WHEN WE USE AN INFINITIVE VERB

Defining an Infinitive 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.

Basically, an infinitive verb is a verb with the word “to” in front of i

• to be
• to have
• to hold
• to sleep
• to dream

When you use an infinitive verb, the “to” is a part of the verb. It is not acting as a preposition in this case. And the verb is always just the verb. It’s not conjugated in anyway – no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end. Sometimes you’ll see sentences like this:

• She went from kissing him to slapping him in no time.

You see “to slapping,” and it’s easy to think that’s an infinitive verb, but it isn’t. It’s a preposition (to) and a gerund (slapping). You can tell it’s not an infinitive because of the -ing on the end of the verb. Infinitives never have an -ing ending.

Infinitive Verb vs. Base Verb

A lot of people think that the infinitive is the most basic form of a verb, but it isn’t. The most basic form is the base form. The base form is just the verb, without the “to.” Some people also call this a bare infinitive.

• be
• have
• hold
• sleep
• dream

Using an Infinitive Verb

There are several possible ways to use infinitive verbs. You can use them:

1. as the subject of a sentence – To err is human; to forgive, divine.
2. like an adjective or adverb phrase that expresses purpose or intent – My instructions are to press this button every hour.
3. following a direct object – He told me to give this to you.
4. following certain other verbs:

• afford – We can’t afford to eat out every night.
• agree – Let’s agree to disagree.
• aim – I aim to please.
• appear – She appears to have the chicken pox.
• arrange – I’ll arrange to meet you at 3:00.
• attempt – We attempted to contact him several times.
• determined – They are determined to finish the race.
• beg – She begged to stay up past her bed time.