Finite versus Infinite verb

Verbs express actions, states of being and habits but while some are finite, some are infinite. The description of finite and infinite is beyond the level of lexical/main and auxiliary/helping verbs; in fact, some lexical verbs can also be infinite. For proper clarification, I'll take these concepts one after the other.  What is finite verb? Finite verb is a form of verb that is attached to its subject in relationship; it makes a complete sense in a sentence and does not need any other verbal help. This doesn't mean auxiliary verbs are infinite. All auxiliaries are finite except being and having.

Examples: I like singing everyday. He likes singing everyday. They like singing everyday. The underlined are finite because they agree with the subjects.

Infinite, you must know, is simply referring to base forms of verbs, that is, not having any relationship with the subjects neither is it inflected for any subject or time in agreement. The subjects and infinite verbs are usually disjointed.

Examples: he noticed Tewfik smash the clock. He likes singing. They like singing. In the first example smash is in its base form. It could've been in a form like: smashing/smashed to show a particular tense but it rather remained in the base form. It doesn't agree with the subject or time. Taking the second and third examples, you should've seen that while like takes cognisance of the subjects and change its form to make balance in agreement with the subjects, singing remains unchanged. Singing is infinite.

There are other ways of identifying the infinite. They are:

• Verbs in ing form: breaking, singing.
• Verbs in en form: bitten, broken.
• Verbs in ed form: strangled, crowned.
• Verbs used as adjectives: that broken bottle. Broken, in this regard, qualifies or describes the noun, bottle. Note: whenever a verb is used as an adjective, it's inconsiderably infinite. An overcooked meal. What kind of verb is overcooked?

Tying up the loose ends, I must tell you that the presence of an infinite verb in a group of words makes the group of words a phrase, but that group must not have a subject, else the verb may not be seen as infinite and therefore taken as a clause.

Consider: He strangled the man. Strangled by a cruel man.

In the first example, strangled isn't an infinite verb because it connects with a subject but it is, in the second because the statement isn't complete. You find yourself asking a question like: what happened? Take our class on phrase to understand this part clearly.