Gimnazija Smederevo

Maturski rad iz engleskog jezika

The infinitive

Mentor
P r o f . An a M a r t i n o v i

Uenik
An i c a M i l o v a n o v i I V 1
Maj 2012.

Sadraj
1.
2.

Form...............................................................................3
Infinitive with or without 'to'.............................................4
2.1. Impersonal constructions...............................................5
3.
Function..........................................................................6
4.
Infinitive after question words.............................. ............7
5.
Negative infinitive............................................ ..............8
6.
Other forms....................................................... .............8
6.1. The perfect infinitive..................................................8
6.2. The continuous infinitive.............................................9
6.3. The perfect continuous infinitive..................................9
6.4. The passive infinitive.................................................9
7.
Ver b s n o r m a l l y f o l l o w e d b y i n f i n i t i v e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0
8.
Bare infinitive................................................................12
9.
To g e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3
10. Conclusion....................................................................
1 1 . B i b l i o g r a p h y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Form
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist
in many languages. In the usual (traditional) description of
English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without
the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are
i n f i n i t i v e s . As w i t h m a n y l i n g u i s t i c c o n c e p t s , t h e r e i s n o t a s i n g l e
definition of infinitive that applies to all languages. Many Native
A m e r i c a n l a n g u a g e s a n d s o m e l a n g u a g e s i n Af r i c a a n d Ab o r i g i n a l
Australia simply do not have infinitives or verbal nouns. In their
place they use finite verb forms used in ordinary clauses or special
constructions.
In languages that have infinitives, they generally have most of the
following properties:
In most uses, infinitives are non-finite verbs.
They function as other lexical categories- usually
nouns- within the clauses that contain them, for example by serving
as the subject of another verb.
They do not represent any of the verb's arguments.
They are not inflected to agree with any subject.
They cannot serve as the only verb of a declarative
sentence.
They do not have tense, aspect, moods, and/or voice, or
they are limited in the range of tenses, aspects, moods, and/or
voices that they can use. (In languages where infinitives do not
have moods at all, they are usually treated as being their own nonfinite mood.)
H o w e v e r, i t b e a r s r e p e a t i n g t h a t n o n e o f t h e a b o v e i s a
defining quality of the infinitive; infinitives do not have all these
properties in every language, and other verb forms may have one or
more of them. For example, English gerunds and participles have
most of these properties as well.
English language has three non-finite verbal forms, but by longstanding convention, the term "infinitive" is applied to only one of
these. (The other two are the past- and present-participle forms,
where the present-participle form is also the gerund form.) In
English, a verb's infinitive is its unmarked form, such as be, do,
have, or sit, often introduced by the particle to. When this particle
is absent, the infinitive is said to be a bare infinitive; when it is
present, it is generally considered to be a part of the infinitive,
then known as the full infinitive (or to-infinitive), and there is a
controversy about whether it should be separated from the main
word of the infinitive. Nonetheless, modern theories typically do

not consider the to-infinitive to be a distinct constituent, instead

taking the particle to for operating on an entire verb phrase; so, to
b u y a c a r i s p a r s e d a s t o [ b u y [ a c a r ] ] , n o t a s [ t o b u y] [ a c a r ] .
The bare infinitive and the full infinitive are mostly in
complementary
distribution.
They
are
not
generally
interchangeable, but the distinction does not generally affect the
meaning of a sentence; rather, certain contexts call almost
exclusively for the bare infinitive, and all other contexts call for
the full infinitive.
Huddleston and Pullum's Cambridge Grammar of the English
Language (CGEL), published in 2002, does not use the notion of
the infinitive, arguing that English uses the same form of the verb,
the plain form, in infinitival clauses that it uses in imperative and
present-subjunctive clauses.

2. Infinitive with or without 'to'

The to-infinitive is used:
a. after certain verbs. e.g. want, wish, agree, fail, mean, decide,
learn
b. after the auxiliaries to be to, to have to, and ought to
c. in the pattern 'it is + adjective + to-infinitive'
Examples:
with 'to'
The elephant decided to marry the mouse
The mouse agreed to marry the elephant
You w i l l h a v e t o a s k h e r
You a r e t o l e a v e i m m e d i a t e l y
He ought to relax
She has to go to Berlin next week
It's easy to speak English
I t i s h a r d t o c h a n g e j o b s a f t e r t w e n t y ye a r s
I t ' s s t u p i d t o b e l i e v e e v e r y t h i n g yo u h e a r
without 'to'
I would rather visit Rome.
S h e w o u l d r a t h e r l i v e i n I t a l y.
Wou l d y o u r a t h e r e a t s t e a k o r f i s h ?
He would rather work in a bank.
I'd rather be a forest than a tree.

