Non-finite Verb Forms

Finite verb forms show tense, person and number (I go, she goes, we went, etc.):

Особові форми дієслів мають час, особу та число (я йду, вона йде, ми пішли тощо):

She was waiting in the room before he came in.

Does your brother know my brother?

The night before he had to leave, they sat on the small sofa in the living-room and looked at old family photos.

Aren’t you a bit late?

Non-finite verb forms do not show tense, person or number. There are three types of non-finite verbs:

Безособові форми дієслів не показують часу, особи чи числа. Існує три типи безособових дієслів:

Gerunds: baking, singing

Infinitives: to bake, to sing

Two types of Participles:

Present Participles: baking, singing

Past Participles: baked, sung

Non-finite verbs function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs or combine with a finite verb for verb tense.

Безособові дієслова виконують функцію  іменників, прикметників чи прислівників або поєднуються з особовими формами дієслів.

The forms of the infinitive

An infinitive can be a to-infinitive or a bare infinitive (without to). There is no difference in meaning between them; some structures require a to-infinitive, while others call for a bare infinitive:

Інфінітив може бути з часткою to або голим інфінітивом (без to). Між ними немає різниці в значенні; у деяких структурах використовується інфінітив з to , в інших - без частки to:

I ought to call them. (to-infinitive)

I had better call them. (bare infinitive)

As the infinitive has no tense, it does not in itself indicate the time of the action that it refers to. However, it can have aspect, which shows the temporal relationship between the action expressed by the infinitive and the time of the preceding verb. There are four types of infinitive, each of which has an active and passive form:

Оскільки інфінітив не змінюється за часами, він безпосередньо не вказує на час вираженої ним дії. Однак він може мати форму, яка вказує на часовий зв’язок між дією, вираженою інфінітивом, і дією, вираженою особовим дієсловом. Існує чотири типи інфінітива, кожен з яких має активну та пасивну форму:

Simple infinitive

The simple infinitive refers to the same time as that of the preceding verb:

The simple infinitive стосується  того самого часу, в якому стоїть особове дієслово:

I was glad to see her.

He must be very happy.

I'll arrange a meeting with the manager.

My son's football coach is said to be very strict.

Continuous infinitive

The continuous infinitive refers to the same time as that of the preceding verb and expresses an action in progress or happening over a period of time:

The continuous infinitive  показує, що дія, яку він виражає, відбувається одночасно з дією, вираженою особовим дієсловом. Дія, виражена The continuous infinitive, перебуває в процесі або відбувається протягом певного періоду часу:

I'm glad to be sitting here.

You must be joking.

This time next week, I'll be lying on the beach in Croatia.

Vincent was reported to be staying in Paris at that time.

Perfect infinitive

The perfect infinitive refers to a time before that of the preceding verb:

The perfect infinitive вказує на дію, яка відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом:

I'm glad to have studied at that school.

They must have forgotten about the deadline.

By next week, they'll have finished painting the rooms.

Lucy was assumed to have left the day before.

Perfect continuous infinitive

The perfect continuous infinitive refers to a time before that of the preceding verb and expresses an action in progress or happening over a period of time:

The perfect continuous infinitive позначає дію в процесі, яка відбувалася протягом певного періоду часу до дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом

I'm glad to have been living in Barcelona for the last ten years.

He must have been waiting for ages.

Soon, he'll have been running for four hours.

The organisers were thought to have been preparing for days.

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The forms of the gerund

The gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, but it is useful to understand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb). It can be simple or perfect, active or passive:

Герундій схожий на  дієприкметник у теперішньому часі, але  між ними є різниця. Герундій завжди виконує функцію іменника (хоча і схожий на дієслово). Він може бути простим або доконаним, бути в активному або пасивному станах:

As the gerund has no tense, it does not in itself indicate the time of the action that it refers to. However, it can show whether this time is the same as or earlier than the time of the verb in the main clause.

Оскільки герундій не змінюється за часами, він безпосередньо не вказує на час дії, яку виражає. Однак він показує, чи ця дія відбувається одночасно з дією, вираженою особовим дієсловом, чи вона відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом

Simple gerund

The simple gerund can refer to the same time as that of the verb in the main clause:

The simple gerund стосується того ж самого часу, що і  особове дієслово:

I hate arguing with you. (arguing refers to the same time as hate: I hate when we argue.)

Tom suggested going back to our tents. (going refers to the same time as suggested: Tom suggested that we should go back to our tents.)

The simple gerund can also refer to a time before that of the verb in the main clause:

The simple gerund може також позначати дію, яка відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом

I don't remember saying anything like that. (saying refers to a time before don't remember: I don't remember that I said anything like that.)

She regretted not studying harder when she was at school. (not studying refers to a time before regretted: She regretted that she hadn't studied harder when he was at school.)

Perfect gerund

The perfect gerund refers to a time before that of the verb in the main clause. However, it is only used if the time of the action expressed by the gerund is not obvious from the context:

The perfect gerund виражає дію, яка відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом. Однак він використовується лише у тому випадку, якщо час дії, виражений герундієм, не очевидний з контексту:

He denied being married. (the simple gerund being refers to the same time as denied: He denied that he was married.)

He denied having been married. (the perfect gerund having been refers to a time before denied: He denied that he had been married.)

If it is clear that an earlier time is meant, we use the simple gerund:

Якщо зрозуміло, що мається на увазі більш ранній час, ми використовуємо the simple gerund:

He denied stealing the car. (He denied that he had stolen the car.)

