infinitive
Abbreviation: infin.
in English, the simple or basic form of a verb, with no endings to indicate the verb’s subject or tense, such as come, take, eat, be: used after auxiliary verbs or preceded by the word to, and sometimes functioning as a noun, such as He mustbe,I want toeat,Toloveis tounderstand.: Compare finite verb.
a verb form found in many other languages that has a similar function, such as French venir “to come” or Latin esse “to be.”
consisting of or containing an infinitive: an infinitive construction.Abbreviation: infin.
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Origin of infinitive
1Other words from infinitive
- in·fin·i·tive·ly, adverb
Words Nearby infinitive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use infinitive in a sentence
The infinitive form of the verb allows the subject—the builders doing the building—to lurk in the shadows, but they are always there.
How to Build a Society for All to Enjoy - Issue 107: The Edge | Kathryn Paige Harden | September 29, 2021 | NautilusPerhaps speke (better speken) is an infinitive in l. 350, but it may also be the pt.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey ChaucerThis ending terminates the past participles of verbs whose infinitive ends in e.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerAn example of the present infinitive used after aprs (cf. il est parti aprs avoir bu un verre d'eau).
Contes Franais | Douglas Labaree BuffumThe use of tre for aller when followed by an infinitive is inelegant, though the construction is sometimes used by good writers.
Contes Franais | Douglas Labaree Buffum
Instead of the infinitive moods and plural numbers ending in -n as in Holland, the former end in -a, the latter in -ar.
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies | Robert Gordon Latham
British Dictionary definitions for infinitive
/ (ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv) /
a form of the verb not inflected for grammatical categories such as tense and person and used without an overt subject. In English, the infinitive usually consists of the word to followed by the verb
Derived forms of infinitive
- infinitival (ˌɪnfɪnɪˈtaɪvəl), adjective
- infinitively or infinitivally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for infinitive
The simple or dictionary form of a verb: walk, think, fly, exist. Often the word to marks a verb as an infinitive: “to walk,” “to think,” “to fly,” “to exist.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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