2 . 1 . I mp e r s o n a l c o n s t r u c t i o n s
There is a specific situation in which the infinitive is used like an
"impersonal future tense", replacing "will". This is done through
the construction:
to be + "to" + bare infinitive
G r a m m a t i c a l l y, t h i s i s i d e n t i c a l t o t h e i n s t r u c t i o n a l " I a m t o w a i t
outside" construction (above), but does not signify somebody
having been issued an instruction; rather, it expresses an intended
action, in the same way as "will". This "tense" is used extensively
in news reports, eg.
T h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r i s t o v i s i t t h e Wes t B a n k ( a c t i v e )
Aid is to be sent to war-torn Darfur (passive) [2]
This "future infinitive" construction is interesting in that it only
has a future aspect to it in situations where the speaker is
significantly distanced from the event.[3] In cases where the
subject of the sentence is not quite as distanced from the speaker,
then the same construction takes on a sense of instruction or
necessity (as in "he is to wait outside", or "he is to go to
hospital").
T h e s a m e c o n s t r u c t i o n c a n b e u s e d i n c o n d i t i o n a l c l a u s e s I f yo u
a r e t o g o o n h o l i d a y, t h e n yo u n e e d t o w o r k h a r d ( o r, c o n v e r s e l y, i f
you want to...then you are to...).
The impersonality aspect comes from the fact that the emotionless
verb to be is used in the place of the more usual modal verbs which
w o u l d n o r m a l l y c o n n e c t t h e s p e a k e r t o t h e s t a t e m e n t . I n t h i s w a y,
statements are given weight (as if some external force, rather than
t h e s p e a k e r, i s g o v e r n i n g e v e n t s ) .
C o n v e r s e l y, h o w e v e r, t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n a l s o p r o v i d e s a n u n c e r t a i n t y
aspect, since it frees the speaker from responsibility on their
statement in the phrase "John will go", for example, the speaker
is almost advocating their certainty that John will, in fact, go;
meanwhile, "the Prime Minister is to go" simply states the
knowledge that the PM's going is in some way foreseen. (If John
ends up not going, for example, the "will go" construction is
negated, while the PM's "to go" construction would still hold true,
since all it expresses is an expectation). In both cases, the
knowledge is simply being reported (or pretends to be) from an
independent source. In this sense, this impersonal to + verb
construction can almost be seen as a fledgeling renarrative mood.

3. Function
The most common uses of the infinitive are:
- To i n d i c a t e t h e p u r p o s e o r i n t e n t i o n o f a n a c t i o n ( w h e r e t h e ' t o '
has the same meaning as 'in order to' or 'so as to'):
She's gone to collect her pay cheque.
The three bears went into the forest to find
firewood.
- As t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e s e n t e n c e :
To b e o r n o t t o b e , t h a t i s t h e
question.
To k n o w h e r i s t o l o v e h e r.
(Note: this is more common in written English than spoken)
- Wit h n o u n s o r p r o n o u n s , t o i n d i c a t e w h a t s o m e t h i n g c a n b e u s e d
f o r, o r w h a t i s t o b e d o n e w i t h i t :
Wou l d y o u l i k e s o m e t h i n g t o d r i n k ?
I h a v e n ' t a n y t h i n g t o w e a r.
The children need a garden to play in.
- Af t e r a d j e c t i v e s i n t h e s e p a t t e r n s :
It is + adjective +to-infinitive
- It is good to talk
It is + adjective + infinitive + for someone +
to-infinitive.
- It is hard for elephants to see mice
It is + adjective + infintive + of someone +
to-infinitive.
It is unkind of her to say that.
- Af t e r a n a d j e c t i v e + n o u n w h e n a c o m m e n t o r j u d g e m e n t i s b e i n g
made:
I t w a s a s t u p i d p l a c e t o p a r k t h e c a r.
This is the right thing to do.
It was an astonishing way to behave.
- Wi t h t o o a n d e n o u g h i n t h e s e p a t t e r n s :
too much/many (+ noun) + to-infinitive
There's too much sugar to put in this bowl.
I h a d t o o m a n y b o o k s t o c a r r y.
too + adjective + to-infinitive
This soup is too hot to eat.

