TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ I
THE INFINITIVE............................................................................................... 1
1. DEFINING AN INFINITIVE VERB............................................................................1
2. TO IS NOT A PREPOSITION..............................................................................1
3. INFINITIVE VERB VS. BASE VERB.........................................................................1
4. USING AN INFINITIVE VERB................................................................................2
4.1 AS THE SUBJECT OF A SENTENCE:........................................................................................... 2
4.2 AS AN ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB PHRASE THAT EXPRESSES PURPOSE OR INTENT...................................3
4.3. AS A DIRECT OBJECT OR AFTER AN INDIRECT OBJECT:.................................................................4
4.4 TO EXPRESS PURPOSE (TO ANSWER "WHY...?"):........................................................................4
4.5 AFTER VERBS THAT EXPRESS THINKING AND FEELING:.................................................................4
4.6 AFTER VERBS OF SAYING:...................................................................................................... 5
4.7 AS A POSTMODIFIER AFTER ABSTRACT NOUNS:...........................................................................5
4.8 THE USE OF INFINITES WITH TOO AND ENOUGH..........................................................................5
5 RECOGNIZE AN INFINITIVE EVEN WHEN IT IS MISSING THE TO.........................................6
5.1 AN INFINITIVE WILL LOSE ITS TO WHEN IT FOLLOWS CERTAIN VERBS...............................................6
6. TO SPLIT OR NOT TO SPLIT?...............................................................................7
7. BOTH GERUND AND INFINITIVE WITH A CHANGE OF MEANING........................................7
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................. II
BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................. III
NEXES........................................................................................................... IV

INTRODUCTION
In the next document you will find the different uses of infinitives. As a very
common topic in grammar we may think that we already know what this is about
but actually there are many ways to use an infinitive and there are also some
cases where the use of an infinitive is not allow. In the document is explain with
examples how an infinitives can be a noun, an adjective and an adverb depending
of its collocation in a sentence. Moreover, inside this report you will observe that
there are special cases to use an infinitive, as enough and too.

THE INFINITIVE

1. Defining an Infinitive Verb

An infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the simple form of the
verb.

to be
to have
to hold
to sleep
to dream

2. To is not a preposition
When you use an infinitive verb, to is part of the verb. It is not acting as a
preposition in this case. And the verb is always just the verb. Its not conjugated in
anyway no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end.
For example:

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

You see to slapping, and its easy to think thats an infinitive verb, but it isnt. Its
a preposition (to) and a gerund (slapping). You can tell its not an infinitive because
of the -ing on the end of the verb. Infinitives never have an -ing ending.

3. Infinitive Verb vs. Base Verb

A lot of people think that the infinitive is the most basic form of a verb, but it isnt.
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

4. Using an Infinitive Verb

There are several possible ways to use infinitive verbs:
4.1 As the subject of a sentence:

Infinitives as Subjects
An infinitive phrase may be used
as the subject of a sentence.
When the infinitive phrase is long,
the sentence begins with it and the
infinitive phrase comes at the end
of the sentence.
Infinitives can have subjects.
The subject of an infinitive is
usually preceded by for.
The subject of an infinitive
after an adjective is sometimes
preceded by of. Of is used when
the
adjective
describes
the

It is unusual to see an owl during the day.

It takes time to learn a new language.

It is worthwhile for people to invest their

savings.
It is unusual for owls to come out during
the day.
It was nice of you to make her a cake.
I thought it was rude of Dan to refuse to
talk to us.

speaker/writers opinion
subject of the infinitive.

of

the

Infinitives often follow take

and cost. These verbs may or
may not take indirect objects.

How long did it take to do the homework?

How long did it take her to do the
homework?
It cost me a lot of money to get a good
tutor.
It cost a lot to get a good tutor.

An infinitive can begin a

sentence. This is usually done To ski takes strong legs and good balance.
with short infinitive phrases to give
To be kind to others is important.
the sentence a more formal
feeling.
To make an infi nitive negative, add not before to.
In a fi re, its important not to panic.

4.2 As an adjective or adverb phrase that expresses purpose or intent.

An infinitive can come after certain adjectives:

These adjectives include: amazed, ashamed, disappointed, excited, glad, happy,

likely, pleased, ready, reluctant, sad, shocked, sorry, surprised, upset, willing.
E.g. Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book to read in case
conversation lags or she has a long wait.
To read functions as an adjective because it modifies book. In this case, To read
is giving a specific purpose or function to the book which is the noun.

An infinitives can often be used with certain adjectives to give

opinions:

These adjectives included: difficult, easy, possible, impossible, hard, right, wrong,
kind, nice, clever, silly, foolish.
e.g. Its easy to play the piano, but its very difficult to play well.
e.g. He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.

We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:
e.g. It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying.
e.g. It is easy for you to criticise other people.
We use the preposition of with other adjectives:
e.g. Its kind of you to help.
e.g. It would be silly of him to spend all his money.

An infinitive can be used as an adverb phrase to explain purpose.

