This document discusses non-finite clauses and verbless clauses. It covers four main topics: 1) The four kinds of non-finite clauses including to-infinitival, bare infinitival, gerund-participial, and past participial clauses. 2) The form and functions of non-finite clauses. 3) The catenative construction where non-finite clauses are complements of verbs. 4) Verbless clauses which can function as complements of prepositions or directly as adjuncts.

1. Non-finite clauses and clauses
without verbs

2. Main topics
1. Four kinds of non-finite clauses
2. The form of non-finite clauses
3. The functions of non-finite clauses
4. The catenative construction
5. Verbless clauses

3. Non-finite clauses
 non-canonical clauses
 always subordinate
 The clause is non-finite if the verb is a gerund-
participle, a past-participle
 And also infinitival clauses are non-finite
 Can have special subordinators(to and for)
 Can lack overt subjects despite not being imperative
 When a non-finite clause has a personal pronoun as
subject, that pronoun generally does not have the
nominative case-form
 Under certain conditions may have a non-subject NP
left understood

4. Four kinds of non-finite clause
CONSTRUCTION EXAMPLE VERB-FORM
 i To-infinitival Liz wants to write a novel plain form
 ii Bare infinitival Liz might write a novel plain form
 iii Gerund-participial Liz dreams of writing a novel gerund participle
 iv Past participial Liz has written a novel past participle

5. The form of non-finite clauses
 A predicate has the form of a VP headed by a
secondary form of the verb
 Do not have primary tense
 So they can never contain a modal auxiliary
 Are normally embedded within a larger
construction .
 There are likely to be aspects of the meaning that
can be figured out from this larger construction:
i I remembered to talk to my doctor.
ii I intended to talk to my doctor.

6. Subordinators in to-infinitivals: to and
for
 To-infinitivals are marked by the word „to”
 „to” is a member of the subordinator category
 When a to-infinitival contains a subject, it also contains the
clause subordinator „for”
 „for” appears at the beginning of the clause, right before the
subject:
i [For John to lose his temper like that] is highly unusual
ii *We can’t afford *for everyone to travel business class].

7. Subjectless non-finites
Most non-finites have no overt subject
In:
„Liz wants to write a novel”,
we take Liz as the subject not only of want but
also of write.
We speak of Liz as the understood subject,
because Liz is not actually present in the write
clause

8. Interpreting subjectless clauses
1. syntactic determination(involves a
grammatical linkage)
2. no syntactic determination(does not)

9. Syntactic determination
i Ed promised to resign from the board
ii They called on Ed to resign from the board
• We can see what the understood subject must be by looking
at a linguistic antecedent that appears in the matrix
construction („Ed promised…” or „They called on Ed…”)
• Retrieval(=recovery) of the missing subject is determined by a
rule referring to the syntactic structure

10. No syntactic determination
The meaning depends heavily on
inference(=conclusion)
i It is unwise to go swimming straight after a meal
ii It was unwise to invite Ed to the party

11. Non-finite clauses functioning as
adjunct
i Having read the report, Mary was sure there had been a
miscarriage of justice
 „Having read the report” is an adjunct
 „Mary was sure…..” Is a matrix clause
 the missing subject is retrievable by looking at
the subject of the matrix clause
 So we understand the sentence as saying that it
was Mary who read the report

12. Non finites with an overt subject
1. Infinitival clauses
2. Gerund-participial as complement
3. Gerund-participial as adjunct

13. 1.Infinitival clauses
In to-infinitivals a personal pronoun always
takes accusative form:
i [For them to refuse you a visa] was quite
outrageous
ii All I want is [for us to be reunited]

14. 2.Gerund-participials as complement
i She insisted on [my/me being present throughout the interview].
ii She insisted on *her father’s/her father being present throughout the
interview].
iii She insisted on [there being a counsellor present throughout the
interview].
 Genitive and non-genitive subjects are possible
 The genitive is characteristic of formal style
 If a personal pronoun subject is not in the genitive, then it takes
accusative case(as with „me” in *i])
 Some NPs(such as „there” in *iii+) cannot take genitive case at
all

15. 3.Gerund-participials as adjunct
 Genitive subjects are not permitted at all
 The choice is between nominative and accusative:
i She sought advice from Ed, [he being the most experienced of
her colleagues].
ii She sought advice from Ed, [him being the most experienced
of her colleagues].

