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infinitive
[ in-fin-i-tiv ]
noun
- : infin.
- in English, the simple or basic form of a verb, with no endings to indicate the verb鈥檚 subject or tense, such as come, take, eat, be: used after auxiliary verbs or preceded by the word to, and sometimes functioning as a noun, such as He must be, I want to eat, To love is to understand. Compare finite verb ( def ).
- a verb form found in many other languages that has a similar function, such as French venir 鈥渢o come鈥 or Latin esse 鈥渢o be.鈥
adjective
- consisting of or containing an infinitive: : infin.
an infinitive construction.
infinitive
/ 瑟n藞f瑟n瑟t瑟v; 藢瑟nf瑟n瑟藞ta瑟v蓹l /
noun
- a form of the verb not inflected for grammatical categories such as tense and person and used without an overt subject. In English, the infinitive usually consists of the word to followed by the verb
infinitive
- The simple or dictionary form of a verb : walk , think , fly , exist . Often the word to marks a verb as an infinitive: 鈥渢o walk,鈥 鈥渢o think,鈥 鈥渢o fly,鈥 鈥渢o exist.鈥
Derived Forms
- infinitival, adjective
- 颈苍藞蹿颈苍颈迟颈惫别濒测, adverb
Other 亚洲网紅露点 Forms
- 颈苍路蹿颈苍路颈路迟颈惫别路濒测 adverb
亚洲网紅露点 History and Origins
Origin of infinitive1
Compare Meanings
How does infinitive compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
All other Greek dialects known today have stopped using the infinitive found in ancient Greek.
The NI Civil Service did remove the split infinitive of "to boldly go", replacing it with a more grammatically correct version.
Correct French would not have used the infinitive 鈥渢uer,鈥 but rather the past participle, ending with an 鈥渆鈥 to agree with the female writer, Ms. Marchal.
The app and browser extension works across programs and platforms, pointing out your split infinitives in emails, word processors, websites, or on social media.
Split infinitives in particular, he snaps, are 鈥渁 thorn in my side.鈥
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More About Infinitive
What is an听infinitive?
An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, having no tense and not being conjugated. In English, an infinitive is preceded by the word to.
In English, the infinitive form of the verb is the one you will see listed in dictionaries like this one. When infinitives are used in sentences, they follow auxiliary verbs, as in I should try,听 or function words, as in I want to sleep.
Infinitives can serve other purposes as well, such as acting like nouns (To err is human), adjectives (I have no place to sleep), or adverbs (We eat to live).
Why is听infinitive important?
The first records of the term infinitive come from around 1425. It comes from the Late Latin word 颈苍蹿墨苍墨迟墨惫耻蝉, meaning 鈥渋ndefinite.鈥 Infinitives are used in many languages, even in very old languages like Latin.
In English, infinitives are usually made of two words such as to run or to know. In other languages, infinitives are a single word, such as the Latin dare (鈥渢o give鈥), the French faire (鈥渢o do鈥), and the Spanish hablar (鈥渢o speak鈥). English speakers are often taught the infinitive form of a verb before learning how each verb is conjugated.
Did you know ... ?
You may have heard that in English you shouldn鈥檛 鈥渟plit鈥 the infinitive, that is, you shouldn鈥檛 put a word between to and the infinitive form of the verb. This is a false rule that came about a few hundred years ago from a desire to make English more like Latin. English is English, though, and it鈥檚 being able to split infinitives is a feature of the language, not a fault. You can read more about this in 鈥溾
What are real-life examples of听infinitive?
The following chart lists some verbs in their infinitive form.
| agree | forget | love | refuse |
| choose | hope | need | seem |
| decide | intend | plan | struggle |
| expect | learn | pretend | tend |
| fail | like | promise | want |
听
We often use infinitives in everyday speech, though we don鈥檛 often talk about them, unless we鈥檙e talking about language.
Slight correction: "chacune des langues qu'on peut parler"
Langue is feminine, and you need to use the infinitive because it's like "to speak/can speak"鈥 Kevin Laprise馃攲馃 (@kevlap017)
Funny. The only time(s) I am ever disappointed in myself is when I stop doing a BuzzFeed quiz.
(Oh what a difference infintive vs -ing makes 馃檭)鈥 Platypus!!!!! (@Platypus4Ever)
听
Quiz yourself!
True or False?
In English, an infinitive verb has no tense and has not been conjugated.
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