Infinitives
What are Infinitives?
Simply put, infinitives are the base or simplest form of a verb. They are the “to” form of a verb, typically preceded by the word “to,” though there are cases where the “to” is dropped.
The infinitive form of a verb is not inflected for tense, aspect, person, or number. This means that it remains the same regardless of whether it refers to the past, present, or future, or whether it’s used with first person (I/we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/they).
Examples of infinitives include:
- to walk
- to eat
- to read
- to go
- to be
Types of infinitive
Bare Infinitive:
This is the base form of the verb without the word “to.” It is used after certain verbs like “can,” “could,” “will,” “would,” “shall,” “should,” “may,” “might,” “must,” “let,” “dare,” and “ought to.”
For example:
- She can dance.
- He will go.
To-Infinitive:
This is the most common form of the infinitive, characterized by the word “to” followed by the base form of the verb. It is used in a variety of sentence structures:
- As a subject: To travel is her dream.
- As an object: She loves to read books.
- After adjectives: He is excited to start.
- After certain verbs: She wants to learn.
- After nouns: He has the ability to speak.