16. Hollow non-finites
 Incomplete structure- they have a hole somewhere
inside them
 Some non-subject element is missing yet
recoverable from an antecedent expression
i The house will be ready [ for you to inspect__] in a few days.
ii The new car took me quite a long time [to get used to__].

17. Properties of hollow non-finites:
Form: Predominantly to-infinitivals
Function of missing element: direct object or
object of a preposition
Antecedent: a NP( often the matrix subject) or
a nominal( head of the NP in which the hollow
clause is embedded)

18. The functions of non-finite clauses:
1)To infinitivals
 subject To turn back now would be a mistake.
 Extraposed subject It would be a mistake to turn back now.
 Extraposed object We considered it sensible to take legal advice.
 Internal compl of verb Her parents [intend to buy her a car].
 Comp Of preposition I go to the gym [in order to keep fit].
 Adjunct in clause I go to the gym to keep fit.
 Comp Of noun It provides [an opportunity to broaden the mind].
 Modifier in NP We found [a big box in which to keep the CDs].
We found [a big box to keep the CDs in].
 Comp Of adjective He was [anxious to make a good impression].
 Indirect comp He’s still *too young to be left alone].

19. 2) Bare infinitivals
 A very limited set of functions
 They occur as internal complements of certain verbs with no subject
permitted
i You should take legal advice. [complement of modal auxiliary]
ii I want you to help clear up the garage. [complement of help]
iii All I did was ask a simple question [complement of specifying be]

20. 3) Gerund-participials
 Subject Bringing your dad in on the deal was a great idea.
 Extraposed subject It’s been a pleasure talking to you both.
 Object I find talking to Max rather stressful.
 Extraposed object He considers it a waste of time going to meetings.
 Internal comp of verb I remember telling you about her visit.
 Comp of preposition He insist [on checking everything himself].
 Adjunct in clause Having read the paper, I can’t see why you care.
 Modifier in NP Who was [the doctor performing the operation]?

21. 4) Past-participials
 Internal comp of verb She [has written another novel]
I could [have you dismissed on the spot]
 Modifier in NP [The guns stolen in the break-in] were
recovered

22. The catenative construction
 The catenative construction is a repeatable construction in a way that enables us to form chains of verbs in
which all except the last have a non-finite complement
 Most cases where a non-finite clause is an internal complement of a verb illustrate the catenative construction
 A catenative verb is a verb that can link with other verbs to form a chain or series( seem, keep and many others)
 A catenative verb (=chain verb) takes a non-finite clause as its complement.
She seems to want to stop trying to avoid meeting him =catenative
construction
HEAD VERB COMPLEMENT
 Seems to want to stop trying to avoid meeting him
 Want to stop trying to avoid meeting him
 Stop trying to avoid meeting him
 Trying to avoid meeting him
 Avoid meeting him
CATENATIVE VERBS CATENATIVE COMPLEMENTS
 CATENETIVE VERB + CATENATIVE COMPLEMENT = CATENATIVE CONSTRUCTION

23. The catenative construction
 Simple catenative construction- there is never an
intervening NP(=subject of the non-finite clause)
 Complex catenative construction- There is always an
intervening NP
 Exception: passive voice. There isn’t an intervening NP,
but we treat it as a complex catenative(e.g. Sue was
persuaded to read the report.)
SIMPLE CATENATIVE COMPLEX CATENATIVE
• I promised to read the report. We persuaded Sue to read the report
• Max regrets locking the door. I remember Sue locking the door
• Pat got nominated for treasurer. He had Sue nominated for treasurer

24. The simple catenative construction
 The non-finite clause has no subject and there is no intervening
NP that is understood as the subject
 But interpretation requires that we supply an understood or
implicit subject:
1. I promised to read the report.
2. Max regrets locking the door.
 The promise in the first example is about my reading the report.
 Max’s regret in the second example is about Max’s having
locked the door.

25. Ordinary subjects vs. raised subjects
 The subject of the catenative verb in the simple catenative
construction may be an ordinary subject or a raised subject.
ORDINARY SUBJECT RAISED SUBJECT
• Sara wanted to convince Ed Sara seemed to convince Ed
 An ordinary subject is semantically related to the verb(or VP)
 A raised subject doesn’t have a direct semantic relation with the
verb. Syntactically it is located in the matrix clause, but
semantically it belongs in the embedded clause.

