Finite verb phrasesA finite verb phrase – a verb phrase in which

the first or only word is a finite verb, the rest of the verb phrase (if any) consisting of nonfinite verbs.

Finite verb phrasesCharacteristics of finite verb phrases:(I) finite verb phrases can occur as the verb

phrase of independent clauses;(II) finite verb phrases have tense contrast, i.e.

the distinction between present and past tenses:(1) He is a journalist now.(2) He worked as a travel agent last summer.(III) there is person concord and number concord

between the subject of a clause and the finite verb phrase (concord is agreement in person and number between the subject of a clause and the verb phrase). Concord is particularly clear with the present tense of be:

Finite verb phrases(3) I am/You are/he, she, it is/we, they are here.But with most full verbs overt concord is

restricted to a contrast between the 3rd person singular present and other persons or plural number:

(4) He, she, Jim reads/I, we, you, they read the paper every morning.

With modal auxiliaries there is no overt concord at all:

(5) I/You/She/We/They can play the cello.

Finite verb phrases(IV) Finite verb phrases have mood, which

indicates the factual, nonfactual, or counterfactual status of the predication.

We distinguish between the ‘unmarked’ indicative mood and the ‘marked’ moods imperative (used to express commands and other directive speech acts) and subjunctive (used to express a wish, recommendation, etc.)

Finite verb phrasesA clause with a finite verb phrase is called a

finite clause, and the one with a nonfinite verb phrase a nonfinite clause.

Nonfinite verb phrasesThe nonfinite forms of the verb are: the

infinitive ((to) call), the –ing participle (calling), and the –ed participle (called). Hence any phrase in which one of these verb forms is the first or only word (disregarding the infinitive marker to) is a nonfinite verb phrase.

Such phrases do not normally occur as the verb phrase of an independent clause.

Nonfinite verb phrasesFINITE VERB PHRASES NONFINITE VERB PHRASESHe smokes. To smoke like that must be

dangerous.Mary is having a smoke. I regret having started to

smoke.He must smoke 40 a day. The cigars smoked here tend to

be expensive.You’ve been smoking all day. That was the last

cigarette to have been smoked by me.

Simple and complex finite verb phrasesThe finite verb phrase is simple when (without

ellipsis) it consists of only one word. It is complex when it consists of two or more words:

The auxiliaries follow a strict order in the complex verb phrase:

(I) MODAL, followed by an infinitive: must go;(II) PERFECT (the aux have), followed by an –ed

participle: has examined, must have examined;(III) PROGRESSIVE (the aux be), followed by an –

ing participle: was talking, must have been talking;

(IV) PASSIVE (the aux be), followed by an –ed participle: was visited, must have been being visited.

Contrasts expressed in the verb phraseThe contrasts in which the verb phrase plays

an important part:(I) Tense requires a choice between present

and past in the first or only verb in a finite verb phrase:

(6) She works hard. She worked hard.

Contrasts expressed in the verb phrase(II) Aspect requires a choice between the

nonperfect and the perfect and between the nonprogressive and the progressive:

(7) He writes poems. (simple: nonperfect, nonprogressive)

(8) He has written poems. (perfect, nonprogressive)

(9) He is writing poems. (progressive, nonperfect)

(10) He has been writing poems. (perfect, progressive)

Contrasts expressed in the verb phrase(III) Mood requires a choice between the

indicative, imperative, and subjunctive:(11) He listens/is listening to me. (indicative)(12) Listen to me. (imperative)(13) I demand that he listen to me.

(subjunctive)(IV) Finiteness requires a choice between the

finite and nonfinite:(14) She plays tennis.(15) Playing tennis is good for your health.

Contrasts expressed in the verb phrase(V) Voice involves a contrast between active

and passive:(16) A doctor will examine the applicants.(17) The applicants will be examined by a

doctor.(VI) Questions generally involve subject-

operator inversion:(18) I should pay for you. ~ Should I pay for you?(19) The students objected. ~ Did the

students object?

Contrasts expressed in the verb phrase(VII) Negation makes use of operators:(20) I should pay for you. ~ I shouldn’t pay for you.(21) The students objected. ~ The students

didn’t object.(VIII) Emphasis is frequently carried by an

operator:(22) I SHOULD pay.(23) The students DID object.

Verbal categories: time and tenseIn abstraction from any given language, we

can think of time as a line on which is located, as a continuously moving point, the present moment. Anything ahead of the present moment is in the future, and anything behind it is in the past.

Verbal categories: time and tenseWhen we talk about time and temporal meaning, we

have to take into consideration the position of the speaker in time, time orientation, and time reference.

POSITION OF THE SPEAKER IN TIME - Every human being is embedded into the flow of time in such a way that the actual point of speaking is always experienced as present, although it is continually moving with the flow of time. Every utterance is made from a point which can be described as NOW in time, HERE in place and FIRST SINGULAR in person. This HERE-NOW-I position is the invariant basis of every utterance:

Flow of time → speaker’s position → flow of time HERE-NOW-I

Verbal categories: time and tenseTIME ORIENTATION- From this invariant

HERE-NOW-I basis, speakers can direct their orientation towards the present, the past or the future, or towards states or events which have the status of general truths and cannot be assigned to any specific period of time (timelessness)

Present time orientation – used for a state or event where speaker and hearer or reader and writer share the experience of simultaneousness in time. Present time orientation is often found in conversations or in reports about actual events.

Verbal categories: time and tensePresent time orientation can be further

differentiated into actual and extended present:

(a) actual present – is used for a state or event which applies to the moment of speaking or writing;

(b) extended present – is used for a state or event which applies to the moment of speaking or writing, and is assumed to persist as long as present conditions prevail (e.g. the brewery owns more than 500 pubs in the north-west)

Verbal categories: time and tensePast time orientation – is used for a state or

event which is prior to the moment of speaking or writing, very often found in novels and narratives.

