Students will be able to compose sentences using infinitive … ·  · 2014-02-11(After certain verbs, the to is dropped.) ... Most infinitives are preceded by to, but after certain

Students will be able to compose sentences using infinitive phrases.

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Verb

�A verb is a word that describes an action, state or occurrence.

Run Talk Read Go

Eat See Leave

Love Create Give

��An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, without an inflection binding it to a particular subject or tense.

�It is the version of the verb which will appear in the dictionary.

�An infinitive is a non-finite verb. In other words, it cannot be the main verb in a sentence.

�An infinitive can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

What is an infinitive?

�� The infinitive form of a verb is usually preceded by to (e.g., to run, to dance, to think). The infinitive form is not always preceded by to. Look at these examples:

�I need to run every day.(The infinitive form with the word to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.)

�I must run every day.(After certain verbs, the to is dropped.)

�I run every day.(This is not in the infinitive form. This is a finite verb, i.e., a verb functioning as the main verb.)

Examples of Infinitives

��Underline the infinitive:

To succeed is not always easy.

Her goal was to act.

I must eat at noon.

Practice

�� Keep in mind that a noun is a word used for people, places, things or

ideas. Here are some examples of infinitive verbs as nouns:

To succeed is Ted's goal. (noun—subject of the sentence)

Franklin's goal was to succeed.(noun—predicate nominative)

Melissa wanted to succeed. (noun—direct object)

Infinitives as Nouns

�� An adjective modifies a noun to tell us something about

the noun (e.g., its color, type, or number). Examples of an infinitive as an adjective:

Give him an ornament to polish.(The infinitive modifies ornament.)

Lea has the drive to succeed. (adjective—Which drive? the drive to succeed)

� Adjectives

Infinitives as Adjectives

�� An adverb usually modifies a verb to tell us when, where, how,

in what manner, or to what extent an action is performed. Here two examples of an infinitive verb functioning as an adverb:

Lea will endeavor to succeed. (adverb—How will Lea endeavor? to succeed)

The officer returned to help.(The infinitive modifies the verb returned.)

� Adverbs

Infinitives as Adverbs

��Most infinitives are preceded by to, but after certain verbs, the to is dropped. The most obvious example is when an infinitive follows: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, or would (i.e., a modal verb).

�He should go home

�They might finish by Wednesday.

Bare Infinitives

��An infinitive phrase is an infinitive with modifiers, complements, or a subject, all acting together as a single part of speech.

�An infinitive phrase is composed of the infinitive, its modifiers (or describers), and all the other words that are needed to complete the idea begun by the infinitive.

Infinitive Phrases

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Examples of Infinitive Phrases

�That job is hard to do without help.

�Please help set the table.

�� Underline the infinitive phrase:

Dana’s desire to help people led to her career in medicine.

Let me help you with that.

To become an astronaut requires special training.

Practice