What is an infinitive in Russian? Its functions and morphological characteristics. Infinitive in English: forms and their use

A special form of the verb - also called initial or indefinite - is the infinitive (from the Latin infinitivus - “indefinite”).

It denotes a state and an action that does not relate to person, number, mood, or time.

This unchangeable form is easily recognized by the suffixes TY, TI, CH, which are found either at the end of the word or before the postfix SY: walk, go, take care, laugh.

In general, the infinitive can be called a “chameleon”; it can be similar to nouns, to words of the state category. We can verify this when we analyze sentences with infinitives.

Do you need to know what an infinitive is? When will you need to apply this knowledge? Of course, it is important to have knowledge of verb forms and apply them in practice. Firstly, when we do a morphological analysis of the verb, secondly, to determine its conjugation, thirdly, to choose the correct spelling of personal verb endings and, finally, to find out its syntactic role and not forget about placing a dash between the subject and predicate.

In addition, from the infinitive, forms of the past tense (CHITA+L), forms of the conditional mood (WOULD DECIDE), some forms of participles (CONSIDERED+VSHY, COPY-OUT+N) and gerunds (WIN+V, RETURN+LICE+S) are formed.

Any infinitive has only constant signs:

• type (perfect/imperfect),
• transitivity,
• repayment,
• conjugation.

When we define the type, we set questions: WHAT TO DO? (sing, carry, bake) and WHAT TO DO? (sing, bring, bake).

Transition The infinitive transfers the action to the subject, combining with nouns in Vin. case without a preposition (build a tower, take out tea, take care of the homeland) and in Rod. case when negating or indicating a part of an object and a large quantity (not finding a road, eating meat, picking berries).

Intransitive The infinitive can have the postfix СЯ/Сь, it is then called reflexive (smile, take care, rush). The intransitive infinitive is combined with nouns in Dat., Tvor., Sent. cases (to go to friends, correspond with a friend, think about family), as well as in Vin. and Rod. cases with prepositions (enter the house, wait from a friend).

If we determine the conjugation by the infinitive, then we do not forget about exception words. I have conjugations in IT: SHAVE and LAY; in II there are conjugations for EAT and AT: see, look, twirl, offend, endure, hate, depend and drive, hold, breathe, hear) and differently conjugated forms (want, run, eat, give).

As a rule, we look at the last three letters: I conjugation includes verbs starting from OT, UT, YTY (prick, wither, blow, cover), where Т is preceded by the verbal suffixes O, NU and even the root vowels U, Y.

However, some verbs in AT, YAT, ET with verbal suffixes A, I, E, which are usually attributed to the first conjugation, are also characteristic of the second conjugation, for example: silent - silent, stand - standing, sit - sitting. The examples show that they can be recognized by the stressed personal endings of the conjugated forms. This means we use verification using present tense forms.

Conjugation II mainly includes verbs in IT (repeat) and 11 exception verbs, which we have already listed above. But even here there are some peculiarities: the first conjugation includes a small group of infinitives with the root vowel I (beat, drink, sew, rot).

Let's try to determine the conjugation of the verbs to be, to go, to sit down, to go out, to child, to wander, to go, to reap. We form the plural forms of the present tense: to be - will be, go - go, sit - sit, go out - go out, child - denUt, wander - wander, go - go, reap - reap or press (in meaning!). They all have the I conjugation, but their personal endings can be unstressed or stressed.

How does the infinitive behave in a sentence? In different ways, being not only a predicate, but also a subject, an object, a definition and a circumstance. It denotes the subject of speech in a two-part sentence and serves as the subject: Smoking is harmful to health (compare: Smoking is harmful to health).

How to recognize the infinitive in this role? The first sign is the position before the predicate. The second is the absence of any dependence on other members of the proposal. The third sign is that the infinitive can be replaced with a synonymous noun.

Let's look at examples:

1) Hunting on skis is very tiring. 2) It’s not so easy to please you.

The infinitive “hunt” comes first in the sentence, does not depend on other words, and is easily replaced by a noun: Hunting on skis is very tiring. But in the second example such a replacement is impossible! We ask a question from the predicate, expressed by the state category EASY, to the subject: easy (what?) to please.

It is not difficult to define the infinitive as a simple verbal predicate. Here we take into account that the form of such a predicate has the meaning of the future tense: I will ask you for help. The predicate consists of two words WILL and ASK. This is a difficult future tense!