E.g. Richard faced the inclement weather to visit his sick mother at the hospital.
To visit functions as an adverb because it explains why Richard faced the inclement
weather.

4.3. As a direct object or after an indirect object:

An infinitive can come after certain verbs as the direct object:

These verbs include: begin, choose, claim, decide, expect, learn, like, love,
manage, offer, plan, prefer, promise, refuse, start, try, want, wish.
e.g. They wanted to stay for a few extra days.
e.g. We are learning to speak Italian.
To stay and To speak are functioning as nouns because they are the direct
object of the main verbs in the sentence.

An infinitive following an indirect object:

These verbs include: ask, convince, expect, help, order, persuade, remind, teach,
tell.
e.g. Parents teach kids to say please and thank you.
e.g. I expected them to be home before midnight.

4.4 to express purpose (to answer "Why...?"):

e.g. He bought some flowers to give to his wife.
e.g. He locked the door to keep everyone out.
In order + infinitive shows purpose. An infinitive by itself can also show purpose.
Using a comma, the infinitive of purpose can precede the main clause. It can also
follow the main clause. When it follows the main clause, there is no comma.
e.g. In order to pass the test, I studied hard.
I studied hard in order to pass the test.
e.g. To avoid traffic, my father drove down Oak Street.
My father drove down Oak Street to avoid traffic.

4.5 After verbs that express thinking and feeling:

Some of the verbs that express thinking or feeling are choose, decide, expect,
forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like, love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want,
would like, would love.

e.g. They decided to start a business together.

e.g. Remember to turn the lights out.

4.6 After verbs of saying:

Some of the verbs of saying are agree, promise, refuse.
e.g. I agreed to give him my password.
e.g. She refused to help me with my new project.

4.7 As a postmodifier after abstract nouns:

These abstract nouns included: ability, desire, need, wish, attempt, failure,
opportunity, chance, intention.
e.g. I have no desire to be rich.
e.g. They gave him an opportunity to escape.
4.8 The use of infinites with too and enough.

Infinitives with Too and Enough

Too much/many + noun* +
infinitive shows that an amount is
excessive for a certain purpose (i.e.,
that there is more than a person
would want or like).
* The noun may or may not be the
object of the infinitive.

Too + adjective/adverb +
infinitive shows that the quality
described by the adjective/ adverb is
excessive for a certain purpose.
Enough + noun + infinitive shows
that an amount is sufficient for a
certain purpose (i.e., that no more of
that quality or amount is needed).
Adjective/Adverb + enough +
infinitive shows that a quality or
quantity is sufficient for a certain
purpose

I have too much work to do today.

(object)
(= I have to do too much work today.)
She has too many presents to buy.
(object)
(= She has to buy too many presents.)
There is too much noise to talk here.
(not object)
Ive failed too many quizzes to get a
good grade.
(not object)
Im too tired to do any work.
Theyre too busy to have any hobbies.
There arent enough plates to serve
everyone.
We had enough time to finish the
project.
Hes not fast enough to play for the
team.
Do you practice often enough to
improve?

5 Recognize an infinitive even when it is missing the to.

An infinitive will almost always begin with to. Exceptions do occur, however.
5.1 An infinitive will lose its to when it follows certain verbs.
These verbs are feel, hear, help, let, make, see, and watch.
The pattern looks like this:
Special Verb + Direct Object + Infinitive - to
e.g. As soon as Theodore felt the rain splatter on his hot, dusty skin, he knew
that he had a good excuse to return the lawn mower to the garage.
Felt = special verb; rain = direct object; splatter = infinitive minus the to.
Although Dr. Ribley spent an extra class period helping us understand
logarithms, we still bombed the test.
Helping = special verb; us = direct object; understand = infinitive minus the to.

Let / Make in passive voice.

In active voice we dont have to use the infinitive without to but when we use the
same verbs in passive voice we have to use infinitive with to.
e.g. They made the pupil do his homework.
e.g. The pupil was made to do his homework.
The same happens with the verb let however this verb cannot be used as a passive
voice instead we use allow to
e.g. I let my son borrow the car.
e.g. My son was allowed to borrow the car.

Would rather + infinitive without to:

e.g. Would you like to go today? Id rather wait till tomorrow.

Had better + infinitive without to:

e.g. You had better start at once, he said. (= He advised me to start at
once).

6. To split or not to split?

The general rule is that no word should separate the to of an infinitive from the
simple form of the verb that follows. If a word does come between these two
components, a split infinitive results. Look at the example that follows:
Wrong: Sara hopes to quickly finish her chemistry homework so that she can
return to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
Right: Sara hopes to finish her chemistry homework quickly so that she can
return to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
Some English teachers believe that thou shall not split infinitives was written on
the stone tablets that Moses carried down from the mountain
Other folks, however, consider the split infinitive a construction, not an error. They
believe that split infinitives are perfectly appropriate, especially in informal writing.
In fact, an infinitive will occasionally require splitting, sometimes for meaning and
sometimes for sentence cadence. One of the most celebrated split infinitives
begins every episode of Star Trek: "To boldly go where no one has gone before ...."
When you are making the decision to split or not to split, consider your audience. If
the piece of writing is very formal and you can maneuver the words to avoid
splitting the infinitive, then do so. If you like the infinitive split and know that its
presence will not hurt the effectiveness of your writing, leave it alone.

