Infinitive

Question

The use of Infinitive without ''To''

Philip · Accepted Answer

The verb with to is the infinitive. Without it, some call it the base form of the verb.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Please see

CB

Fivejedjon · Answer

PhilipThe verb with to is the infinitive.

Not all of us agree with that.

The early writers on grammar usually presented the English infinitive as, for example, TO LOVE. Their reasoning was that the Latin (that most perfect of languages) used one word (AMARE) for a form that, if translated into English, was usually rendered by two words. 'To' must, therefore. be part of the infinitive. The fact that Latin infinitives could be translated into a single word after the modals was brushed off as just a peculiarity of the modals. Infinitives in more recent languages such as French (AIMER) and German (LIEBEN) were used to further justify this idea. . Such writers brushed aside the inconvenient facts that French often requiresà or de, and German zu, when Latin is happy with a single-word infinitive.

Times have changed. Some modern writers even think that the 'to' is a preposition. Many more are happy to think of a to- infinitive (TO LOVE) and a bare infinitive

.

Such writers use expressions such as base form for the form that dictionaries use as the headword of the main entry. This form happens to be, for all verbs except the modals, the form used as the bare infinitive, the to- infinitive (with the addition of to, of course), the present simple for all persons except the 3rd person singular of the present simple, the base of -ing forms and, for regular verbs, the base of the second (past simple) and third (past participle) forms.

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonLatin (that most perfect of languages)

I'm so glad that we can all agree on this!

CJ

Infinitive

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