Non-finite verbs

[Jawaid Islam]

Are 'I must'nt' or 'I will' stand alone non-finitre verbs?

 

[philo2009]

No, these are FINITE verb phrases. Modal verbs exist only in finite form!

 

[corum]

If the verb phrase is finite and the verb phrase comprises more than one verb, the first verb is always finite, ie., inflected for tense and person, and the other verbs(s) is/are always non-finite, ie., they are in their base form or bare infinitive form.
'must' is the first finite verb in the verb phrase, which makes it an operator.

 

[corum]

One more thing: You have a sentence. Remove the subject. What is left behind is the predicate. A predicate is always a finite verb phrase with or without one or more auxiliary verbs (1) and with a main verb (1) at the end of the verb (2). It is always the first auxiliary in the sentence or it is the main verb that is finite. My use of 'verb' might be confusing for you for the reason that in grammar 'verb' means two things:

1. form; word class
2. function, relationship to the other constituents in the sentence

You see three bracketed numbers in the text, right? I put them there to distinguish form (1) from function (2).