7. Both gerund and infinitive with a change of meaning.

There are certain verbs which we can use both infinitives and gerunds but the
meaning is going to change. Here are some examples:
Remember + infinitive = you remember first, then you do something:
e.g. Remember to lock the door.
Remember + gerund = you do something then you remember it:
e.g. I remember going to Venice as a child.
Forget + infinitive = you didnt remember to do something:
e.g. Sorry, I forgot to do it.
Forget + gerund = you did something and you wont forget it.

e.g. It is more common in the negative: Ill never forget seeing the Taj
Mahal.
Try + infinitive = make an effort to do something:
e.g. I tried to open the window.
Try + gerund = experiment to see if something works:
e.g. Try calling Miriam on her mobile.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, as you may notice the uses of infinitives in the sentences are more
extensive than we used to think. An infinitive is not only a noun but it can also
works as an adjective, an adverb and it also can lose its to and continue being an
infinitive. To memorize the verbs in their different categories as gerunds and
infinitives may help but it is not enough to really comprehend the uses of the
infinitives in the sentences.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/infinitive.htm
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/infinitive
http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/alfonsolopez/files/gerunds%20and
%20infinitives_teor%C3%ADa%20y%20ejercicios.pdf
https://bowvalleycollege.ca/Documents/Learning%20Resource%20Services/Library
%20Learning%20Commons/E-Resources/Study%20guides/grammar
%20verb_infin.pdf
http://www.englishbooks.com.tw/AEG4_SB_1008_150.pdf

 http://www.edu.xunta.es/centros/iesmonelos/system/files/Using+Gerunds+and+Infi
nitives.pdf
http://www.uniurb.it/lingue/matdid/barzotti/2012-13/B2C/GENERAL%20USE%20OF
%20GERUNDS%20and%20INFINITIVES%20(grammar.pdf
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammarchallenge/pdfs/gc_
45_verb_object_infinitve.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/107_gramchalleng
e45/

NEXES

Common verbs followed by an infinitive:

Example: She threatened to quit if she didn't get a raise.
agree
fail
remain
appear
get
request
arrange
grow (up)
resolve
ask
guarantee
say
attempt
hesitate
seek
beg
hope
seem
can/cant afford
hurry
shudder
can/cant wait
incline
strive
care
learn
struggle
chance
manage
swear
choose
mean
tend
claim
need
threaten
come
neglect
turn out
consent
offer
venture
dare
pay
volunteer
decide
plan
wait
demand
prepare
want
deserve
pretend
wish
determine
profess
would like
elect
promise
yearn
endeavor
prove
expect
refuse
Verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with little to no change in
meaning:
EXAMPLES: It started to rain. ~OR~ It started raining.
Begin
cant bear
cant stand
continue

hate
like
love
prefer
propose
start
Verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with a change in meaning:

FORGET

GO ON

QUIT

REGRET

REMEMBER

STOP

TRY

I forgot to meet him.

(I didnt meet him because I forgot to do it.)
I forgot meeting him.
(I dont have the memory of meeting him before.)
He went on to learn English and French.
(He ended one period of time before this.)
He went on learning English and French.
(He continued learning the languages.)
She quit to work here.
(She quit another job in order to work here.)
She quit working here.
(She quit her job here. She doesnt work here
anymore.)
I regret promising to help you.
(Im sorry that I made the promise.)
I regret to tell you that we cant hire you.
(Im telling you now, and Im sorry.)
She remembered to visit her grandmother.
(She didnt forget to visit.)
She remembered visiting her grandmother.
(She had memories of this time.)
I stopped to call you.
(I interrupted another action in order to call you.)
I stopped calling you.
(I stopped this activity. Maybe we had a fight.)
I tried to open the window.
(I attempted this action but didnt succeed.)
I tried opening the window.
(This was one option I sampled. Maybe the room was
hot.)

EXERCISES:
a. Rewrite the sentences so that they begin with infinitive

phrases.
1. It costs about eight dollars to see a movie. To see a movie costs about eight
dollars.
2. It is a big responsibility for a child to have a pet.

3. It takes a while to get to the university in the afternoon.

____________________________________________________________________________________
4. It is usual for your boss to take you out for lunch.
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. It is important to practice your English out of the classroom.

6. It is very unusual for Carlos to be late for an appointment.

____________________________________________________________________________________

b. Underline the infinitives in the following sentences. Write in

the blank if they function as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.

1. To complain is totally useless.

2. I need a desk to study better.
3. We all started to run after the thief.
4. Mike was ready to begin his career.
5. The explorers didnt find a river to cross.
6. My main objective is to finish this homework.
7. Mary and Joan helped to clean the room.
8. They insisted to leave early.
9. To advance is very difficult.
10. The children ran to help with the party.