 She was too tired to work.

too + adverb + to-infinitive
He arrived too late to see the actors.
enough (+ noun) + to-infinitive
I've had enough (food) to eat.
adjective + enough + to-infinitive
She's old enough to make up her own mind.
not enough (+noun) + to-infinitive
There isn't enough snow to ski on.
not + adjective + enough + to-infinitive
You ' r e n o t o l d e n o u g h t o h a v e g r a n d - c h i l d r e n !

4. I n f i n i t i v e a f t e r q u e s t i o n w o r d s
T h e s e v e r b s : a s k , d e c i d e , e x p l a i n , f o r g e t , k n o w, s h o w, t e l l ,
understand, can be followed by a question word such as where,
h o w, w h a t , w h o , w h e n o r ' w h e t h e r ' + t h e ' t o - i n f i n i t i v e ' .
Examples:

She asked me how to use the washing machine.

Do you understand what to do?
Tel l m e w h e n t o p r e s s t h e b u t t o n .
I ' v e f o r g o t t e n w h e r e t o p u t t h i s l i t t l e s c r e w.
I can't decide whether to wear the red dress or the black one.

The question word Why is followed by the zero infinitive in

suggestions:
Examples:

Why
Why
Why
Why
Why
Why

wait until tomorrow?

not ask him now?
walk when we can go in the car?
n o t b u y a n e w b e d f o r yo u r b e d r o o m ?
leave before the end of the game?
not spend a week in Beirut and a week in Baghdad?

5. Negative infinitive
To f o r m t h e n e g a t i v e i n f i n i t i v e , p l a c e n o t b e f o r e t h e t o - o r z e r o
infinitive:
e.g. not to worry:
It's hard not to worry about exams.
Examples:

I decided not to go to London.

He asked me not to be late.
Elephants ought not to marry mice.
You ' d b e t t e r n o t s m i l e a t t h e c r o c o d i l e .
I'd rather not eat meat.

6. Other forms
The infinitive can have the following forms:

The
The
The
The

perfect infinitive
continuous infinitive
perfect continuous infinitive
passive infinitive

NOTE: as with the present infinitive, there are situations where the
to is omitted, e.g. after most modal auxiliaries.

6 . 1 . T h e p er f e c t i n f i n i t i v e
to have + past participle, e.g. to have broken, to have seen, to have
saved.
T h i s f o r m i s m o s t c o m m o n l y f o u n d i n Typ e 3 c o n d i t i o n a l s e n t e n c e s ,
u s i n g t h e c o n d i t i o n a l p e r f e c t , e . g . I f I h a d k n o w n yo u w e r e c o m i n g
I would have baked a cake.
Examples:
Someone must have broken the window and climbed in.
I w o u l d l i k e t o h a v e s e e n t h e Taj M a h a l w h e n I w a s i n I n d i a .
He pretended to have seen the film.
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 If I'd seen the ball I would have caught it.

6.2. The continuous infinitive

to be + present participle, e.g.to be swimming, to be joking, to be
waiting
Examples:
I ' d r e a l l y l i k e t o b e s w i m m i n g i n a n i c e c o o l p o o l r i g h t n o w.
You m u s t b e j o k i n g !
I happened to be waiting for the bus when the accident
happened.

6.3. The perfect continuous infinitive

to have been + present participle
Examples:
- t o h a v e b e e n c r yi n g
- to have been waiting
- to have been painting
T h e w o m a n s e e m e d t o h a v e b e e n c r yi n g .
You m u s t h a v e b e e n w a i t i n g f o r h o u r s !
H e p r e t e n d e d t o h a v e b e e n p a i n t i n g a l l d a y.

6 . 4 . Th e p a s s i v e i n f i n i t i v e
to be + past participle, e.g. to be given, to be shut, to be opened
Examples:
I a m e x p e c t i n g t o b e g i v e n a p a y- r i s e n e x t m o n t h .
These doors should be shut.
This window ought to be opened.