When defining a compound verbal predicate (it is also called “infinitive”!), we start from the principle: the infinitive carries the main meaning, and the auxiliary part consists of conjugated forms of modal words and phase verbs.

MODAL verbs, adjectives and words of the state category: can, want, be able to, prepare, decide, love, follow; must, obliged, ready, glad; possible, impossible, necessary, time.

PHASE verbs denote the beginning, continuation or end of an action: begin, become, begin, continue, stop, finish.

Let's analyze examples:

1) She shouldn't think about him. 2) The girl stopped crying and wiped her tears.

In the first case, a MODAL WORD is used, expressed by a short adjective, in the second - a PHASE verb “stopped”.

The most dangerous thing is to confuse a compound verbal predicate with an object, which is the infinitive! In this case, he answers questions of indirect cases, is associated with an auxiliary verb with the meaning of a request/demand: asked, advised, helped, forced, ordered, persuaded, demanded. It can be replaced by a noun as an object.

In the examples (Grandfather forbade me to walk in the rain. He taught me to save words.) we replace auxiliary verbs with nouns and ask questions of indirect cases: forbade (Vin. case: what?) walks; taught (Dan. case: what?) economy.

And besides this, we take into account that with an infinitive as a complement, actions are performed by different persons, and not by one person:

1) I decided to go to the village. 2) Grandfather told me to go to the village.

In the first sentence, “I” myself decided and will leave, in the second, my grandfather ordered, and “I” am going.

The infinitive in the role of an inconsistent definition depends on the noun and is associated with it through adjunction: The habit of wandering overcame him. She asked to help her parents. We make a synonymous replacement: habit (what?) of wandering; with a request (what?) for help. In this case, the connection between the words is control.

The infinitive as a circumstance expresses the meaning of the goal and answers the questions FOR WHAT PURPOSE? FOR WHAT? It is tied to an auxiliary verb with the meaning of movement: he went to freshen up, he hurries to get dressed, they were going to meet him, he sat down to write, he went for a swim, he invited him to dinner.

You can rearrange the sentence and make a synonymous replacement using the subordinate part of the NGN: went to freshen up; hurries to get dressed; gathered to meet; sat down to write; left to take a swim; invited me to have dinner.

Suppose, for syntactic analysis, sentences are given in which you need to find the infinitive and determine its syntactic function:

1) It was difficult to speak. 2) It was difficult to solve the problem. 3) It was decided to go to the village. 4) There is no order to wait for an answer. 5) Given to repair.

In the first two-part sentence, the infinitive “to speak” is at the very beginning, serving as the subject of the predicate “it was difficult.”

In the second and third one-part impersonal sentences, the infinitives “decide” and “go” are included in the compound nominal predicate.

In the fourth, “I” decided to go on my own, of my own free will. Here the infinitive “to wait” is an object: waiting is not ordered (what?), “I” am waiting, but I am not ordered to wait.

In the fifth, the infinitive “repair” is a goal adverbial: given (why?) for repair.

As you can see, determining the roles of the infinitive is difficult, but possible. Let's move on to training. We suggest completing a task to determine the syntactic role of the infinitive. Then you can check the answers!

TASKS

1.Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

I told the coachman to go. I advise you to return home. You asked me to tell you about my project.

2. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Mtsyri had one desire to win. I got the opportunity to get to know my fellow traveler better.

Answer: ____________________________ .

3. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Answer: ____________________________ .

4. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Fishermen settled down on the river bank to fish. We came in to find out about the upcoming excursion.

Answer: ____________________________ .

5. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Fate cannot shower only bounties. The roads began to become muddy literally before our eyes.

Answer: ____________________________ .

6. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Answer: ____________________________ .

7. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

We started working. You must apologize. Have you finished rewriting?

Answer: ____________________________ .

8. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

He won't fight anymore? We will be waiting for you. You will have good dreams.

Answer: ____________________________ .

9. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

The desire to wander attacked him. I also had personal reasons to go on vacation to the Caucasus.

Answer: ____________________________ .

10. Which part of the sentence is the infinitive? Write your answer in words.

Parents with children come to the park to relax. I went ashore to enjoy the aroma of the sea.

Answer: ____________________________ .

