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# finite

adjective (finite)

«finite» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Finite means having an end or a limit; not going on forever. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#m1)
2. (grammar) A finite verb is a verb that shows tense and agrees with its subject, as in «she runs». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#m2)

### In the lessons

In maths, a finite set has a countable number of things; numbers themselves are infinite; in science and geography, finite resources like oil and coal will run out; in grammar, finite and non-finite verbs.

### Examples

- The Earth has finite supplies of oil. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#x1)
- Our time on the trip is finite, so let's hurry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#x2)
- A finite set has an end, like the days of the week. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#x3)
- The counting numbers are infinite, not finite. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#x4)
- In «She sings», «sings» is a finite verb. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/#x5)

### Note

Opposite: «infinite» (no end). Say it «FY-nite»; but «infinite» is «IN-fin-it». Maths: finite = you could, in principle, finish counting.

## In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: Sefer Yetzirah's writers speak of the finite and the infinite: things that have limits, and God, who has none. In the primary lessons: In maths, a finite set has a countable number of things; numbers themselves are infinite; in science and geography, finite resources like oil and coal will run out; in grammar, finite and non-finite verbs.

### Examples

- The word סָפַר safar is technically a finite verb, and not a noun as the syntax requires. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/finite/#x1)
- Since One, 1 is the finite, the Zero, 0 is the true infinite of the Pythagoreans. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/finite/#x2)
- Chaos .signified in the ancient cosmogonies the vacant, in- finite space out of which sprang all things that exist. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/finite/#x3)

### Note

Opposite: «infinite» (no end). Say it «FY-nite»; but «infinite» is «IN-fin-it». Maths: finite = you could, in principle, finish counting.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «finite» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/finite/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«finite» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/finite.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «finite» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/finite/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«finite» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/finite.html) on Mova free.