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In grammar, the infinitive is the form of a verb that has no inflection to indicate person, number, mood or tense. It is called the "infinitive" because the verb is usually not made "finite", or limited by inflection. In some languages, however, there are inflected forms of the infinitive denoting attributes such as tense. There are languages that do not have infinitives at all, for example Modern Greek.
In foreign language courses, the present simple tense of the infinitive is often referred to as the "dictionary form," as this is the basic form of a verb which is usually presented in dictionaries.
By far the most common form of an infinitive in English language is with the particle "to", such as in "to walk", "to cry", "to eat", "to fear". This is known as the to-infinitive. William Shakespeare used a number of infinitives of this form in one of his most famous soliloquies, the "Soliloquy of Hamlet"
Verbs that are commonly followed by a to-infinitive include: agree, aim, appear, apply, arrange*, ask*, beg*, choose*, consent, decide, demand, desire, expect*, fail, guarantee, hope, intend*, long, negotiate, plan, plead, pledge, prefer*, pretend, resolve, seek, swear, threaten, undertake, volunteer, want*, wish*.
For example:
Those which are followed by an object and a to-infinitive include (in addition to those marked with an asterisk above): advise, allow, challenge, command, compel, condemn, enable, encourage, expect, forbid, force, help, induce, induce, inspire, instruct, invite, oblige, order, permit, persuade, prefer, program, remind, teach, tell, train, urge, warn.
For example:
Some verbs are followed by for + object + to-infinitive. These verbs normally express wanting, and cannot be followed by an object and an infinitive alone (though an infinitive alone may work). These verbs include apply, arrange, ask, call, clamour, long, opt, plead, press, vote, wait, wish, yearn.
For example:
A less common form of the infinitive is with the conditional auxiliary verbs "may" or "might". An example can again be found in the speech by Hamlet referenced above; "What dreams may come ...?". Another example is "we might win".
A third case of infinitive drops the preposition altogether. This is possible when the infinitive form is used in conjunction with a specific set of verbs - these include "feel", "hear", "help", "let", "make" (in the active), "see", and "watch", and dare and need in negative sentences. Examples include:
The last two cases, where the infinitive appears without to, are called the bare infinitive.
In addition to the to-infinitive and the bare infinitive, English also knows other types of infinitive.
This so called passive infinitive is used after certain verbs, especially reporting verbs, in between which an object stands. Verbs commonly followed by the passive infinitive are: allege, assume, believe, consider, estimate, fail, feel, imagine, instruct, know, prove, reckon, report, rumour, say, think, understand, want.
For example:
With reporting verbs, as well as appear, claim, happen, pretend, prove, seem, tend, and so on, the Perfect infinitive (to + have + past participle) is used to emphasise one action's occurring before another.
For example:
This structure can usually be rewritten with a preparatory it + defining relative (that) clause and a perfect tense. For instance: It seems that you have lost weight. It was said that he had been granted a scholarship.
Infinitives in English exist in many tenses. Here is a table showing these different tenses for the verb to cook.
| Active | Passive | |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | (to) cook | (to) be cooked |
| Present continuous | (to) be cooking | / |
| Present perfect simple | (to) have cooked | (to) have been cooked |
| Present perfect continuous | (to) have been cooking | / |
See also gerund.
The original Germanic suffix of the infinitive was -an, with verbs derived from other words ending in -jan or -janan. In German it is -en ("sagen"), with -eln or -ern endings on a few words based on -l or -r roots ("segeln", "ändern"); the use of zu with infinitives is less frequent than to in English. They can function as nouns in the -en form with a capitalized beginning letter, in which case they are of neuter gender ("das Essen" means the gerund "eating"). In Dutch infinitives also end in -en ("zeggen" - to say), sometimes used with 'te' similar to English to, e.g. "Ik zit te schrijven" -> "I sit to write". In Scandinavian languages the n has dropped out and it is -e or -a.
Romance infinitives can be used in much the same way as the "to" form of the infinitive is used in English, and they can also sometimes function as masculine nouns. In Spanish and Portuguese, infinitives always end in -ar, -er, or -ir. A similar phenomenon exists in French as well: infinitives of regular verbs have the suffixes -er -ir -re. Italian follows the same pattern, with its infinitives ending in -are, -ere, or -ire.
Formation of the infinitive in Romance languages reflects that of their ancestor, Latin, in which a significant majority of verbs had an infinitive ending with -re (with a varying vowel, called the thematical preceding it).
The infinitive in Russian usually ends in -t' (ть) preceded by a thematic vowel; some verbs have a stem ending in a consonant and change the t to ch, such as *могть -> мочь "can". Some other Slavic languages have the infinitive typically ending in -ć.
Hebrew has two infinitives, the infinitive absolute and the infinitive construct. The infinitive construct is used much as an English infinitive, including being preceded by ל "to" the infinitive absolute is used to add emphasis or certainty to the verb, as in מות ימות "he shall indeed die".
See also:
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