ANSWERS

1.Addition.
2.Definition.
3. Subject.
4. Circumstance.
5. Compound verb predicate.
6.Addition.
7. Compound verb predicate.
8. Simple verbal predicate.
9.Definition.
10. Circumstance.

Literature

1. Glukhikh V.M. The infinitive as a member of a sentence (Material for syntactic analysis in a teacher training college) /Russian language at school. - 2002. - No. 4.

2. Kazakova L.F. Studying the syntactic functions of the infinitive in the 7th grade / Russian language at school. - 1988. - No. 6.

3. Politova I.N. Collocations with a dependent infinitive as part of a sentence / Russian at school. - 2009. - No. 1.

4. Sergeeva Zh.A. On the syntactic functions of the infinitive in sentences like It was decided to go / It was ordered to go / Russian at school. - 2006. - No. 2.

5. Tukhvatulina S.I. Sentences like It’s fun to ride and It’s fun to ride from the point of view of semantic and intonation integrity /Russian language at school. - 2014. - No. 1.

Morphology of the Russian literary language*

VERB

Conjugation of verbs

Infinitive

In the verb conjugation system, the infinitive is opposed to predicative and attributive forms, which express the process in a certain relation to a person or object. In contrast, the infinitive itself does not express any syntactic relations to other words of speech and represents the most general abstract expression of the process: work, read, carry, search, go, guard, interfere, lie etc. Thus, in terms of its grammatical meaning, the infinitive is a negative verb form.

The relation of the infinitive to other forms of the verb can be compared with the relation of the nominative case of nouns to the oblique cases. Both of these forms, in relation to other forms of the same words, are negative, or “direct” forms, which only express the characteristics they designate as a process or object, without indicating their relationship to other words of speech. Due to the grammatical proximity of the nominative case of the noun and the infinitive of the verbs, which is reflected in their syntactic use, nouns in the nominative case denote actions in abstraction from the person or thing that produces them, for example: work, reading, walking, smoking etc., are similar in meaning to the infinitives of verbs denoting the same actions without indicating the person or object performing them: work, read, walk, smoke etc. The main difference between them lies in the way of expressing the designated attribute - action. A noun, denoting an action, expresses it as an object, and an infinitive expresses the same action as a process. Being a form expressing the subject, the nominative case is opposed to the indirect cases of the noun, indicating the various relations of this subject to other words of speech. The infinitive, being an expression of the process, is opposed to other forms of the verb, as forms that express the relationship of the process to a person or object.

Since the infinitive is a form that does not express relations to other words of speech, it can act, like a noun in the nominative case, as the subject of a sentence: Smoking is prohibited, but you will be scared to die too.(A. Chekhov), To be freed was his cherished dream.(I. Goncharov), It would be up to his friends to write his biography.(A. Pushkin) , Living life is not a field to cross(last). In addition, the infinitive can be used as a secondary member of a sentence (but not attributions and circumstances, for which the verb has special forms - participle and gerund) to express it: He will come to say goodbye, I lay down to rest, The doctor ordered the patient to lie down, He loves to play the violin, Well, you are a master at singing songs!

In emotional speech, the infinitive is widely used in the meaning of predicative forms of the verb. So, it can act in the indicative mood: I called out to him, and he ran! The thrush grieves, the thrush grieves! The infinitive with negation and, less often, without negation can be used in the sense of the imperative mood: Keep quiet! Don't talk! Don't play around! Be silent! Sit still! and etc.

Such diversity in the syntactic use of the infinitive is explained by its grammatical meaning as a form that does not express any specific syntactic relationship. For the same reason, it is used to form analytical forms of verb conjugation, for example, the complex future tense: I will read, I will work, or complex forms of the imperative mood: let's work, let's read. In these forms, the infinitive is the carrier of only real meaning and non-syntactic formal meanings, and formal syntactic meanings are expressed by auxiliary particles or words attached to it.

Formation of the infinitive

The infinitive form is formed using suffixes -t, -sti (-st), -ti, -ch. Of all these suffixes, only one suffix is ​​productive -th. Through it, the infinitive is formed for all verbs of productive classes: play, white, draw, white, push, and also for most verbs of non-productive classes: knitting, pricking, screaming, grief, freezing, baby, hitting, rubbing etc. Other suffixes of the infinitive -sti (-st), -ti, -ch unproductive: they are represented in a small group of verbs, and only verbs of unproductive classes.

