English.

3. Reduced adverbial non-finite clauses

 Reduced adverbial nonfinite clauses result from reducing full
adverbial clauses:

- While sitting at the table (reduced clause)

- While he was sitting at the table (full clause)
- When visiting Pemberley (reduced clause)
- When they were visiting Pemberley (full clause)

 Like full adverbial clauses and free participle non-finite clauses,

reduced adverbial clauses modify other clauses.

- While sitting at the table, Captain Wentworth wrote a long letter to

Ann.
- When visiting Pemberley, the Gardiners met Mr Darcy.
- Although in love with Marianne, Willoughby had to marry a rich
heiress.
- When ripe, these apples will be delicious.

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4. Reduced relative nonfinite clauses
 They result from reducing full relative clauses:

- The picture which had been stolen from the art gallery (full clause)
- The picture stolen from the art gallery (reduced clause)
- The person who was reading the book did not hear my question (full
clause)
- The person reading the book did not hear my question (reduced
clause)

5. Bare-verb nonfinite clauses

 They only contain the stem of the verb – no suffixes and no to or for -
in addition to its complements and adjuncts.
 Bare-verb nonfinite clauses modify verbs:
- I saw the burglar climb in the window.
- We made the students attend the tutorials.
- All Mr Collins does is praise Lady de Bourg.
- What Mary Crawford did was insults Sir Thomas

6. Gerund nonfinite clauses (type 2 gerund)

- The police saw the burglar climbing in the window.

- The police caught him opening the safe.
- The police found Cordelia sitting on the terrace.

 While the first nonfinite clause can be analyzed in two ways: a reduced
relative clause or a gerund nonfinite clause, the second and the third can
only be considered gerund clauses.
 If the nonfinite clause can be moved along with the noun to the
beginning of the sentence to make it passive, then it is a relative clause.

- The burglar climbing in the window was seen by the police.

- *He opening the safe was caught by the police.
- *Cordelia sitting on the terrace was found by the police.

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  If the non-finite clause can be separated from the noun preceding it in a
passive construction, then that clause is a gerund nonfinite clause.

- The burglar was caught (by the police) climbing in the window.
- He was caught (by the police) opening the safe.
- Cordelia was found (by the police) sitting on the terrace.

 These gerund nonfinite clauses, unlike reduced relative clauses, do not

answer the question which but rather what was (someone) doing when
the police caught/found him/her?

- What was the burglar doing when the police saw him?
o The police saw the burglar climbing in the window. (gerund
nonfinite clause)
- Which burglar did the police see? (
o The police saw the burglar climbing in the window not the
one hiding in the garage? (reduced relative clause)
-

7. with nonfinite clauses

 This type consists of with plus a noun phrase plus ing form of the verb or
a past participle.

- Jane strode up the hill with her setter loping along behind.
- With the funds safely transferred to our Swiss bank account, we
can retire.

 These clauses can be appropriately paraphrased with adverbial clauses:

- Jane strode up the hill while her setter loped along behind.
- As the funds have been safely transferred to our Swiss account,
we can retire.
-
 With nonfinite clauses modify clauses.