When to use an infinitive?
Points to remember
- An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb; it may be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
- An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive plus modifier (s), object (s), complement (s), and/or actor (s).
- An infinitive phrase requires a comma only if it is used as an adverb at the beginning of a sentence.
What are the 5 uses of infinitive?
- I want to go.
- She wants to go.
- They wanted to go.
- We will want to go.
When to use infinitives?
Using infinitives to show a purpose
- I use coupons to save money. My purpose in using coupons is saving money.
- I use coupons in order to save money. ...
- In order to save money, I use coupons. ...
- I use my smartphone to take pictures. ...
- To find the best price for the car he wanted, Bob used the internet. ...
- Bob used the internet to find the best price for the car he wanted. ...
What is an infinitive used as an adjective?
Infinitives as Adjectives An adjective is a word that modifies (adds to or describes) a noun. So infinitives function as adjectives when they modify or describe nouns in a sentence. Example: Joel wants a book to read. In this sentence, the verb is “wants” and the subject is the noun “book.”.
What is an example of an infinitive?
Examples include, “to walk,” “to read,” or “to eat.” Infinitives can act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. As a noun, they might act as the subject of the sentence. For example, “To travel is the only thing on her mind.” As an adjective, they'll modify a noun.
How do you identify an infinitive in a sentence?
To identify an infinitive phrase in a sentence:First, find the word to.Second, if the word after to is a verb, then it is an infinitive.Third, if the infinitive is in the middle of the sentence, then the infinitive phrase starts at to and ends at the end of the sentence.
What are the 3 types of infinitives?
Let's start with the three major types of infinitives - Full, Bare, and Split Infinitives.
What is in an infinitive?
An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb; it may be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive plus modifier(s), object(s), complement(s), and/or actor(s).
What are the 4 types of infinitives?
In English, when we talk about the infinitive we are usually referring to the present infinitive, which is the most common. There are, however, four other forms of the infinititive: the perfect infinitive, the perfect continuous infinitive, the continuous infinitive, & the passive infinitive.
How do you teach infinitives?
Instruct your students to include at least once sentence each of where the infinitives either express purpose, act as a subject, follow an adjective, are used with an auxiliary, make a judgment, contain question words, and include the phrase “had better”.
What are the 5 infinitives?
Here's a discussion of the five types of infinitives.Subject. An infinitive can constitute the subject of a sentence. ... Direct Object. In the sentence “We all want to see,” “to see” is the direct object, the noun (or noun substitute) that receives the action of the verb. ... Subject Complement. ... Adjective. ... Adverb.
What is gerund and infinitive?
A gerund is a verb form that ends in “-ing” and is used as a noun (walking, traveling, voting); an infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by “to” (to walk, to travel, to vote). Gerunds and infinitives can function as the subject of a sentence or the object of a verb.
What are finite and Nonfinite verbs?
Verbs which have the past or the present form are called FINITE verbs. Verbs in any other form (infinitive, -ing, or -ed) are called NONFINITE verbs. This means that verbs with tense are finite, and verbs without tense are nonfinite.
Why are verbs called infinitives?
English infinitives are preceded by the word 'to'. These verbs are called infinitives because, like the concept of infinity, they are not bound by time. From the infinitive, we derive the conjugated forms of the verb, also known as the finite forms of the verb.
How do you use infinitive in a sentence?
ExamplesThere's too much sugar to put in this bowl.I had too many books to carry.This soup is too hot to eat.She was too tired to work.He arrived too late to see the actors.I've had enough food to eat.She's old enough to make up her own mind.There isn't enough snow to ski on.More items...
How do you identify infinitives without?
The infinitive is used without to after modal auxiliary verbs will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might and must. It might rain later in the evening. (NOT It might to rain later in the evening.) I must go now....Infinitives without toI want to go.She wants to sing.It is nice to meet you.
What are infinitive phrases?