Passive forms

After the verbs "need, require, want" in the meaning "need cleaning, repairing, improving" and after the adjective "worth", the active form of the gerund is used, not the passive form. (The infinitive in the same meaning is used in the passive form after these verbs. The infinitive is not used after the adjective "worth".) For example:

Після дієслів «потребувати, вимагати, хочу» у значенні «потребувати очищення, ремонту, вдосконалення» і після прикметника «варто» вживається активний стан герундія, а не пасивний. (Інфінітив після цих дієслів у тому ж значенні вживається в пасивному стані . Інфінітив не вживається після прикметника "варто".) Наприклад:

The house needs painting. This lock needs repairing. His car requires painting. Your coat wants cleaning. (Infinitive: His car needs to be painted / to be repaired / to be cleaned.) This book is worth reading.

The following verbs are followed only by the gerund:

a) without prepositions: to appreciate, to avoid, to deny, to detest, to enjoy, to excuse, to fancy, to imagine, to mention, to mind, to intend, to miss, to postpone, to practise, to put off, to recollect, to resent, to resist, to risk, to remember, to suggest, to propose, to understand, can't help, can't stand, can’t bear, саn't afford, can’t imagine, can’t fancy, can’t resist;

b) with prepositions: to consist in, to persist in, to succeed in, to be engaged in, to count on, to depend on, to rely on, to congratulate on, to plan on, to reckon on, to insist on, to agree to, to object to, to complain of (about), to ask about, to be used to, to be accustomed to, to admit to, to save from, to prevent from, to stop from, to refrain from, to assist in, to help in, to believe in, to end in, to invite into, to persuade into, to care for, to thank for, to be grateful for, to long for, to apologize for, to praise for, to blame for, to punish for, to reprimand for, to reproach for, to scold for, to sentence for, to give for, to be responsible for, to be thankful for, to return to, to hear of, to learn of, to think of, to tell of (about), to remind of, to accuse of, to suspect of, to boast of, to be worth of, to be afraid of, to be aware of, to be conscious of, to be capable of, to be fond of, to be ignorant of, to be proud of, to be sure of, to be tired of, to be ashamed of, to be sorry about (for), to worry about, to be excited about, to be nice about, to be keen on, to be crazy about, to be wrong in, to be right in, to have no difficulty in, to be slow in, to be interested in, to be absorbed in, to be skilled in, to be successful at, to be good at, to be clever at, to be touched at, to be upset at, to be irritated at, to be furious at, to be surprised at, to be pleased at (with), to be amused with, to be in charge with, to look like, etc;

c) set phrases: to look forward to, to make a point of, to plead guilty to, to find excuses for, to take pride in, to lose time in, to have no doubt about and some others.

The following verbs are followed either by the gerund or the infinitive:

To like, to prefer, to dislike, to hate, to intend, to plan, to forget, to remember, to regret, can’t bear, can’t afford.

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The Participle

The Participle is a non-finite form of the verb having some adjectival and adverbial characteristics. There are two Participles in English - Participle I and Participle II.

The Participle - це безособова форма дієслова, яка має деякі дієприкметникові та дієприслівникові характеристики. В англійській мові є два Participles - Participle I та Participle II.

Participle I (Present participle) expresses active meaning: doing, flying, playing, reading, running, sleeping, taking, typing, working, writing. The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb. The present participle does not in itself indicate the time of the action that it refers to. However, it does show that this time is the same as the time of the preceding verb or the verb in the main clause:

Participle I (Present participle) виражає активний стан: робити, літати, грати, читати, бігати, спати, брати, набирати текст, працювати, писати. The present participle утворюється додаванням -ing до основної форми дієслова. Він безпосередньо не вказує на час дії, яку виражає. Але ця дія відбувається одночасно з дією, вираженою особовим дієсловом:

I watched the storm approaching. (approaching refers to the same time as watched: I watched as the storm was approaching.)

Having nowhere to sit, she stood in the back of the lecture hall. (having refers to the same time as stood: As she had nowhere to sit, she stood in the back of the lecture hall.)

Are you waiting for the bus? (waiting refers to the same time as are: present)

We will be arriving in Prague soon. (arriving refers to the same time as will be: future)

Participle I (The perfect participle) indicates that the time of the action that it refers to is before that of the verb in the main clause:

Participle I (The perfect participle) вказуєна те, що дія, яку він виражає, передує дії, вираженій особовим дієсловом:

Having taken the wrong turn, he ended up in a dangerous neighbourhood. (having taken refers to a time before ended up: After he had taken the wrong turn, he ended up in a dangerous neighborhood.)

Participle II (past participle) expresses passive meaning: done, moved, played, read, sold, stopped, taken, typed, written. The past participle is also called the third form of the verb.

The past participle can refer to the same time as the verb in the main clause or to a time before that:

Participle II (past participle) виражає пасивний стан: зроблено, переміщено, зіграно, прочитано, продано, зупинено, прийнято, набрано, написано. The past participle ще називають третьою формою дієслова. The past participle може вказувати на той самий час, що і особове дієслово, або на дію, яка відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом:

Sue has all the qualifications required for the job. (required refers to the same time as has: Sue has all the qualifications that are required for the job.)

Damaged badly by the flood, the school had to be rebuilt. (damaged refers to a time before had to: As the school had been badly damaged by the flood, it had to be rebuilt.)

If we want to emphasise an earlier time, we use the passive perfect participle:

Якщо ми хочемо наголосити, що дія, виражена Participle, відбулася раніше дії, вираженої особовим дієсловом,  ми використовуємо passive perfect participle:

Having been nominated three times for an Oscar, he is one of today's most acclaimed film directors. (He has been nominated three times for an Oscar, and he is one of today's most acclaimed film directors.)

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