TJ,
I still don't get why you want to make the finite distinction. In what
way do finite verbs in subordinate clauses "sustain" a sentence in a way
that a nonfinite verb does not? Neither a subordinate clause nor an
infinitive whatever-we-want-to-call-it will "sustain" a complete sentence.
I don't think teaching the distinction between finite and nonfinite is
problematic. I just think that tying the "clause" label to finite verbs
alone is neither accurate nor pedagogically helpful.
Karl
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