26. Two ways of testing for ordinary or raised subjects
in catenative construction:
1. Using passive infinitivals
2. Using dummy pronouns

27. 1. Using passive infinitivals
 We put the non-finite clause into the passive voice
 And switch the matrix clause subject with the infinitival clause
object
Matrix clause subject-------->infinitival clause object
 Ordinary subject- different core meaning
 Raised subject- the core meaning will remain the same
ORDINARY SUBJECT RAISED SUBJECT
• Active non-finite clause Sara Wanted to convince Ed Sara seemed to convince Ed
• Passive non-finite clause Ed wanted to be convinced by Sara Ed seemed to be convinced by Sara
• Same meaning in both? NO YES

28. Using dummy pronouns
 We consider clauses with dummy pronouns as subjects
 „It” and „there”
Extraposition: It is likely that she’ll go.
Existential: There is plenty of time.
 „It” and „there” CANNOT function as an ordinary
subject to a catenative verb
ORDINARY SUBJECT RAISED SUBJECT
• Extrapositional it *It wants to be likely It seems to be likely
that she’ll go. she’ll go
• Existential there *There wants to be plenty There seems to be
of time. Plenty of time
• Dummy subjects allowed? NO YES

29. Gerund participials
ORDINARY SUBJECT RAISED SUBJECT
• Ed regrets interrupting me Ed keeps interrupting me.
• I regret being interrupted by Ed I keep being interrupted by Ed
• *There regret being power black-outs There keep being power black-
-outs
 Regret takes an ordinary subject
 Keep is a raising verb

30. Auxiliary verbs
 They take raised subjects
 Dare is exceptional
• Kim daren’t beat Sue. Kim may beat Sue.
• Sue daren’t be beaten by Kim. Sue may be beaten by Kim.
• *There daren’t be a reporter present. There may be a reporter present.

31. The complex catenative construction
 Contain an intervening NP
 Four subtypes:
1. We arranged for them to meet the manager.
2. We resented their being given extra privileges.
3. We counted on them to support us.
4. We believed them to be conspiring against us.

32. The distinction between ordinary and
raised object
An ordinary object is semantically related to the
matrix verb.
A raised object is not: it is located syntactically in
the matrix clause but belongs semantically in the
catenative complement
ORDINARY OBJECT RAISED OBJECT
We urged a specialist to examine Ed. We wanted a specialist to examine Ed.

33. Verbless clauses
1. verbless clauses functioning as
complement to a preposition
1. verbless clauses functioning directly as
adjuncts

34. 1. Verbless clauses as complement to a
preposition
 There is no preposition that licenses ONLY a verbless clause as
complement
 With, without accept non-finite and verbless clauses
 Although, if, once, while accept finite, non-finite and verbless
clauses
i He’d been on the beach *without anyone noticing him] [non-finite]
ii He’d been on the beach *without any sunscreen on]. [Verbless]
iii [While I was working in Boston] I lived with my aunt [finite]
iv [While working in Boston] I lived with my aunt. [non finite]
v [While in Boston] I lived with my aunt. [verbless]

35. 2. Verbless clauses functioning directly
as adjuncts
Verbless clauses with a subject + predicate
structure can function as adjuncts
i The meeting finally over, they all adjourned
to the local cafe’.
ii The passengers, many of them quite
elderly, were forced to line up in the sun.

36. Exercise 1.
Classify the following catenative constructions
as simple or complex.
i They invited me to join the board.
ii I forgot to put the oven on.
iii I promised them to be back by six.
iv Ed was told by his doctor to do exercises.

37. Exercise 1.
Classify the following catenative constructions as
simple or complex.
i They invited me to join the board. –COMPLEX CATENATIVE( „me”)
ii I forgot to put the oven on. – SIMPLE CATENATIVE ( there is no an
intervening NP)
iii I promised them to be back by six.- COMPLEX CATENATIVE(„them”)
iv Ed was told by his doctor to do exercises. COMPLEX CATENATIVE
(passive voice)

38. Thank You