VerbForm: form of verb
In English, VerbForm is a feature of verbs.
Fin: finite verb
Rule of thumb: if it has non-empty Mood, it is finite. English verbs with the PTB tag VBZ, VBD or VBP and modals with the PTB tag MD have this feature. Further, verbs with the PTB tag VB have this feature if they don’t have an auxiliary or modal verb attached to it.
Examples:
- I do, she has
- Read the book!
Inf: infinitive
Infinitive is the citation form of verbs in many languages. Infinitives may be used together with auxiliaries to form periphrastic tenses (e.g. future tense I will sit in a plane), they appear as arguments of modal verbs etc. English verbs with the PTB tag VB have this feature if they have an auxiliary or modal verb or the inifinitval to attached to it.
Examples:
- I have to leave.
Part: participle
Participle is a non-finite verb form that shares properties of verbs and adjectives. It is used to form various periphrastic verb forms such as complex tenses and passives. In English, all words with the PTB tag VBD have this feature. Further, words with the PTB tag VBG can also have this feature (along with Tense=Pres) if they are used in the progressive construction (with an aux), or otherwise occur in non-noun-like environments.1
Examples:
- He could have been prepared if he had forseen it.
- I will be driving home.
- They are being nasty.
- Rumsfeld initially rejected the proposal, saying there were “no good targets” there.
Ger: gerund
Gerund is a non-finite verb form that shares properties of verbs and nouns. In English, the traditional grammar distinction between present participles and gerunds is not made in the Penn Treebank or more modern grammars, which treat -ing forms as a single inflection of the verb (CGEL calls it the “gerund-participial” form). UD approximates the traditional grammar distinction, subdividing words with the PTB tag VBG: they have this feature (with no Tense) if they occur in noun-like environments and lack an aux dependent.1
Note that some forms derived from -ing verbs are tagged as NOUNs; these do not receive verbal features.
Examples:
- I enjoyed working with you.
- Buffett’s usual justification for keeping most of his money
- cf. The opening of the store was delayed.: opening is tagged as a NOUN, so it has no
VerbForm
VerbForm in other languages: [ab] [abq] [akk] [bej] [bg] [bm] [cs] [cu] [cy] [el] [eme] [en] [es] [fi] [fr] [ga] [gub] [gun] [hbo] [hu] [hy] [it] [ka] [kpv] [ky] [la] [mdf] [myv] [orv] [pcm] [qpm] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urj] [xcl]