Infinitive with suffix -sti (-st) have verbs with a non-derivative base past. and now vr. to consonants b, s, h: rowing, rowing - rowing; scraper, scraper - scrape; carried, carried-ut - carry; pass, pass-ut - pa-sti; carried, carried-ut – transported, climbed, climbed-ut – climbed etc. The only exception is one verb with a stem in b: -shit, -shit-ut – -shit. In addition to these verbs, by means of the suffix -sti (-st) Infinitives are also formed by verbs with a non-derivative base present. vr. to consonants t, d, n, falling out at the base of the past. time: met-ut, me-l – revenge; weave-ut, weave-l – weave; treasure-ut, cla-l – cla-st; spin-ut, spin-l - spin-st; swear-ut, swear-l - curse; eat-yat, e-l – e-is etc. All verbs that have a suffix -sti (-st), except for isolated verb There is, belong to the III unproductive class.

Of the two options for the infinitive suffix -sti And -is option -is have verbs with fixed stress based on the past tense: gry"z, gry"zli - gry"zt; kla"l, kla"li - kla"st; se"l, se"li – se"is etc., as well as one verb in which, due to the loss of a fluent vowel at the base of the past tense, the emphasis is transferred to the ending: -chel, -chli" – -che" is (for-, pro-, u-). Another variant of this suffix -sti is represented in verbs with past tense stress on the ending (except, of course, for the masculine form, where, due to the lack of ending, the stress is naturally placed on the stem): rowed" - to row", carried" - to carry", carried" - to carry", shoaled" - revenge"etc. Option -sti always has stress on itself and only on verbs with the prefix You-, transferring the stress to itself, it is unstressed: row" - you" row, carry" - you" carry, lead - you" lead etc.

With suffix -whose the infinitive is formed in verbs with a non-derivative stem of the past and present tense ending in velars To And G: bake, bake-ut - bake; attracted, attracted - attracted; shore, shore-ut - take care; burnt, burnt - wow etc. These verbs also belong to the III unproductive class. But besides them, the suffix -whose in the infinitive there is another verb of the II unproductive class, which in the past tense has a non-derivative base on the velar G, and in the present tense a derivative base with a suffix -n-: reached – reached – reached. In parallel with reach the infinitive form, usual for the II unproductive class, is also used achieve.

Infinitive suffix -ti represented only by one isolated verb: walked - go - go(spelling . go And go).

When forming an infinitive, these suffixes are usually added to the past tense stem. From this stem the infinitive is formed for all verbs of productive classes: play-l - play, white-l - white, draw-l - draw, white-l - white, push-l - push, and for most verbs of non-productive classes: knit-l - knit, kol-l - kol-t, shout-l - scream, grief-l - grief, de-l - de-de, live-l - live etc. But in some verbs of non-productive classes the infinitive suffix is ​​attached to a stem different from the past tense stem. These are, firstly, almost all verbs of the II unproductive class (except create, become, erase), i.e. verbs with a non-derivative past tense base and a derived present tense base with a suffix -n-: they form an infinitive from a special stem with a suffix -Well-, cf.: black - black-out - black-well, tremble - tremble-ut - tremble-well, chilly - chilly-ut - chilly-well, sluggish - wyan-ut - wow-well and etc.; secondly, most of the verbs of class III are unproductive, namely verbs with a non-derivative base of the past and present tense on consonants j, d, b, s, h, in which the infinitive is formed from the stem without these consonants: bake - bake-ut - bake, guard - guard-ut - guard, row - row-ut - row, carry - carry-ut - don't-sti, carry - carry-ut - carry etc., then verb -shib – -shib-ut, in which the infinitive is formed from the stem to the suffix -And-: -shit, – and, finally, verbs with a non-derivative base on a consonant R, forming the infinitive from the stem to the vowel -e-: ter - tr-ut - ter-e-t, per - pr-ut - per-e-t and etc.; thirdly, one isolated verb forms the infinitive not from the past tense stem, but from the present tense stem, cf.: walked - go-ut - go-ti.

