Another form of Nominative is a Gerund or Verbal noun ending in -ing: —
Walking ǀ is good for health.
Sometimes an Infinitive is used as an equivalent to the Nominative: —
To walk ǀ is good for health.
Sometimes a clause (that is, a sentence which is part of a larger sentence) is used as an equivalent to the Nominative. This is called a Noun-clause, because it does the work of a noun : —
Whom the gods love ǀ die young. — Proverb.
4. Enlargement of Nominative. — The Nominative is sometimes enlarged by a word or words that add something to its meaning.
The commonest form of enlargement is an adjective or a participle; and both forms of enlargement may occur together: —
| A fierce fire | burnt down my house |
| A fierce fire, breaking out yesterday, |
Another very common form of enlargement is a noun or pronoun in the Possessive case: —
A fox's tail
ǀ
is of a tawny colour.
Another form of enlargement is a noun in apposition (i.e. referring to the same thing as the other noun):—
John, the baker, has taken a new shop.
Another form of enlargement is a preposition followed by a noun: —
A bird in the hand
ǀ
is worth two in the bush.
Sometimes a clause can be used to enlarge the Nominative. This is called an Adjective-clause, because it enlarges the noun as an adjective would do.
The house in which we live ǀ has been sold.
5. Finite Verb. — Any part of a verb that can be used for saying something about something else (in any of the five senses shown in § 1) is called Finite.
The word "finite" means "limited." A Finite verb is so called, because it is limited to the same person (First, Second, or Third) and to the same number (Singular or Plural) as its Nominative:—
In both sentences the form of the verb "see" is the same.
