Infinitive in English. Infinitive in English: a complete analysis of the initial form of the verb 10 sentences in English with an infinitive

The topic of using the infinitive is quite complex and voluminous and requires special attention, if only because cases of its use do not always coincide with cases of use of the indefinite form of the verb in the Russian language. Studying this topic is a must for those who want to speak English in high level. So, the forms of the infinitive and cases of its use.

Topic: Non-finite verb forms. Infinitive. Gerund. Participles.Infinitive/-ing form/Participle

Lesson: Infinitive. Infinitive. Forms of the infinitive and its functions in a sentence

Infinitive is a verb form that English language consists of a particle to and a verb.

Example: to do, to have, to see

The infinitive (indefinite form of the verb) in Russian and English have similar properties, but the English infinitive has a number of features that make it somewhat difficult for a Russian-speaking person to master.

The infinitive has the properties of a verb:

1. p. 158, ex. 1, 2, Kaufman K.I., Kaufman M.Yu. English language (basic level). - Title, 2010.

2. Put the verbs in the appropriate infinitive forms.

1. My boss expects me (to work) overtime.

2. The suspect claimed (to watch) TV at the time of the robbery.

3. Jill’s teacher is worried about her as she seems (to have) difficulty coping with her studies.

4. ‘I happen (to pass) my driving test two years ago, you know,’ he said.

5. Robert is expecting (to inherit) a large house when his grandfather dies.

6. Leslie seems (to enjoy) her new job.

7. I’d like (to book) a return ticket to Denver, please.

8. The manager seems (to get) impatient with the interviewee.

3. * ex. 375, 376. Golitsynsky Yu.B., Grammar. Collection of exercises. - Karo, 2011.

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In English infinitive(Infinitive) is a word that denotes an action, but does not indicate a person or number. In Russian, the English infinitive corresponds to the infinitive form of the verb, which answers the questions “what to do? what to do?": to live - to live.

The formal sign of the infinitive is the particle to:

to write- write, to read- read, to drink- drink, to think- think.

If there is a particle before the verb to, then before you is an infinitive (or an indefinite form of a verb). Sometimes the infinitive can be used without a particle to.

The negative form is formed using a particle not, which comes before the infinitive: not to use - do not use.

It is difficult to use .- Difficult use.
It is difficult not to use .- Difficult do not use.

Infinitive forms

In English, the infinitive has 6 forms (unlike Russian, which has only one form). To understand well the meanings of the infinitive forms, you need to have an understanding of the verb.

Simple infinitive. Indefinite Infinitive

Infinitive in the form Indefinite (Simple) or simple infinitive is the basic form and represents the verb in the dictionary (for convenience, the particle in the dictionary to often omitted). This form of the infinitive is in the same tense as the verb that precedes it.

I was glad to see her. — I was glad to see her (simple infinitive in the active voice).
The child didn't like to be washed. — The child did not like being washed (simple infinitive in the passive voice).

Compare the use of the simple infinitive in the active and passive voice: to help - to be helped
I am glad to help you. - I am glad to help. (I'm glad I'm helping).
I am glad to be helped. - I'm glad they're helping me.

Perfect infinitive. Perfect Infinitive

Infinitive in the form Perfect or perfect infinitive denotes an action that precedes the action of the predicate verb.

I was very glad to have met you. - I am very glad that I met you (perfect infinitive in the active voice).
Sorry not to have noticed you. - Sorry that I didn’t notice you (perfect infinitive in the active voice).
The child was happy to have been brought to the circus. — The child was happy that he was brought to the circus (perfect infinitive in the passive voice).

Compare the use of the Simple Infinitive and the Perfect Infinitive in the active voice: to see - to have seen
I am glad to see you. - Glad to see you. (Glad to see you.)
I am glad to have seen you. - Glad I saw you.

Long infinitive. Continuous Infinitive

Infinitive in the form Continuous or long infinitive emphasizes the duration of an action occurring simultaneously with the action of the predicate verb. This form is used only in the active voice.

He doesn't seem to be writing something. — It seems he is writing something now (long infinitive in the active voice).

Perfectly continuous infinitive. Perfect Continuous Infinitive

Infinitive in the form Perfect Continuous or perfect continuous infinitive emphasizes that the action began earlier than the action of the predicate verb, lasted for a period of time and is still lasting. This form is also not used in the passive voice.

He didn't seem to have been writing all day. “It seemed like he was writing all day.”

Infinitive forms in the table

Using the infinitive without the particle to

Most often the infinitive in English is used with the particle to, but there are cases when the particle to not used before an infinitive.

The infinitive is used without particle to in the following cases:

• After can, could, must, may, might, will, shall, should, would And need (in the modal sense). Exceptions are modal verbs have to, ought to, be to.

• IN complex addition after sensory verbs feel(feel), hear(hear), see(see), watch(observe), notice(notice):
  

  I saw him leave the office. — I saw him leave the office.
  I heard him go down the stairs. “I heard him come down the stairs.
  