Verb inflections

A distinctive feature of verbs is the presence of special predicative forms, i.e. forms in which the verb acts as a predicate in a sentence. Other parts of speech themselves cannot be predicates, because they do not have such forms. Nouns, adjectives, numerals and adverbs act as a predicate only with the help of a special linking word, which expresses the predicative forms they lack, cf.: Here the city will be founded in spite of the arrogant neighbor. (A. Pushkin), You'll be a hero in sight. (M. Lermontov) etc. Thus, by the formation of predicative forms, the verb is opposed to other parts of speech, as a part of speech that has predicative forms, to parts of speech that do not have these forms.

Predicative forms of a verb are expressed by special forms called inclinations. Through these forms, differences in the nature of the statement are indicated, which is expressed by the verb, as the predicate of the sentence, in relation to the reality or unreality of this statement. In modern Russian there are three main forms of mood: indicative, conditional and imperative.

Indicative means that the process expressed by the verb is considered as real, as really happening, for example: He wrote a letter, He writes a letter, He will write a letter; or: He didn't write a letter, He won't write a letter etc. The indicative mood is opposed to the conditional and imperative moods.

Conditional mood means that the process expressed by the verb is considered not as real, but as expected, for example: He would write to you, If only he would write, You would write something to us, I would write if I were not so busy; etc. In the same way, the process in imperative mood, expressing the motivation to action: Write a letter, Let's write, Let him write. Expressing the volitional attitude of the speaker towards the person prompted to action, the imperative mood is an emotional, expressive form and in this regard is opposed to the indicative and conditional moods, which do not represent forms of expression of will.

Indicative tense forms

The indicative mood is expressed by tense forms indicating the time when the process expressed by the verb takes place. The designation of the time of the process is made in relation to the moment of speech, i.e. in relation to the time at which the speaker's speech occurs. Consequently, time forms indicate the relationship between the time of the process and the moment of speech. In relation to the moment of speech, the process can be designated either as occurring before it, or simultaneously with it, or after it, or, finally, the process can be designated as occurring regardless of the moment of speech. In the Russian language, only the indicative mood has forms of time, while in the conditional and imperative moods they are absent, and the process expressed in these moods is always designated as occurring regardless of the moment of speech. The indicative mood, thus, as a form denoting the time of the process in relation to the moment of speech, is opposed to the conditional and imperative moods, as forms denoting a process that occurs without regard to the time of speech.

In modern Russian, the indicative mood has three tense forms: past, present and future. Their formation and meaning are closely related to the type of verb. All three forms of tense are found only in imperfective verbs, while perfective verbs form only two tenses: past and future.

The past tense form indicates that the process expressed by the verb preceded the moment of speech. Moreover, in imperfective verbs the process is expressed as unfolding in the past without indicating its completeness, for example: In the evening, do you remember, the blizzard was angry, there was darkness in the cloudy sky, the moon, like a pale spot, looked through the gloomy clouds...(A. Pushkin) In perfective verbs, the process is designated as completed at the moment of speech, at the moment it reaches its limit: I took your book, Clouds hung over the forest, A delegation arrived in Moscow, Father went on a business trip. By denoting a process completed at the time of speech, perfective verbs in the past tense form can express that the results of this process exist at the very moment of speech. Therefore, the given examples can mean: “I have your book,” “clouds over the forest,” “father is currently on a business trip.”

Only imperfective verbs have the present tense form. The main temporary meaning of this form is the expression of a process that occurs regardless of the moment of speech, constantly or usually, cf.: The earth revolves around the sun, the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, fish swim and birds fly, the tram stops right next to our house, it comes to us often etc. Denoting a process that occurs constantly or usually, this form thereby includes in the total time of the process the time coinciding with the moment of speech. This meaning of this form allows it to be used in the meaning of the actual present tense, i.e. to express a process occurring simultaneously with the moment of speech: I fly quickly along the cast iron rails, thinking my thoughts.(N. Nekrasov), And now look out the window: under the blue skies with magnificent tents, shining in the sun, the snow lies, the transparent forest alone turns black, and the spruce turns green through the frost, and the river glitters under the ice. (A. Pushkin) The meaning of the present tense itself, therefore, is a particular, although not rare, case of using this form. Only this form can indicate the process that takes place at the moment of speech, which is why it is called the present tense form.

