Infinitives

Definition:
 Infinitives are a base form or root form of verb.
 An infinitive consists of the words “to + verb”.
 It names an action and is used mostly as a
complement of verb.

For Example:
• Sana loves to sing.
To + sing Infinitive

• An Infinitive is formed by placing ‘to’ before the
base verb.
• To + base verb infinitive

Infinitive as a Non-Finite verb

Infinitive as a Non-Finite verb
• An infinitive is a non-finite verb.
• It is not limited by tense, number or person

For Example:
Person and number
• First person singular ‘I’
• Second person singular ‘You’
• Third person singular ‘He”
• First person plural ‘We’
• Third person singular ‘They’
Example
• I love to sing.
• You love to sing.
• He loves to sing.
• We love to sing.
• They love to sing.

For Example:
Tense
• Simple Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense
Example
• Sana loves to sing
• We loved to sing duet.
• She will love to sing at the party.

Types of Infinitives
Full infinitive.
Bare Infinitive
Anaphoric to

Full Infinitive:
To + verb= full infinitive
– We loved to sing
– She is agree to come

Bare Infinitive:
Only verb is used. ‘to’ is omitted here.
– I heard him say it.
– The company made him work long hour

Anaphoric to:
 It is used without verb.
 ‘to’ is used as a substitute for the infinitive and has a
reference for earlier mention verb.
 Do you want to leave this restaurant.
Yes, I want to.

1. Infinitives usually appear after the main
verb in the sentence.

For Example:
• They waited to meet the director.
main verb Infinitive
• Salma was dressed to go for the party.
main verb Infinitive

2. Infinitives are uses after certain verbs like
forget, learn, hope, need, want, agree,
encourage, pretend, decide, refuse, etc.

For Example:
• Sara refuses to leave.
verb Infinitive
• Why do you pretend to like me?
• Hamid forget to shut the door.

3. The infinitive form also appears after adjectives
like happy, pleased, surprise, sad, disappointed,
etc.

For Example:
• I was sad to hear the news.
Adjective Infinitive
• They are surprised to see us.
• I am pleased to welcome you.

4. Infinitives appear after ‘too + adjective’ in a
sentence.

For Example:
• It is too hot to go outside.
• It is too late to turn back now.

5. Infinitives appear after ‘adjective + enough’ in a
sentence.

For Example:
• Your book is heavy enough to use.
• Ali is old enough to make his own decisions.
• You are smart enough to know this is wrong.

6. Sometimes infinitives can appear at the start of
the sentence where they are used as a subject.

For Example:
• To err is human.
• To make mistake is human.
• To pack for vacation can take long time.

7. The infinitive does not always appear with
the ‘to’ before the base verb.

For Example:
• The coach made us run on the field.
• The company makes him work long hours.

8. An infinitive can be used to join sentences.

For Example:
Every team has a captain. He leads the players.
Every team has a captain to lead the players.

8. An infinitive is also used to substitute for ‘so
that’.

For Example:
• She went to the shop so that she could help them.
• She went to the shop to help them.

An infinitive can also be use in different ways in a
sentence.
Person and number
• As the subject of the verb
• As the object of a transitive verb
• As the complement of a verb
• As the object of a preposition
• As an objective complement
Example
• To work there is quite a
task.
• Aslam like to eat.
• My only wish is to succeed.
• We are about to leave.
• You need to go.

Infinitives

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