An infinitive phrase is a group of words consisting of an infinitive, a modifier or the use of pronouns, direct objects, indirect objects or complements of action or state expressed in the infinitive.
How do you identify an infinitive adverb?
B. Just like a single-word adverb, an infinitive used as an adverb always describes a verb. An adverbial infinitive usually occurs at the beginning or at the end of a sentence and does not need to be near the verb it describes. infinitive. If the words in order make sense, the infinitive is adverbial.
How do you know when to use gerund or infinitive?
If used before the main verb, they are the subject of the verb; after the main verb, they are the object of the verb. If a preposition is used after the verb, do not use an infinitive. If a common expression ends with a preposition, then it may be followed by a gerund.
What is an infinitive?
An infinitive is formed from a verb but doesn't act as a verb. It acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb, and it is actually made up of two words: to + verb. These two words act together as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Words that are formed from verbs but don't act as verbs are called verbals. There are two other types of verbals: gerunds ...
Where to write verbs on angled lines?
Place the word to on an angled line, and write the verb on a horizontal line coming off the angled line.
What are words that are formed from verbs but don't act as verbs called?
Words that are formed from verbs but don't act as verbs are called verbals . There are two other types of verbals: gerunds and participles.
Is "together" a noun?
The whole phrase together is acting as a noun (the direct object of love ), but you may have noticed that in lakes is an adverbial prepositional phrase. It is telling us where you like to swim.
Do these guys have adjectives?
Yes! Since these guys are formed from verbs, they maintain some attributes of verbs even though they act as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Even if it is acting as a noun, its "verbness" allows it to take adverbial modifiers just like other verbs. (But it can still take adjectival modifiers just like other nouns.)
What is an infinitive verb?
In English grammar, an infinitive is the base form of a verb that can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb. "Infinitive" comes from the Latin word infinitus meaning endless. The infinitive is a type of verbal, or word derived from a verb that does not function as a verb, that is almost always preceded by the particle "to".
What is a perfect infinitive?
A perfect infinitive is defined as "to" + "have" + a past participle. James Thurber spoke about perfect infinitives in his article for The New Yorker titled "Our Own Modern English Usage: The Perfect Infinitive.” Below is an excerpt from this article that describes the perilous situation of too many "haves".
What are some examples of infinitives that do not follow main verbs?
Here are a few examples of infinitives that do not follow main verbs and/or are being used as sentence parts other than subjects or objects: To raise a child is the highest form of education.—"to raise" is the subject of the verb "is".
How to make a negative infinitive phrase?
A negative infinitive phrase can be formed by placing the negative particle "not" in front of "to". Examples of negative infinitive phrases: She told me not to drink the milk. I was going to really try not to be late. They were warned not to go near the poison ivy.
Why do people fall back on the perfect infinitive?
They, therefore, fall back on the perfect infinitive, 'to have found,' because it implies that the thing hoped for did not come to pass.
What Is An Infinitive?
What is an infinitive? An infinitive is a verbal consisting of to + a verb, and it acts like a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. Infinitives are easy to identify because they’re written with to + a verb.
What is an adjective in a sentence?
An adjective is a word that describes more information about a noun. An infinitive act as an adjective if it modifies or describes a noun in a sentence. Example: Joyce needs a table to read on. Here “needs” is the verb, and “table” is the subject (noun). “To read” is the infinitive, and it acts as an adjective.
What is an adverb?
An adverb is a word that modifies or describes an adjective, verb, or an adverb. It provides additional information regarding an adjective, verb, or adverb. At times, adverbs can answer the question “why.”
Is an infinitive easy to find?
Although an infinitive is easy to locate because of the to + verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence can sometimes be confusing.
Is "to study" an infinitive?
Here the verb is “desire” and “to study” is the infinitive. “To study” is the direct object of “desire” since it’s the receiver of the action of the verb. Here the infinitive functions as a noun. We can only extend our conversation if we have something in common to share.
Is an infinitive a noun?