The meaning of the present tense form allows it to be used to express a process occurring in the time preceding the moment of speech. This happens, for example, when a speaker, reporting about the past, depicts it as if it were happening at the present time, cf.: I went to him, called, knocked: no one unlocked... In this case, the time of the process does not correspond to the moment of speech, but to the time of any event or process that occurred before it. For verbs with the meaning of movement, the present tense form can denote a process that occurs immediately, in the near future after the moment of speech, for example: Say that I’m going now, Tomorrow we’re going out of town, I’m running, I’m running!

The future tense form means that the time of the process expressed by the verb will follow the moment of speech. The form of the future tense has such a meaning, strictly speaking, only in imperfective verbs, i.e. the so-called future complex, for example: I will think that you are bored in a foreign land.(M. Lermontov), He will constantly put them in difficult situations.(Ch. Uspensky) , You will carefully receive the same as before.(A. Chekhov) The future tense of perfective verbs (the so-called future simple) is similar in its temporal meaning to the meaning of the present tense form of imperfective verbs, just as these forms are similar in their formation. Namely, for verbs of the perfect form, the form of the future tense means that the time of the process is irrespective of the moment of speech, cf.: Whatever he notices or hears about Olga, he writes about it.(A. Pushkin), Tatyana is in the forest... either a long branch will suddenly catch her by the neck, then the golden earrings will be torn out of her ears by force, then a wet shoe will get stuck in the fragile snow from her sweet little foot, then she will drop her handkerchief, she has no time to pick it up. (A. Pushkin) However, unlike the present tense, this form denotes the process in its completeness, and this allows us to imagine it as carried out in the future, i.e. as finished after the moment of speech: In the morning the ray of the morning star will flash and the bright day will sparkle; and I - perhaps I will descend into the mysterious canopy of the tomb, and the memory of the young poet will be absorbed by the slow Lethe, the world will forget me. (A. Pushkin) By expressing the process in its completeness after the moment of speech, the future tense for verbs of the perfect form (future simple) is opposed to the future tense for verbs of the imperfect form (future complex), which also means that the process will occur after the moment of speech, but not contains indications of the completeness and completion of this process. Thus, the form of the future tense in perfective verbs is correlated, on the one hand, with the form of the present tense and, on the other hand, with the form of the future tense in imperfective verbs.

To be continued

* From the book: Avanesov R.I., Sidorov V.N. Essay on the grammar of the Russian literary language. Part I. Phonetics and morphology. M.: Uchpedgiz, 1945.

The infinitive, or indefinite form of the verb, refers to the non-finite forms of the verb and combines the properties of the verb and the noun. The infinitive answers the questions “what to do?”, “what to do?”: to read - read, to write - write, to learn - learn, to remember - remember, to promise - promise etc.

The formal sign of the infinitive is the particle to, which comes before it. In some cases the to particle is omitted.

The Indefinite Infinitive Active is the only simple form of the infinitive.

I want to play chess.
I want to play chess.

All other forms are complex, as they are formed using the auxiliary verbs to be, to have and participle.

Rules for the formation and use of the infinitive in English

1. Indefinite Infinitive Active is formed from the stem of a verb with the particle to (for example, to write) and is used to express an action that occurs simultaneously with the action expressed by the predicate verb, in the present, past and future tense or regardless of the time of its occurrence.

I am glad to hear it. I'm glad to hear that.
He wanted to play chess. He wanted to play chess.
I shall hope to see you tomorrow. I hope to see you tomorrow.
To swim is pleasant. It's nice to swim.

Indefinite Infinitive Passive is formed using the auxiliary verb to be + 3rd form of the verb (Participle II) (for example, to be written) and is used to express an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb.

Didn't want her article to be translated.
He wanted her article to be translated (= to have her article translated).

2. Continuous Infinitive Active is formed using the auxiliary verb to be + Participle I of the semantic verb (for example, to be writing) and is used to express a long-term action that occurs simultaneously with the action expressed by the predicate verb. This form is often used after verbs to seem, to appear - seem and after auxiliary verbs.

Doesn't seem to be writing much. He seems to write a lot.
Doesn't seem to be waiting for us. It seems (that) he is waiting for us.

3. Perfect Continuous Infinitive Active is formed using the auxiliary verb to be in the Perfect Infinitive (to have been) + Participle I of the semantic verb (=ing form) - (for example, to have been writing) - and expresses a continuous action preceding the action expressed by the predicate verb.