  But: if the listed verbs feel, see, hear, watch, notice are used in the passive voice, then the particle precedes the infinitive to:
  

  He was seen to leave the office. — We saw him leave the office.
  

• In a complex object after verbs make(meaning “to force, compel”) And let(meaning “to allow, allow”). Again, if these verbs are in the passive voice, then the infinitive is used with the particle to.
  

  I can't make you take this medicine. “I can’t force you to take this medicine.”
  We let her go to the party. — We allowed her to go to the party.
  She was made to rewrite the test. — She was forced to rewrite the test (was made - passive verb).
  

• After the verb help(to help) the infinitive can also be used with a particle to, and without it. Both options are acceptable, with the option without to less formal.

If you want to learn a language, start with verbs. After all, it is this part of speech that occupies the largest place in all reference books and dictionaries of any language, including English. Despite the fact that the verb has several forms, in these same dictionaries it is usually given in its simple (initial) form, and for good reason. After all, the infinitive in English is perhaps used more often than others. This is exactly what we will talk about today.

First, let's figure out what an infinitive is.

An infinitive in English is an indefinite or initial form of a verb that names actions and can serve as both a noun and a verb. The infinitive refers to impersonal verb forms, that is, to English forms, which do not have number, person, tense or mood.

The infinitive has certain features that characterize and distinguish it from any other type of verb:

1. The infinitive is preceded by the particle to, which, however, can be omitted in certain cases. However, if a particle is present, it almost always comes before the infinitive.
2. The infinitive answers the questions “what to do?”, “what to do?”

Infinitive in English: forms

While Russian has only one infinitive form, English has six. Table for clarity:

The infinitive in the passive voice is simply not used in the Continuous and Perfect Continuous. Other forms are used extremely rarely, with the exception of simple. Due to the lack of similar forms in Russian, all of them are usually translated into a simple form.

Infinitive phrases

Infinitive phrases in English are divided into the following 3 types:

1. Complex object, also known as The Objective Infinitive Construction.
2. Complex subject (Complex subject) or The Subjective Infinitive Construction (Subjective infinitive construction). The subject infinitive is usually used with verbs in the passive voice.
3. The For-to-Infinitive construction or infinitive phrase with a preposition

Despite such a variety of infinitive phrases, they are not always used. The objective infinitive phrase is the most used phrase in the list, while the second most popular is the subjective infinitive phrase.

Functions of the infinitive in a sentence

In a sentence, the infinitive can act as almost any part of the sentence.

1. As the subject:

1. And the verb part of the compound predicate:

1. In the definition function:

It is worth noting that the word that defines a noun in Russian may not always look like a standard definition.

1. Purpose circumstance:

In this case, conjunctions can often be used before the infinitive: in order to (in order to) and so as (to):

Use with the particle to

The infinitive with the particle to is used in 99 percent of cases. For example:

1. An objective infinitive almost always requires the particle to. This infinitive phrase is characterized by verbs that express:

• Desire: want (want), wish (desire), desire (want):

• Mental activity: think, believe, expect, suppose:

• The objective infinitive phrase also includes words expressing an order, permission or prohibition: order (order), encourage (encourage), allow (allow), permit (allow), prohibit (prohibit):

1. The subjective infinitive phrase also did not stand aside. It uses the particle to with verbs:

• say (say), state (declare), allow (allow) in the passive voice:

• perception and mental activity in the passive voice:

• with verbs such as appear / seem (seem), happen (happen):

• And also with to be (un)likely - probably / unlikely, to be certain / to be sure - to be sure / definitely:

1. The particle to in English is also inherent in the infinitive phrase with the preposition for. This construction is formed by attaching the preposition for to a noun or pronoun with an infinitive. The noun in this case uses the general case, and the pronoun uses the objective case. Personal pronouns in English in the objective case should in no case be confused with their subject (or subjective) case:

As you can see, the objective case tends to be used as a complement, while the subject pronouns are characterized by the role of the subject.

The objective case can be translated different ways, however, since it is preceded by the preposition for (for), accordingly, in this case, the objective case of the pronoun will answer the questions “for whom?” or “who?”

Let's look at the objective case and the infinitive using an example:

1. A verb in the infinitive without the particle to can also be used in short imperative sentences. They usually do not pay attention to the subject and other parts of the sentence. Moreover, these terms can be omitted.

