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Sasha, come here and clean this mess.Is this a complete sentence? As much as I know,it doesn't contain any finite verb,so it doesn't satisfy the definition of a sentence.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

LeGion12359Is this a complete sentence?

Yes, it is the imperative form. The sentence has two verbs. The implied subject is "you."

Sasha, come here and clean this mess.

LeGion12359 · Answer

AlpheccaStarsYes, it is the imperative form. The sentence has two verbs. The implied subject is "you."Sasha, come here and clean this mess.

But Teacher,you said, "A sentence needs an inflected verb" and that sentence doesn't contain any?

CalifJim · Answer

LeGion12359A sentence needs an inflected verb

Only participles and infinitives are considered "not inflected" All of the tenses, including indicative, modal, subjunctive, and the imperative (which you have here) are considered "inflected".

inflected ~ finite
non-inflected ~ non-finite

CJ

Clive · Answer

To me, standard English is clean up this mess.

LeGion12359 · Answer

CalifJimOnly participles and infinitives are considered "not inflected" All of the tenses, including indicative, modal, subjunctive, and the imperative (which you have here) are considered "inflected".inflected ~ finitenon-inflected ~ non-finite

Alright, But I wonder why imperatives are considered inflected? They don't even have a subject as a verb's actor?
Inflect= alter a word to show tense
we can't say like this:
Sasha,came here and cleaned this mess.

CalifJim · Answer

LeGion12359They don't even have a subject as a verb's actor?

Yes they do. It's the person you're commanding to do something. You don't need to say "you" because you're right there talking to the person you are commanding. For example, "yourself" refers back to the subject "you" in the following:

Clean yourself up! ~ You! Clean yourself up!

LeGion12359Sasha, came here and cleaned this mess.

Impossible as a command. Remove the comma and you have a statement about what Sasha did in the past. It's not a command.

Sasha came here and cleaned (up) this mess. Past event.
Sasha, come here and clean (up) this mess. Command to Sasha, telling him or her what to do.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

LeGion12359But I wonder why imperatives are considered inflected?

They are inflected verbs because a sentence in imperative mood makes a complete thought or idea.

The sentences below are complete. You will see the imperative mood very often!

Review this page for examples of the imperative mood.
Click on this link: http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/imperative/menu.php

LeGion12359 · Answer

CalifJimYes they do. It's the person you're commanding to do something. You don't need to say "you" because you're right there talking to the person you are commanding. For example, "yourself" refers back to the subject "you" in the following:Clean yourself up! ~ You! Clean yourself up!LeGion12359Sasha, came here and cleaned this mess.Impossible as a command. Remove the comma and you have a statement about what Sasha did in the past. It's not a command.Sasha came here and cleaned (up) this mess. Past event.Sasha, come here and clean (up) this mess. Command to Sasha, telling him or her what to do

Thank you Teacher. By the way, If we talk about Modal verbs,they always have a subject as their actor but they are not inflected to show tense,despite of that they are called as Finite verbs, Why?
talking about present:
He could be on the bus.
talking about past:
He could have been on the bus.
where, could remains same in both situations.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

LeGion12359By the way, If we talk about Modal verbs,

Modal verbs are a class of auxiliary verbs.
They are always used with a main verb, not by themselves.
There are two forms: modal, and modal perfect.

Read more here: http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/verbmodal.html

Modal perfect uses the helping verb "have" in addition to the main verb (past participle.)

Sandra

: Help me, please.(Imperative mood.) My car broke down and I am sitting beside the highway.
Joseph: That car of yours is 25 years old!!! You should have sold it yesterday! (modal perfect.)

CalifJim · Answer

LeGion12359If we talk about Modal verbs,they always have a subject as their actor but they are not inflected to show tense,despite of that they are called as Finite verbs, Why?

Modal verbs are not inflected in exactly the way that the other verbs are in modern English, but they originated historically from inflected forms. You can still see the remnants of those inflections today: can > could, will > would, ... Note the -d endings for the past, just as for most other verbs.

LeGion12359Present:He could be on the bus. Past:He could have been on the bus.

'could', as explained above, is considered an inflected form. It's a form of 'can'.
The fact that modal verbs form statements about past time differently than other verbs do does not make them uninflected forms.
_____________

There are two meanings of 'inflected form' as that term applies to verbs.

1. literally, having an ending different from the infinitive
..... hope > hopes> hoped
or, in the case of irregular verbs, having a form that differs from the infinitive in an irregular way
.... take > took
2. having any form that can create an independent clause, including a form that has no ending.

If we take the second, more inclusive definition, we have what is more usually meant by 'inflected form'. Thus, if we say

Those men work here every day.

we are using an inflected form (in the second sense), even though 'work' has no ending. It's much more important that we can make an independent clause with the form 'work', and much less important that 'work' has no ending.

CJ

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