Infinitives

The final verbal…..

 Infinitives
 are verbals which means they are verbs that
act as other parts of speech.

 Remember the other verbals?

– Participles act as ADJECTIVES.
– Gerunds act as NOUNS, which in turn act as
subjects, direct objects, indirect objects,
predicate nominatives, objects of prepositions,
and appositives.
 Infinitives
 act as nouns, adjectives,
and adverbs
 An infinitive is the TO
form of a verb

 The infinitive of run… is TO

RUN
 The infinitive of scream… is
TO SCREAM
 The infinitive of eat… is TO
EAT
 WARNING
 Please note the difference between the following!

 To THE MALL And To swiM

 One is an infinitive, and the other is a prepositional

phrase. Do NOT get these confused.

 If “to” is followed by a noun or pronoun, then it is a

prepositional phrase. VERBALS ARE ABOUT
VERBS! 
 Infinitives as Nouns
 Just like gerunds, they act as subjects,
direct objects, and predicate nominatives.
NOTE: They do not act as objects of the
preposition or indirect objects…. This IS
different!
 Look at the following! First, find the infinitive
that is being used as a noun, and then
determine which role it is playing!
 To err is human.
 To err is human. Subject

 Riff always wanted to act.

 Riff always wanted to act. Direct object

 Maria’s dream is to marry Tony.

 Infinitives as Adjectives
Like all adjectives, infinitives acting
as adjectives modify NOUNS or
PRONOUNS!

 The candidate to trust is Tony.

 Note that the infinitive is to trust and

that it is modifying or describing
candidate.
 More adjective examples….
 Those are the easiest dogs to train.
 Those are the easiest dogs to train. (note
that to train modifies DOGS.

 He has a great ability to paint.

 He has a great ability to paint. (To paint
modifies ability, which is a noun.)
 Infinitives as Adverbs
 Infinitives also act as adverbs; they must
modify VERBS, ADJECTIVES, or other
ADVERBS.

 They act like adverb prepositional phrases.

 Infinitives as Adverbs
 Consider these examples….

 The team was slow to score.

 To score modifies the word “slow.” Slow is
an adjective.

 My grandmother has come to stay.

 To stay modifies the verb, come.
 Now…. YOU TRY!!!
First, find the infinitive and then
determine how it is functioning in the
sentence!
 Our assignment was to read that book.
 Our assignment was to read that book. PN

 We were asked to memorize this poem.

 We were asked to memorize this poem.
DO
 He was eager to experience college.
 He was eager to experience college. Adv.

 The person to help you is Doc!

 The person to help you is Doc! Adj.

 To leave town is relaxing!

 To leave town is relaxing! Subj.
 A final point….
 Sometimes, an infinitive has an
elliptical “to.”
 Elliptical means silent or
understood. This word is used
throughout English grammar!
 The “to” may be left out
completely.

 He will help us paddle to shore.

 He will help us TO paddle to
shore.
Watch out for these!