Infinitives as Nouns. Keep in mind that a noun can be a person, place, or thing. When used as a subject or direct object in a sentence, an infinitive phrase acts as a noun. In such a case, the subject assumes the role of a verb, whereas the direct object is the receiver of the action of a verb. Example:
What is an infinitive verb?
An infinitive verb is essentially the base form of a verb with the word "to" in front of it. When you use an infinitive verb, the "to" is a part of the verb. It is not acting as a preposition in this case. Some examples of infinitive verbs include: to be. to have.
Why are infinitives never conjugated?
Infinitives are never conjugated with -ed or -ing at the end because they are not used as verbs in a sentence. They’re one of the three types of verbals, which are verbs used as an adjective, noun or adverb. The other verbals are gerunds and participles.
What is bare infinitive?
A bare infinitive is an infinitive without “to.” It’s not the same thing as a base verb; bare infinitives are still used as verbals in a sentence. You’re most likely to see bare infinitives with modal verbs ( would, could, can, should, will, may, might, ought to, shall, and others)
What is the difference between an infinitive and a base verb?
Infinitive Verb vs. Base Verb. Infinitives include the basic (unconjugated) form of a verb, but they don’t function the same way. The most basic form of a verb is the base form. The base form is just the verb, without the "to.".
What are some examples of adjectives that include the words "too" or "enough"?
Adjectives that include the words “too” or “enough” require infinitives to fill in the rest of the meaning. For example: It’s too hard to be an astronaut. (The adjective is too hard) Shane is too full to have another hamburger. (The adjective is too full) The manager is nice to hold the job for me.
Can you use infinitives in English?
Because they function as nouns, adjectives and adverbs, they can appear almost anywhere. Now that you can spot an infinitive, take a look at the various ways they pop up in the English language.
What is an infinitive?
Definition of infinitive (Entry 2 of 2) : a verb form normally identical in English with the first person singular that performs some functions of a noun and at the same time displays some characteristics of a verb and that is used with to (as in "I asked him to go") except with auxiliary and various other verbs ...
Where does the word "infinitif" come from?
Middle English infinityf, borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French infinitif, borrowed from Late Latin infīnītīvus, from Latin infīnītus "not specified, indefinite, of a verbal form that does not specify person or number" + -īvus -ive — more at infinite entry 1
What is the infinitive form of a verb?
The infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its basic form. It is the version of the verb which will appear in the dictionary. The infinitive form of a verb is usually preceded by "to" (e.g., "to run," "to dance," "to think"). The infinitive form is not always preceded by "to.". Look at these examples:
What are some examples of infinitive verbs?
Examples of Infinitives as Nouns. Here are some examples of infinitive verbs as nouns: To dance was her passion. (The infinitive is the subject of "was.") Compare it to this: Dancing was her passion. (This proves that the infinitive "to dance" is being used a noun.) Here is another example: He likes to hunt.
What is an adverb?
An adverb usually modifies a verb to tell us when, where, how, in what manner, or to what extent an action is performed. You have to bear this in mind when working out how infinitives function as adverbs. Here are some examples of infinitive verbs as adverbs:
What is an adjective?
An adjective modifies a noun to tell us something about the noun (e.g., its colour, type, or number). You have to bear this in mind when working out how infinitives function as adjectives. Here are some examples of infinitive verbs as adjectives:
When discussing grammar, the full infinitive (e.g., "to play") is used to name the?
When discussing grammar, the full infinitive (e.g., "to play") is used to name the verb.
Is "to" a preposition?
The word "to" is not a preposition. It is often called the "sign of the infinitive.". There's more on this below.) I run every day. (This is not in the infinitive form. This is a finite verb, i.e., a verb functioning as the main verb.) An infinitive is a non-finite verb.
Is it necessary to avoid split infinitives?
There is no need to actively avoid a split infinitive, which is often the most succinct, accurate, and natural way to convey your thought.
What is the infinitive and how is it used in English?
