nonfinite
Adjective
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Adjective
nonfinite (not comparable)
- Infinite.
- (grammar) Not finite.
- Although a finite I ( = INFL = INFLECTION) constituent is (overtly or covertly) inflected for TENSE or AGREEMENT properties, it should be obvious that a nonfinite I in English lacks these properties. Hence, the infinitival particle to which occurs in a nonfinite I is by its very nature tenseless and agreementless (i.e. it carries no Tense or Agreement properties, and is thus an entirely uninflected form). The difference between a finite and a nonfinite Clause can thus be seen to lie in the nature of I: a finite Clause is one which contains a finite I (carrying Tense and Agreement properties); a nonfinite Clause is one which contains a nonfinite I which is tenseless and agreementless.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002