He is reported to have been writing a new novel.
It is reported that he is writing a new novel. (They are reporting now, but he started writing a new novel before that, so the verb to write is used in the Perfect Continuous Infinitive Active.)

4. Perfect Infinitive Active is formed using the auxiliary verb to have + Participle II of the semantic verb (for example, to have written).

Perfect Infinitive Passive is formed using the auxiliary verb to be in the Perfect Infinitive (to have been) + Participle II of the semantic verb (for example, to have been written).

Perfect Infinitive (Active, Passive) is used:

1. To express an action preceding an action expressed by a predicate verb.

Not said to have won the Olympic Gold (medal).
He is said to have won a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

She seems to have forgotten about our request.
It seems she forgot about our request.

2. After the modal verbs should, would, ought to, could, might to express an unfulfilled moral duty or obligation.

Not should have helped her.
He should have helped her but he didn't).

You ought to have congratulated him with the defense of his thesis.
You should congratulate him on defending his dissertation.

3. After was, were to express unfulfilled plans and contracts.

The school was to have been ready by the 1st of September, but it is still only half finished.
The school was supposed to be ready by September 1, but it is still only half ready.

4. After the modal verbs must, may to express assumptions, conclusions.

Not must have read this book. He must have read this book.
She may have married. She may have gotten married.
He must have come this way. Here are his footprints.
He must have come this way. Here are his traces.

5. After verbs to hope ( hope), to expect ( expect), to want ( want), to intend ( mean) to express an action that, contrary to hope and expectation, did not take place.

She hoped to have met a good man.
She hoped to meet a good man ( but didn't meet).

He intended to have put up an advertisement yesterday.
He intended to make the announcement yesterday ( but didn't).

Infinitive with the particle to

1. The infinitive is usually used with the particle to: to read, to write, to work. But if in a sentence there are two infinitives next to each other, connected by the conjunction and or or, then the particle to is usually omitted before the second infinitive.

She decided to go and buy something for supper.
She decided to go and buy something for dinner.

2. The particle to is sometimes used at the end of a sentence without a verb. This is done to avoid repeating the same verb in the same sentence. This use of the particle to usually occurs after the verbs to wish - want, to want - want, to try - try, to allow - allow, to have to - be to and etc.

I didn’t want to take a taxi but I had to(take one) as I was late.
I didn’t want to take a taxi, but I had to (take a taxi) because I was late.

He wished to go but he wasn’t able to.
He wanted to go, but was not able (could not go).

Did you get a ticket? -Did you get a ticket? -
No, I tried to, but there weren’t any left.
No. I tried, but there was not a single ticket left.

3. After verbs to be, to have used as modal verbs, the particle to is added.

I am to meet him here.
I must meet him here.

Not has to do it in September.
He should do this in September.

4. After the words the first, the second… the last, the only.

He loves parties: he is always the first to come and the last to leave.
He loves parties: he is always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Infinitive without particle to

1. After auxiliary and modal verbs.

Not can play chess. He plays (can play) chess.
We shall go by foot there. We'll go there on foot.

2. After the verbs to make - force, to let - allow and sometimes after to help - to help.

She made him give up smoking. She made him quit smoking.
I let him read this book. I allowed him to read (read) this book.

3. After the verbs to see - see, to hear - hear, to feel - feel, to watch - observe, to make - force and some others in the phrase “Objective case with infinitive”.

I heard her leave the house.
I heard her leave the house.

They made us work all night long.
They made us work all night.

BUT: If the verbs listed in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs are used in the passive voice, then the infinitive that follows them is used with the particle to.

Not was made to open the door.
He was forced to open the door.

She was seen to go to the institute.
We saw her go to college.

4. After the expressions had better - better be, would rather, would sooner - would prefer...(would) rather.

You had better talk to the doctor.
You'd better talk to your doctor.

I would rather see him alone.
I'd rather see him alone.

Particles in English are function words that give different meanings to individual words or groups of words.

Often, when studying Russian at school, students do not fully understand what an infinitive is. The first thing worth mentioning when talking about this form is that it refers to verbs. It is the most generalized and abstract from the entire complex of personal forms. So why is it needed in speech and what is an infinitive in general?