The infinitive is the so-called base form of the verb, which is unconjugated and so ‘unchanged’. It is typically indicated with ‘ to ’ in the English language. It is also the form that is displayed in a dictionary when looking for a verb. However, when used in a sentence, it may appear without ‘ to ’ as well. The following uses are possible:
What are some examples of infinitives?
Some examples of infinitives are: to go, to do, to drink, to hear, to realize, to fly, to exercise, to write, to watch, to break, etc. In a sentence, the base form appears with ‘ to ’ (and for this reason, as the to -infinitive) in the following cases: After adjectives, which may also be compared: “It’s nice to see you.”.
Can an infinitive be used without "to"?
The infinitive can also be used without ‘ to ’. Then, it is called the bare infinitive and occurs primarily in sentences such as these: “Peter doesn’t play tennis.”. “I don’t like fish very much.”. “My father can cook very well.”. “You mustn’t smoke in here.”.
What is an infinitive?
Infinitives. This handout provides a detailed overview (including descriptions and examples) of gerunds, participles, and infinitives. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb (in its simplest "stem" form) and functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. The term verbal indicates that an infinitive, ...
What does it mean when you split an infinitive?
Split infinitives occur when additional words are included between to and the verb in an infinitive. Many readers find a single adverb splitting the infinitive to be acceptable, but this practice should be avoided in formal writing.
What does "caroline" mean in the infinitive?
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of the verb wanted. Carol (actor or "subject" of infinitive phrase) to be (infinitive)
Can an italicized verb take an infinitive object with or without an actor?
In all of these examples the italicized main verb can take an infinitive object with or without an actor.
Is an actor required after the italicized main verb?
In all of these examples an actor is required after the italicized main (finite) verb and before the infinitive direct-object phrase.
Can an actor come between an italicized verb and an infinitive direct object?
In all of these examples no actor can come between the italicized main (fini te) verb and the infinitive direct-object phrase.
Is an infinitive a subject?
However, the infinitive may function as a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. Although an infinitive is easy to locate because of the to + verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence can sometimes be confusing.
Why Should I Care about Infinitive Phrases?
For those learning or teaching English though, life is a little trickier because deliberate consideration must be given to how infinitive phrases function (i.e., as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs) before they can be used or taught. The other issue for language learners or teachers is understanding when to drop the "to" of an infinitive verb (i.e., when to use a "bare infinitive"). This is covered in more detail on the infinitive verbs page.
What is the complement of an infinitive verb?
The complement of an infinitive verb will often be its direct object, and the modifier will often be an adverb. For example: He likes to knead the dough slowly. (The infinitive verb is "to knead.". The complement is its direct object ("the dough"). The modifier is the adverb ("slowly").
What is the infinitive phrase for "to have a big dream"?
To have a big dream requires the same effort as having a small dream. Dream big! (Brazilian-Swiss businessman Jorge Paulo Lemann) (The infinitive phrase is the subject of "requires.") To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something, but to fly is everything.
What is Smashing Grammar?
Written by the founder of Grammar Monster, "Smashing Grammar" includes a glossary of grammar essentials (from apostrophes to zeugma) and a chapter on easily confused words (from affect/effect to whether/if). Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to real-life, entertaining examples. All entries conclude with a section highlighting why the grammar point is relevant for a writer and top-level bullet points summarizing the entry. If you like Grammar Monster, you'll love this book. [ More…]
Is a complement an adverb?
The complement of an infinitive verb will often be its direct object, and the modifier will often be an adverb. For example:
Is "to help him who strives to help himself" a noun?
The infinitive phrase "to help him who strives to help himself" is functioning as a noun (i.e., it is the direct object of "loves"). That infinitive phrase contains the infinitive phrase "to help himself," which is functioning as an adverb modifying "strives.")
Is it necessary to avoid split infinitives?
There is no need to actively avoid a split infinitive, which is often the most succinct, accurate, and natural way to convey your thought.
