- also called a main verb
- a verb that has a subject
- a verb that shows tense, person, and number
- can be the main verb in a sentence
- Indicative mood (expressing a state of affairs) Example: The coffee is hot.
- Imperative mood (giving a command) Example: Make the coffee hot.
- Subjunctive mood (expressing something that might or might not be the state of affairs, depending on some other part of the sentence). Example: If the coffee was hot, I would drink it.
How to identify the finite verbs
in a sentence:
- Most finite verbs can take an -ed or a -d at the end of the word to indicate time in the past: Example: (cough)coughed (celebrate)celebrated.
- Nearly all finite verbs take an -s at the end of the word to indicate the present when the subject of the verb is third-person singular: Example: he coughs(cough) she celebrates(celebrate) The exceptions are auxiliary verbs like can and must. Remember that nouns can also end in -s. Thus the dog races can refer to a spectator sport or to a fast-moving third-person singular dog.
- Finite verbs surround their subjects when some forms of a question are asked. Example: Is he coughing? Did they celebrate?
- Finite verbs are often groups of words that include auxiliary verbs. Example: can be suffering, must eat, will have gone.
- Finite verbs usually follow their subjects: Example : He coughs. The documents had compromised.
Kind of Finite Verb
- Transitive
Is a verb that requires both a direct subject
and one or more objects
Example :
You pushed the cart ("cart" is the direct object of "pushed")
I ate the pie ("pie" is an object of
"ate")
Intransitive
it is an action verb and has no direct object
Example : James went
to the campus cafe for a steaming bowl of squid eyeball stew.
Linking
Is a verb that is used to connect a subject
with an adjective or noun that
describes or identifies the subject. The most
common linking verb is be
Example : The party was fantastic.