7 . Ver b s n or ma l l y f o l l o w e d by i n f i n i t i v e
- These are the most common of the verbs followed by a toinfinitive, with or without a noun.
Example:
I asked him to show me the book.
I asked to see the book.
ask*
beg*
choose
dare
desire*
elect

expect*
help
mean* (=intend)
request*
want
wish*

The verbs marked * can also be followed by a that-clause

Note:
dare: In negative and interrogative sentences the infinitive with or
without 'to' is possible, though it is more common to omit the 'to':
I never dared tell him what happened.
D a r e yo u t e l l h i m t h e n e w s ?
Wou l d y o u d a r e ( t o ) j u m p o u t o f a p l a n e ?
Examples:
We' v e c h o s e n J o h n t o r e p r e s e n t t h e c o m p a n y
conference.
The elephant didn't mean to tread on the mouse.
We e x p e c t y o u t o d o yo u r b e s t i n t h e e x a m .
Do you want to go to the beach?
D o y o u w a n t m e t o g o w i t h yo u t o t h e b e a c h ?
You a r e r e q u e s t e d t o b e q u i e t i n t h i s l i b r a r y.

at

the

- These are the most common of the verbs that are normally
followed by a noun + infinitive. The verbs marked * may also be
followed by a 'that-clause'.
Example:
VERB

NOUN

INFINITIVE

He reminded

me

to buy some eggs.

THAT-CLAUSE

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He reminded

accustom
aid
appoint
assist
cause
challenge
command*
defy
direct*
drive
empower
enable
encourage
entice
entitle

me

that I had to buy some eggs.

entreat
force
get
implore*
incite
induce
inspire
instruct*
invite
lead
oblige
order*
persuade*
press
prompt

provoke
remind*
require*
stimulate
summon
teach
tell
tempt
trust*
warn*
leave (make
someone
responsible)

Notes:
c o m m a n d , d i r e c t , e n t r e a t , i m p l o r e , o r d e r, r eq u i r e , t r u s t :
there is no noun between these verbs and a 'that-clause':
T h e g e n e r a l c o m m a n d e d h i s m e n t o s u r r e n d e r.
T h e g e n e r a l c o m m a n d e d t h a t h i s m e n s h o u l d s u r r e n d e r.
p e r s u a d e a n d r em i n d :
t h e r e i s a l w a ys a n o u n b e t w e e n t h e s e v e r b s a n d a ' t h a t - c l a u s e ' :
You c a n ' t p e r s u a d e p e o p l e t o b u y s m a l l c a r s .
You c a n ' t p e r s u a d e p e o p l e t h a t s m a l l c a r s a r e b e t t e r.
instruct, teach, warn:
the noun is optional between these verbs and a 'that-clause':
S h e t a u g h t h e r s t u d e n t s t o a p p r e c i a t e p o e t r y.
She taught her students that poetry was valuable.
She taught that poetry was valuable.
Examples:
The professor challenged his students to argue with his
t h e o r y.
This law empowers the government to charge more taxes.
You c a n ' t f o r c e m e t o d o s o m e t h i n g I d o n ' t a g r e e w i t h .
You a r e o b l i g e d t o d r i v e o n t h e l e f t i n E n g l a n d .
I invited the new student to have dinner with me.
W h a t i n s p i r e d yo u t o w r i t e t h i s p o e m ?
The elephant told the mouse to climb up his tail.

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8. Bare infinitive
The zero infinitive is used:
a . a f t e r m o s t a u x i l i a r i e s ( e . g . m u s t , c a n , s h o u l d , m a y, m i g h t )
b. after verbs of perception, (e.g. see, hear, feel) with the pattern
verb + object + zero infinitive
c. after the verbs 'make' and 'let', with the pattern make/let +
object + zero infinitive
d. after the expression 'had better'
e. after the expression 'would rather'
when referring to the speaker's own actions
Examples:
After auxiliaries:

S h e c a n ' t s p e a k t o yo u .
H e s h o u l d g i v e h e r s o m e m o n e y.
Shall I talk to him?
Wou l d y o u l i k e a c u p o f c o f f e e ?
I might stay another night in the hotel.
They must leave before 10.00 a.m.

After verbs of perception:

He saw her fall from the cliff.

We h e a r d t h e m c l o s e t h e d o o r.
They saw us walk toward the lake.
She felt the spider crawl up her leg.

After the verbs 'make' and 'let':

Her parents let her stay out late.

Let's go to the cinema tonight.
You m a d e m e l o v e yo u .
Don't make me study that boring grammar book!