Infinitive in English: gerund or infinitive

Using the infinitive in English can sometimes cause a number of difficulties. It seems that everything is simple, you take a verb from the dictionary and insert it into English sentence. However, with further development of the forms of English verbs, when the study reaches the gerund or a verb with an ing suffix, confusion begins to occur in the head. To avoid this problem, let's look at verbs that are used only in the infinitive or only in the ing form:

1. Verbs such as agree, refuse, manage, decide, plan, offer, attempt, forget, promise, deserve deserve) are always used with an infinitive. These English verbs you just need to remember. Examples from the table:

1. At the same time, there are verbs that are used in gerunds and do not have an infinitive form after them. These include: miss (get bored), give up (stop), go on (continue), carry on (continue), involve (include), finish (finish). A few examples:

1. There are also words that can be used in both forms without significantly changing the meaning:

1. The meaning of other words can change depending on whether you use the infinitive or gerundial form. Study the table with the following examples:

Infinitive in English: infinitive without the particle to

There are also situations in which you need to use infinitives, but without the particle to. So, for example, the to particle is omitted after:

1. English verbs make (to force) and let (to allow) with a noun or object pronoun:

1. Verbs of perception feel (feel), see (see), hear (hear), for which the objective infinitive phrase is responsible.

1. Modal verbs:

Exceptions are modal verbs, which contain the particle to. These include: have (got) to, ought to and be to.

Infinitive in English: negation

Particular attention should be paid to the formation of negative sentences. The fact is that to use the infinitive in a sentence, you can use two forms of negation. You cannot confuse them, because otherwise you may simply be misunderstood.

• To sentences for the negation of the main action (verb before the infinitive), a simple English negative form is added with auxiliary verb and the negative particle not:

• To negate an action in the infinitive, the negative not is placed before the particle to:

Infinitive in English: other features

1. If a sentence uses several verbs with infinitive forms, and the particle to is used in their case, then it is placed only on the first infinitive:

1. The English sentence is characterized by one more feature: if in a sentence the infinitive, which was used at the beginning, is used again at the end, the verb itself is usually omitted, and only the particle to remains in the sentence, which implies it (this verb):

Today we looked at the infinitive in English. As you can see, using the infinitive is not very difficult, but there are certain aspects of its use that are worth considering. To consolidate the topic, periodically return to the rules and examples in the tables, do exercises and reinforce each such exercise with practice. After all, there is nothing simpler and more effective in learning a language than communicating with native speakers.

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Infinitive in English is an imfinite form of an English verb that denotes only action, without indicating either person or number. The infinitive answers the questions: what to do? what to do?

To speak - to speak

In Russian, the infinitive is often called indefinite verb form. It is the infinitive that is given in dictionaries as the initial form of the verb.

The formal sign of the infinitive in English is the particle to, which is omitted before the infinitive in some cases.

I was glad to see the car stop.
I was glad to see that the car had stopped.

He must leave before 11 a.m.
He must leave before 11 am.

Infinitive forms

The infinitive in English has four forms in the active voice and two in the passive voice. Forms of the passive voice have only the simple and perfect infinitive of transitive verbs, i.e. verbs used with an object:

• Simple infinitive in active voice:

Pauline likes to write letters.
Polina loves to write letters.

• Continuous infinitive:

What is Pauline doing? She must be writing a letter.
What is Polina doing? She must be writing a letter.

• Perfect infinitive in active voice:

Pauline is glad to have written that letter.
Polina is glad that she wrote this letter.

• Perfect continuous infinitive:

Pauline must have been writing that letter since morning.
Polina must have been writing a letter since the morning.

• Simple infinitive in passive voice:

This letter seems to be written in pencil.
This letter appears to have been written in pencil.

• Perfect infinitive in passive voice:

The forms of the infinitive clearly reflect the relationship with the predicate verb in the sentence.

A simple infinitive in the active and passive voice is used when the action it expresses either occurs simultaneously with the action expressed by the predicate verb in the personal form, or is irrespective of the time of the action:

I am glad to see you. (simultaneous action)
I'm glad to see you.

I like to be given presents.(action not related to time)
I like it when people give me gifts.

To show that an action relates to the future, a simple infinitive is used after modal verbs may, must, should, ought to and after verbs to expect- expect, to intend- intend, to hope- hope to want- want, etc. For example:

You may come tomorrow.
You can come tomorrow.

He must do it immediately.
He must do this immediately.

You should put on a warm hat.
You should wear a warm hat.

I expect to see you next week.
I expect to see you next week.

I intend to go to the seaside this summer.
I intend to go to the sea this summer.

I hope to find him at home.
I hope to find him at home.

Continuous infinitive emphasizes the duration of the action, simultaneous with the predicate verb:

Form perfect continuous infinitive indicates that the action expressed by the infinitive began earlier than the action expressed by the predicate verb and continues to this day:

She seems to have been cooking since morning.
It seems like she's been cooking since the morning.

Perfect infinitive used to denote an action preceding an action expressed by a predicate verb:

I am sorry not to have told you about it earlier.
I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner.

Perfect infinitive after modal verbs must And may expresses the assumption that an action has already taken place:

After modal verbs should, ought to, could, might, was/ were The perfect infinitive denotes an action that should or could have happened, but in fact did not happen.