I see what you mean by the difference between “finite” and “infinite.”
What I am curious about is the notion that these constructions are *clauses* rather than *phrases*. In other words, I am questioning
my definition of a clause. The construction “[to] grow tall” looks
like an infinitive *phrase* to me,
not a *clause* at all.
Nancy
Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
803-786-3706
From:
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008
7:17 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Odd sentence
Yes, that's the definition. However, the
infinitive isn't always marked, and the clauses can have subjects. That
makes them harder to recognize.
For example, in a sentence like this ' Vitamins make
children grow tall,' grow is non-finite. You can tell because you
can't put it in the past tense. * Vitamins made children grew tall. It doesn’t work.
Also, if you substitute a pronoun for the subject, it turns out to be an object
pronoun.
Vitamins make them grow
tall. * Vitamins make they grow tall. That doesn’t work either.
In my sentence, the problem is that when I try to test
the troublesome clause by changing the tense, it seems to change the meaning
quite a bit.
When they reached the coast of
colonies of
them a stipulated tax.
It makes it sound as though it had already happened
but I don’t think that is what the sentence means.
Or if I try to change the person:
When they reached the coast of
colony of
them a stipulated tax.
It’s the same. It means it is already
happening.
Janet
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Odd sentence
I had never heard the terms “finite” and
“nonfinite clauses,” so I looked
them up. The examples I found actually look like
infinitive and participle
*phrases* to me, not clauses at all.
Is this just another instance where we get tangled up
in terminology upon
which we can’t agree on the definition?
Here is what I read:
*********************
"Non-finite clauses are built around verbs that
do not have tense or
modality--verbs that are not sentence verb
phrases. These are clauses with
(1) infinitives and (2) participles (both -ed and
-ing).
Infinitive Clause: 1. He wondered why he had forsaken
physics *to study
human culture in the first place*.
Present Participle Clause: 2.*Entering the world of
the Yanomamo*, the
anthropologist experienced culture shock.
Past Participle Clause: 3. *Confused by the
differences between his culture
and theirs*, he wanted to flee and return home.
*********************
As always, I'm looking forward to being humbled and to
learning something
new . . .
Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
803-786-3706
-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Castilleja, Janet
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 5:49 PM
Subject: Odd sentence
Hi
What do you folks make of this sentence? Is the
clause that begins 'that
the Greek colonies..." finite or
non-finite? I think it is non-finite, but
I'm wavering a little.
When they reached the coast of
colonies of
them a stipulated tax.
Thanks
Janet Castilleja
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