linguistic analyses of english nonfinite ing verb forms 英语毕设论文.doc

Linguistic Analyses of English Non-finite -ing Verb Forms Abstract English main verbs always play a dominant role in the sentence. Depending on whether they are marked in terms of tense or mood, verbs are classified into finite and non-finite. Some grammarians, represented by Otto Jespersen (1933;1940), A. J. Thomson(1980) and A. V. Martinet(1980), think that infinitive, participle(-ing participle and -ed/en participle) and gerund are three non-finite verb forms. But other grammarians like Randolph Quirk (1974;1980;1985), Sidney Greenbaum (1974;1980;1985), Geoffrey Leech(1980;1985), Jan Svartvik(1980;1985), etc. hold the view that there are only two non-finite verb forms – infinitive and participle(ibid). They use the term “-ing clause” to cover the two forms – -ing participle and gerund wholly, but they simultaneously point out that -ing clauses contain nominal characters. Ronald Wardhaugh(1995:25) mentioned “class boundaries” between verbal noun(gerund) and adjective participle. John Sinclair (1990) borrows the term “phase” to explain the collocation of verbs in a sentence. Rodney Huddleston (1988:63) uses the term “catenative” to discuss the usages of non-finite complements, but in his book “the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language”(2002:78-81) he uses other grammatical terms like “gerundial noun”, “participial adjective”, and “gerund-participle form of verb” to describe the characters of non-finite -ing verb form. In China, the same views as mentioned above also exist in most English grammar books. Zhang Daozhen(1995) and Bo Bing(2004) approve the classification given by Otto Jespersen et al for nearly half a century; Wang Jialing (1980)and Zhang Zhenbang(2003) agree to the viewpoint of Randolph Quirk et al. Furthermore, in recent years some key journals and periodicals have issued many articles titled by the terms of present/past participle, gerund or nominalized verbal noun etc., which seems to lead to chaos for most learners seeking to understand the