The syntax of events

Finite and non-finite forms

Summary of finite and non-finite forms

Finite = verb has tense (present or past)

Non-finite = verb does not have tense

There are three non-finite forms; the perfective form, e.g. I have broken it, the progressive form, e.g. I am eating it, and the infinitive, e.g. I hope to get married some day

NB WORD OF WARNING: The perfective from is often called the past participle. The past participle is terrible name, as we can use it to talk about the future, e.g. By this time tomorrow I will have finished the essay. It really refers to a COMPLETED event (we take an EXTERNAL perspective). Likewise the progressive form is sometimes called the present participle. This is also a terrible name as the present participle does not have to refer to now, e.g. She was laughing. It really refers to an INCOMPLETE / ONGOING EVENT (we take an INTERNAL perspective)

Finite forms tend to have a richer inflectional morphology, i.e. the form of the verb changes depending on the subject. In English the inflectional morphology is relatively sparse, e.g.

	Singular	Plural
1st person (speaker)	I run	We run
2nd person (hearer)	You run	You run
3rd person (neither speaker nor hearer)	She runs	They run

Spanish has a much richer system

	Singular	Plural
1st person (speaker)	Yo corro	Nosotros corremos
2nd person (hearer)	Tu corres	Vosotros correís
3rd person (neither speaker nor hearer)	El corre	Ellos corren

The importance of tense marking

With a few exceptions, all main verbs in English MUST be tense-marked, e.g.

1. *I eating food

2. I am eating foot (tensed auxiliary "rescues" the sentence)

The main exception is the imperative (for commands) which employs the infinitive:

1. Shut that door!

Grammatical Aspect

What is grammatical aspect?

Grammatical Aspect is used to signal one's PERSPECTIVE on an event. We can take an EXTERNAL perspective on the event (Perfective aspect), or INTERNAL perspective (Progressive aspect)

Perfective aspect requires "have" as the agreeing auxiliary

1. I have done it.

Progressive aspect requires "be" as the agreeing auxiliary

1. She is doing it

Combining tense and aspect

When combining tense and aspect we

1. Mark aspect on the rightmost verb and insert an appropriate auxiliary verb

2. Repeat last rule if necessary

3. Mark tense (plus ”the future”) on the leftmost verb

Aspect expresses the PERSPECTIVE. Tense expresses the VIEWPOINT (past / present / future), e.g.

1. She has${PRES.~TENSE}$ eaten${PERF.~ASP}$ the food

Perfective Aspect signals an EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE on the event (the event is completed). Past tense shows that we adopt a PRESENT VIEWPOINT on the event. This is the "Present Perfect" and it is used when when a completed event has relevance for the present, e.g. I have eaten the food, and therefore I am full

1. We 'll be${FUT.~TENSE}$ eating${PROG.~ASPECT}$ dinner when you arrive

Progressive Aspect signals an INTERNAL PERSPECTIVE on the event (it is ongoing). Future tense shows that we adopt a FUTURE VIEWPOINT. This is the "Future Progressive" and it is used to describe an ongoing future event.

Adding Adverbs

Adverbs typically come inside the Verb Complex, after the firs auxiliary (if there is one);

1. She is always laughing

2. She has never been arrested