NOTICE that the 'to-infinitive' is used when 'make' is in the

passive voice:
I a m m a d e t o s w e e p t h e f l o o r e v e r y d a y.
She was made to eat fish even though she hated it.
After 'had better':
We h a d b e t t e r t a k e s o m e w a r m c l o t h i n g .

12

 She had better ask him not to come.

You ' d b e t t e r n o t s m i l e a t a c r o c o d i l e !
We h a d b e t t e r r e s e r v e a r o o m i n t h e h o t e l .
You ' d b e t t e r g i v e m e yo u r a d d r e s s .
They had better work harder on their grammar!

9 . To g e t
T O G E T + d i r e c t o b j e c t = t o o b t a i n , t o r e c e i v e , t o b u y:
To o b t a i n
She got her driving license last week.
They got permission to live in Switzerland.
To r e c e i v e
I got a letter from my friend in Nigeria.
H e g e t s 1 , 0 0 0 a y e a r f r o m h i s f a t h e r.
To b u y
She got a new coat from Zappaloni in Rome.
We g o t a n e w t e l e v i s i o n f o r t h e s i t t i n g r o o m .
TO GET + place expression = reach, arrive at a place:
We g o t t o L o n d o n a r o u n d 6 p . m .
What time will we get there?
W h e n d i d y o u g e t b a c k f r o m N e w Yor k ?
TO GET + adjective = to become, show a change of state:

I t ' s g e t t i n g h o t t e r.
B y t h e t i m e t h e y r e a c h e d t h e h o u s e t h e y w e r e g e t t i n g h u n g r y.
I'm getting tired of all this nonsense.
M y m o t h e r ' s g e t t i n g o l d a n d n e e d s l o o k i n g a f t e r.
I t g e t s d a r k v e r y e a r l y i n t h e w i n t e r.
Don't touch the stove until is gets cool.

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TO GET + preposition / adverb is used in many phrasal verbs. Here

are some of the most common ones:
Phrasal Verb

Meaning

get at

try to express

get away with

escape punishment for a crime or bad action

get by

manage (financially)

get down

descend; depress

get off

leave a form of transport

(train, bus, bicycle, plane)

get on

enter/sit on a form of transport

(train, bus, bicycle, plane);
have a relationship with someone;
manage

get out of

avoid doing something, especially a duty

get over

recover (from an illness, a surprise)

get through

use or finish the supply of something

get up

leave your bed

get up to

do - usually something bad

Examples:
a. He got on his bicycle and rode down the street.
b. He gets up at 6.00 a.m. every morning.
c . S h e g o t o u t o f t h e w a s h i n g - u p e v e r y d a y, e v e n w h e n i t w a s h e r
turn.
d . We g o t o f f t h e t r a i n j u s t b e f o r e t h e b o m b e x p l o d e d .
e . We' v e g o t t h r o u g h a l l t h e s u g a r - c a n yo u b u y s o m e m o r e ?
f. The children are very quiet - I wonder what they're getting up to.
' To g e t ' c a n b e u s e d i n a n u m b e r o f p a t t e r n s a n d h a s a n u m b e r o f
meanings.
T O G E T + d i r e c t o b j e c t = o b t a i n , r e c e i v e , b u y.
Example: I got my passport last week.
TO GET + place expression = reach, arrive at a place.
Example: How are you getting home tonight?
TO GET + adjective = become, show a change of state.
Example: I am getting old.
TO GET + preposition/adverb is used in many phrasal verbs.

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Example: This rain is really getting me down.

TO GET has a number of other meanings:
a.
b.
c.
d.

D o yo u g e t i t ? ( = u n d e r s t a n d )
He's getting dinner tonight. (= prepare a meal)
I ' l l g e t t h e b i l l . ( = p a y)
That really gets me! (= irritate, annoy)

O t h e r e x p r e s s i o n s w i t h G E T:
To g e t r i d o f s o m e t h i n g m e a n s t o t h r o w i t a w a y.
Example: I'm going to get rid of all these old newspapers.
To g e t o u t o f b e o n t h e w r o n g s i d e m e a n s t o b e i n a b a d m o o d .
Example: He got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning and
h e ' s b e e n h o r r i b l e a l l d a y.
To g e t yo u r o w n b a c k m e a n s t o h a v e y o u r r e v e n g e o r p u n i s h
someone.
Example: She's getting her own back for all those rude things you
said at the party last night.

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