The Infinitive

Verbs which are not limited by number, person and time are called Non-Finite Verbs. An Infinitive is one of them other being Gerunds and Participles. 

The infinites are those non-finites that simply express the state or action denoted by the verb. Ex:-

• He never succeeds in the examination
• He wishes to succeed.

In Ex. 1 verb succeeds has he as its subject and hence is limited by its number and person thus it is a finite verb.

But in Ex.2 to succeed has no subject and hence it is not limited by number or person of the subject thus a non-finite verb or an infinitive.

Infinitives will almost always begin with ‘to’ followed by the simple form of the Verb. However there are certain Exceptions. An Infinitive will lose its ‘to’ when it follows certain Verbs. Some of these are feel, hear, help, let, make, see, watch etc.

Infinitive Examples:

• He wanted to run fast.
• She wanted to buy a bun.
• Jai failed to recover his lost mobile phone.
• I was not able to understand the reason.

Infinitives can be further classified as:-

(i) “To” infinitives

Ex. He never succeeds in the examination. In this example to succeed is a “To infinitive”

(ii) Pure infinitive i.e the infinitive without the use of “to”

Ex. I made him sit down. In this example sit is an infinitive used without the use of “to”.

Use of Infinitive

Infinitives are used in various ways. The most common uses of the infinitive are to indicate the purpose or intention of an action.  

I.  Infinitives are used after certain verbs.

Examples:

• We should not allow him to stay.
• Jai needs to leave for work early.
• I did not offer to travel with him.
• You should teach your children to behave.

Some verbs can be followed by the -ing form or the Infinitive without a big change in meaning: begin, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, propose, start.

• It started to rain.
  It started raining.

• I like to play tennis.
  I like playing tennis.

II.  Infinitives can be used after Adjectives.

Examples:

• I was depressed to see him.
• He is embarrassed to watch that movie.

This includes too + adjective:

• The weight was too heavy to float.
• His tea was too hot for him to drink.

The infinitive form is used after adjective + enough:

• He was strong enough to lift it.
• Vivek  is rich enough to buy two.

III.   Infinitives can be used as Nouns.

Examples:

a)  To play football is the only thing Happy wants after his long day of work at the office.

• To play functions as a noun because it is the subject of the sentence.

b)  No matter how important the mathematics class is, Kaku turns his head and refuses to study.

• To study functions as a Noun because it is the direct object for the verb refuses.

IV.  Infinitives can be used Adverbs.

• Happy braved the icy rain to rescue the old dog abandoned by someone. To rescue functions as an Adverb because it explains why Happy braved the challenging weather.

V.  Infinitives may occur with or without "to".  Such Infinitives are known as Bare Infinitives.

• to have + past participle - to have + broken, to have + seen, to have + saved.
• to be + present participle - to be + swimming, to be + joking, to be + waiting.
• to have been + present participle - to have been + crying, to have been + waiting, to have been + painting.
• to be + past participle - to be given, to be shut, to be opened.

VI.  Split Infinitive – Split Infinitive is an Infinitive wherein the 'to' is separated from its Verb by other words. Split infinitives should be avoided and used only when alternative words seem excessively awkward or clumsy.

Examples:

• Jai’s instructor told him to never look back.
• She told me I had to quickly finish this bread.
• I thought it best to quietly sneak away from the accident.
• I was told to always pay attention in class.

• Exercise 1
• Exercise 2
• Exercise 3