Future time orientation – is used for a state or event which is expected to become true at a time which follows the moment of speaking or writing, often found in predictions or suppositions or in the expression of plans, intentions, possibilities or apprehensions.

Timelessness – is used for a state or event which is not restricted to any particular period of time, often found in rules which apply to all times or in the expression of general truths (e.g. remember that children learn by example)

Verbal categories: time and tenseTIME REFERENCE – speakers can direct

their orientation towards the present, the past, the future. From this orientation they can again refer to a state or event which occurs simultaneously, which precedes their temporal orientation, or which follows their temporal orientation.

The speaker can also refer to a state which can be described as a general rule and which has no temporal relation with the speaker’s time orientation (timelessness).

Verbal categories: time and tenseReferencing can be made from any type of time

orientation. To exemplify this, we choose referencing from past time orientation. There are four types of referencing: preceding, simultaneous, following, neutral:

(24) Lee, I noticed, had asked for Coca-Cola. (time orientation: past, reference: preceding)

(25) but what he saw was an ageing hesitant Australian woman. (time orientation: past, reference: simultaneous)

(26) for a moment Andrea thought she was going to burst into tears (time orientation: past, reference: following)

(27) he won because he’s forty years younger than you (time orientation: past, reference: neutral)

Verbal categories: time and tenseTENSE (glagolsko vrijeme) – is a

grammatical category that is realized by verb inflection. Since English has no future inflected form of the verb, the threefold semantic opposition is reduced to two tenses: the PRESENT TENSE and the PAST TENSE, which typically, but not necessarily, refer to present and past time respectively.

Future meaning is conveyed by various means, including the modal verb will, semi-aux be going to, and the present tense.

Verbal categories: aspectASPECT (vid) – a grammatical category that reflects

the way in which the meaning of a verb is viewed with respect to time. It expresses action or state as being in progress, or as being completed. We recognize two aspects in English, the PERFECT and the PROGRESSIVE, which may combine in a complex verb phrase, and are marked for present or past tense:

PRESENT PERFECT – has examinedPAST PERFECT – had examinedPRESENT PROGRESSIVE – is examiningPAST PROGRESSIVE – was examiningPRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE – has been

examiningPAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE – had been examining

Verbal categories: aspectProgressive aspect – focuses on the

situation as being in progress at a particular time. In consequence, it may imply that the situation has limited duration, and that it is not necessarily complete.

Progressive aspect can also be expressed by verbs like keep, or continue (e.g. She keeps singing; They continued to laugh at him.)

Verbal categories: aspectPerfective aspect – is concerned with an

event in its totality, as a complete whole.

Verbal categories: aspectAspect in Slavic languages – nesvršeni

glagoli (bacati, dolaziti, donositi, spavati, vikati, etc.); svršeni glagoli (baciti, doći, donijeti, naspavati se, viknuti, etc.).

Verbal categories: moodMOOD (način, modus) – a grammatical category

associated with the semantic dimension. Mood refers to the special form of a verb showing whether the act or state it expresses is thought of as a fact, condition, command, or wish.

Three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

The imperative mood is used to express commands, requests, instructions, suggestions, etc. (e.g. bring me some coffee, please.)

Verbal categories: moodThe subjunctive mood – 2 forms of the

subjunctive: present and past subjunctive.The present subjunctive is expressed by the base

form of the verb. For the verb be, the subjunctive form be is distinct from the indicative forms am, is, are.

For other verbs, the subjunctive is distinctive only in the 3rd person singular:

(28) I insist that we reconsider the Council’s decisions. (indicative or subjunctive)

(29) I insist that the Council reconsider its decisions. (subjunctive)

(30) I insist that the Council’s decision(s) be reconsidered. (subjunctive)

Verbal categories: moodThe past subjunctive (or were-subjunctive) survives

only in were as a past form of be. It is distinguishable from the past indicative of be only in the 1st and 3rd person singular:

(31) If she was leaving, you would have heard about it. (indicative)

(32) If she were leaving, you would have heard about it. (subjunctive)

The indicative was is more common in less formal style.Negation of the present subjunctive does not require

an operator:(33) I insist that we not reconsider the Council’s

decisions.

Verbal categories: moodUses of the subjunctive:(I) the MANDATIVE SUBJUNCTIVE is used in a

that-clause after an expression of such notions as demand, recommendation, proposal, intention (e.g. We insist, prefer, request; It is necessary, desirable, imperative; the decision, requirement, resolution). (NOTE: the example that illustrates this use is on the previous slide, with the verb insist)

This use is more characteristic of AmE than BrE, but seems to be increasing in BrE. In BrE the alternatives are putative should and indicative.

Verbal categories: mood(II) the FORMULAIC ( or OPTATIVE)

SUBJUNCTIVE is used in certain set expressions:

God save the QueenLong live the kingCome what may,…Heaven forbid that…Be that as it may,…Suffice it to say that…

Verbal categories: moodThe past subjunctive is hypothetical in

meaning. It is used in conditional and concessive clauses and in subordinate clauses after wish and suppose:

(34) If I were a rich man, I would…(35) I wish the journey were over.(36) Just suppose everyone were to act like

you.

Verbal categories: voiceVOICE (stanje) – a grammatical category

that expresses the relationship between the subject of a clause and the event. The difference between active and passive applies only to sentences where the verb is transitive.

In B/C/S the terms used for active and passive are radno stanje (aktiv) i trpno stanje (pasiv).