VI Verbs
33 Verb forms
33.1 Finite verb, infinitive and participle
All verbs have (a) an infinitive form, (b) a present and a past participle, and (c) several
finite forms:(a) The infinitive form is the form found in dictionaries. It is the usual way of
referring to the verb as a concept. Thus, arbeiten means ‘to work’ and sagen means
‘to say’.(b) The present participle is an adjective derived from the infinitive by adding a ‘d’
(and, where necessary, the relevant adjectival ending). Thus, eine arbeitende Frau is
‘a working woman’ and ein nichts sagender Brief is ‘a letter that says nothing.’See^49 (p. 129).
The past participle is used in forming two of the past tenses (see 33.3): the perfect and
the pluperfect. Thus, ich habe gearbeitet means ‘I have worked’ and Was hattest du
gesagt? means ‘What did you say?’ The past participle is also used in the formation of
the passive (see 40 ).(c) The finite forms of a verb (see 5.1) carry specific information about:person: whether the verb is in the ‘I’ form or the ‘you’ form, for example
number: whether the verb is in the singular or the plural, e.g. whether it is in the ‘I’
form or the ‘we’ form
tense: whether the verb is in the present, past or future.For example, studiere reveals that the verb is first person singular (‘I’) and present tense
(‘I study’); and studiertest reveals that it is second person (familiar) singular, and past
tense (‘you studied’).Infinitives and participles do not carry this information. They each have only one fixed
form. Where they are used as part of the verb they must be accompanied by a finite
form, such as the forms in ich habe gearbeitet und du hast auch gearbeitet ‘I have
worked and you have worked too’.Infinitives are also used in certain types of instructions and commands (see 86.1b,
92 , 99 ).