Infinitives

What is an infinitive?
• An infinitive is the word “to” plus the base
form of a verb.
• It often functions as a noun, a subject or a
direct object.
• Can also function as an adjective or an adverb.
• Even though “to” is a preposition, it is NOT a
preposition when it is combined with the base
form of a verb; it is an infinitive.
 TO INFINITIVES
• To sing
• To dance
• To go
• To play
• To teach
• To work
• ALL of these are infinitives!
 Remember…
• Infinitives are easily recognized because of
the word “to” + the verb.

• An infinitive will ALMOST ALWAYS begin

with “to” followed by the simple form of the
verb.
Functions of to-infinitive
• To-infinitive is used in many sentence
patterns, often stating the purpose of
something or one's opinion of something. To-
infinitive is used after a wide variety of
different verbs.
 1. To-infinitive to state the purpose of an action
• to has the same meaning as in order to or so as to.
 2. To-infinitive as sentence subject
• It is a formal use and is much more commonly used in written English than spoken.
3. To-infinitive to state the usefulness of something
• In this pattern, to-infinitive follows a noun or pronoun.
 4. To-infinitive after adjective
• There is a common pattern of using to-infinitive with adjectives. These phrases are formed with patterns:

subject + to be + adjectives + (for/of a person) + to-infinitive + (rest of sentence)

5. To-infinitive to provide comments or judgments
• To use to-infinitive when making comments or judgments about nouns, the
patterns are:
Subject + to be + noun phrase + to-infinitive
 6. To-infinitive with adverb
• To-infinitive is also often used with adverbs too and enough to express the reasons behind our
satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The pattern is too and enough to be placed before or after
adjectives, adverbs, or nouns modified in the same way without to-infinitive. Then, we put
down the infinitive afterwards to explain the reason why the amount is excessive, sufficient, or
less. Usually, to-infinitive and all that follows can be omitted, leaving sentences that still have good
grammar.
 7. To-infinitive with question word
• Verbs ask, decide, explain, forget, know, show, tell, and understand can be followed by
question words such as where, how, what, who, and when + to-infinitive.
ZERO INFINITIVES
There are certain verbs that cause the “to” in the infinitive to
disappear called “Zero Infinitives”:
– Let watch
– See help
– Make dare
– Hear feel
Example:
– I saw him fall down the stairs.
– He heard his sister scream.
– Let me drive the car into the garage.

• The preposition except causes the “to” in the infinitive to disappear

also:
Example:
The child did nothing except lie in the crib
 Functions of Zero infinitive
1. Zero infinitive after auxiliary
 2. Zero infinitive after verbs related to the senses
For verbs related to the senses, the pattern is the verb + object + zero infinitive.

3. Zero infinitive after verbs 'make' and 'let'

4. Zero infinitive after expression 'had better'

5. Zero infinitive with "why"

 Don’t forget...
• FORMULA

• TO + VERB (base form) = INFINITIVE

• NOTE: You cannot add s, es, ed, or ing to the

end. Ever!
PRACTICE: Identify the infinitive.
1. He wanted to watch the dog in the yard.
2. The coach taught him to hit a curve ball.
3. The student had to write a report about
the famous detective.
4. No one wants to hear from you.
5. I would like to teach high school English
one day.
Infinitive
Phrases
What areareinfinitive
What phrases?
infinitive phrase?
• An infinitive phrase is a group of words that
includes an infinitive and any other words to
complete its meaning.

• It begins with the word to, and consists of to,

the infinitive (always a verb), and its
complements and modifiers.
 examples :
• It can act as an adjective, adverb, or a subject.

• Ex. To fly a plane was her goal.

• To fly is the infinitive (to + verb)
• To fly a plane is the infinitive phrase.
 more examples…
• I wanted to run out the door when the teacher
announced a pop quiz.

• I tried to think of an excuse, but my mind drew

a blank, so I was forced to baby-sit for my
bratty cousin.
 non-examples
• I went to the store with my four year old
daughter, Caylee.

• The above example is not an infinitive. “to the

store” is a prepositional phrase.
 PRACTICE: Underline the infinitive
phrase. Double underline the infinitive.
1. To ring the bell was her job.

2. The instructor asked me to stop the car.

3. Harry wanted to begin the game on good footing.

4. To learn about infinitives can be fun.
5. The man decided to attack the sleeping bear with a
squirt gun.
 There are four other forms of infinitive:
perfect infinitive, perfect continuous infinitive,
continuous infinitive, and passive infinitive.
 Passive Infinitive
What are infinitive phrase?
• Passive infinitive is used in some patterns that use passive forms. Passive infinitive is often used after verb
capital (modal verb, such as may, should, could, etc.) to indicate something that is possible or something that
is true. Passive infinitive is formed from:

to be + past participle

Just like present infinitive, there are situations where the zero form of passive infinitive must be used, so the
word to be omitted. This is done after the use of most auxiliary capital and other places that use zero infinitive.

Example: