Do you know the difference between an infinitive verb and a base verb?

Or, do you
know when and how do you use infinitive verbs? These questions, and their answers are
the key to understanding the uses of an infinitive verb.

Defining an Infinitive Verb

Basically, an infinitive verb is a verb with the word to in front of it.

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. Its not conjugated in
anyway no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end. Sometimes youll see sentences like this:

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.

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

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 an indirect object He told me to give this to you.
4. following certain other verbs:
afford We cant afford to eat out every night.
agree Lets agree to disagree.
aim I aim to please.
appear She appears to have the chicken pox.
arrange Ill 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.
care Would you care to dance?
choose Hell always choose to eat pizza if given the choice.
claim They claim to have been home all night.
dare Do you dare to approach me?
decide We decided to get married in a hot air balloon.
demand I demand to know who said that!
deserve You deserve to have all you want in life.
expect Do you expect to see her any time soon?
fail She failed to achieve any of her goals.
happen I happen to have all the things you need.
help It would help to be able to swim.
hesitate He hesitated to ask for the day off.
hope She hopes to be engaged by the end of the summer.
learn Were learning to communicate better.
long Oh how he longed to hold her in his arms!
manage Have you managed to complete your work on time for once?
mean I didnt mean to hurt you.
need You need to think before you speak.
neglect He neglected to tell his parents about the accident.
offer Jim offered to help me pack.
plan What do you plan to do after college?
prepare Im preparing to run away.
 pretend Dont pretend to sleep when Im talking to you.
proceed We then proceeded to drink until we blacked out.
promise I promise to love you forever.
refuse She refused to sign the documents.
resolve He has resolved never to fight again.
seem They seem to be having some sort of argument.
stop We stopped to use the restroom and stretch.
swear Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
tend I tend to laugh when Im nervous.
threaten He threatened to shoot me if I didnt give him my wallet.
use She gave MacGeyver her cigarettes and an earring, which he used to make a
bomb.
volunteer They volunteered to paint kids faces at the fair.
vow We vowed to love and cherish one another.
want Do you really want to hurt me?
wish Do you wish to see me cry?
would hate I would hate to be in his shoes.
would like The gentleman would like to accompany the lady home.
would love I would love to dance!
would prefer He would prefer to go bowling, but she wants to see a movie.
As you can see, the infinitive verb has many uses, both functional (We need to leave
now) and philosophical (To be, or not to be? That is the question).
ZERO CONDITIONAL
FORM
In zero conditional sentences, the tense in both parts of the sentence is the simple present.

If clause (condition) Main clause (result)

If + simple present simple present

If this thing happens that thing happens.

As in all conditional sentences, the order of the clauses is not fixed. You may have to rearrange the
pronouns and adjust punctuation when you change the order of the clauses, but the meaning is
identical. In zero conditional sentences, you can replace "if" with "when", because both express
general truths. The meaning will be unchanged.

EXAMPLES

If you heat ice, it melts.

Ice melts if you heat it.
When you heat ice, it melts.
Ice melts when you heat it.
If it rains, the grass gets wet.
The grass gets wet if it rains.
When it rains, the grass gets wet.
The grass gets wet when it rains.

FUNCTION
The zero conditional is used to make statements about the real world, and often refers to general
truths, such as scientific facts. In these sentences, the time is now or always and the situation is real
and possible.

EXAMPLES

If you freeze water, it becomes a solid.

Plants die if they don't get enough water.
If my husband has a cold, I usually catch it.
If public transport is efficient, people stop using their cars.
If you mix red and blue, you get purple.
The zero conditional is also often used to give instructions, using the imperative in the main clause.

EXAMPLES

If Bill phones, tell him to meet me at the cinema.

Ask Pete if you're not sure what to do.
If you want to come, call me before 5:00.
Meet me here if we get separated.
Imperative with verbs

Method
Use modal verbs (e.g. can, may, could, ought, should, must) to show how important and
necessary something it. This may include making something more important or less
important depending on where the other person is and where you think they should (!) be.
When using imperative, link it to reasons why the person must act, such as
the authority that your or others have, or values that are involved.

Example
You know you must do this today.

I know I should help you, but I am busy.

Jim said you ought to do it today, and it must be done this week.

Discussion
Imperative forms create motivation through triggering associations of necessary action that
people have associated with the words. Thus, when you say 'should', the other person may
well feel a sense of obligation. They may also, of course, react against a strong imperative
and you need to sense the best form to use.
Where the other person is strongly opposed to your ideas, it is often a good idea to start by
moving them into realms of possibility before 'going for the kill' with imperative language.
It is easy in imperatives to fall into floppy language and not give as strong an imperative as
you should. Thus a 'must' becomes a 'should' and a 'should' becomes a 'could'.
Legal and standards documents often use 'shall' and 'will' to indicate imperative.