Description

In Russian, a compound predicate containing two words is quite common. If the second of them has one of the formative suffixes (-ть or -ти), then it is the infinitive of the verb. For example, he played - he likes to play, he slept - he wants to sleep. The ending of such words depends on what sound comes before the suffix. If it is a vowel, then the verb will end in -т (jump, eat, plow, be silent). If it is a consonant and is part of the root, then the ending will be -ti (to go, to carry, to carry), but there are exceptions. If the stress does not fall on the suffix, it again turns into a short -t (for example, climb). If the verb ends in -ch, you should remember that this is part of the root, not the ending. It’s just that such words have a zero inflectional suffix. This is easy to confirm when conjugating, for example, flow - flows, burn - burns, oven - bakes. Thus, the impersonal form of the verb, which is characterized by indefiniteness, is the infinitive. Examples of its use:

1) Need be able to remain silent in any situation.

2) Play it was quite interesting.

Origin

Research in this area was carried out by the famous Russian linguist and semiotician V.V. Ivanov. He believes that the infinitive of a verb in the Russian language goes back to nouns that have a verbal base when inflected in the accusative and dative cases, since these cases are most prone to dynamics. But the main difference between this form is the absence of any personal expressions. Verbal nouns in declension show that their creation was facilitated by the desire to represent the action in the form of an object. But the infinitive that arose from them not only did not lose its original purpose, but also expanded the scope of its application. But many linguistic scientists reject this theory, since it has no confirmation in written sources of the time when the norms of the Russian language were just being formed. In addition, this view is based on the version of the existence of the Proto-Slavic language, which is still in great doubt. Therefore, there are other versions of the origin of the infinitive. The first of them is that this form of the verb was once agreed with the subject, which had a dative form (you wouldn’t know, it’s not for her to decide, he can’t sleep). The second is that imperfect verbs in the future tense had a special form, which lost agreement in persons and numbers (He asked me to be silent).

Lots of doubts

But contradictions in the polemics of researchers are caused not only by the origin of the infinitive, but also by its main feature - belonging to the verb. Some scholars believe that this is only a form of names, which in no way can denote action. Others say that this is a nominative, that is, the original form of the verb, which carries a potential relationship to something or someone. That is, the infinitive provides us only with an idea for action and does not have additional complications like other categories. The argument used by all defenders of the indefinite form of the verb is aspect - a sign by which an action can be perfect or imperfect. This proves that the verb in the infinitive form has a right to exist in the Russian language, and it belongs precisely to this part of speech. But that's not all. Reflexivity, which is inherent in verbs, also exists in the infinitive.

In German

Many languages ​​around the world have this form of the verb. German was no exception. What is an infinitive in this grammar? It is an abstract action that has nothing to do with the person performing it. This is the basic form of the verb, which in Old High German is often conjugated with other words from this part of speech. But this ability has not survived to this day. With the infinitive in this language there is a preposition zu, which has completely lost its original meaning and has become simply a formal accompaniment. In German there is also a similarity between the indefinite form and verbal nouns, but it is very small. It is expressed in substantivization, that is, in the transition of actions into objects due to their ability to point to a particular object. What makes this form closer to names is that it is often used as an object or subject. In the German language, there are 6 forms of the infinitive, which are divided according to the characteristics of active, passive and state.

In English

The impersonal form of a verb in English, which refers only to the action but does not carry any information about who performed it, is the infinitive. A table with examples for this language is studied at school. It looks like this:

The table shows that the infinitive has both tense and voice in the active state, and only tense in the passive state.

One of the main features of this form is the particle to. It drops only in rare cases. The infinitive can be used in six forms:

• simple in active voice;
• long lasting;
• perfect;
• absolutely continuous;
• simple in passive voice;
• perfect in the passive voice.

Which form will be used depends entirely on the predicate in the sentence. If the particle to is not used, it is the so-called “bare infinitive”. This is possible in three cases:

1) It comes after one of the modal verbs (may, will, shall and others).

2) It is built into a construction that has a verb of perception (feel, see, hear and others), but often in such cases it is replaced by a gerund.

3) It stands next to the verbs of inducement or permission (bid, have, make and others).

In French

What is an infinitive in French linguistics? This is an unconjugated, and therefore impersonal, form of one of the most important parts of speech, namely the verb. In this language, it can denote both an action and an object. In a sentence it can be a subject, an object (direct, indirect and adverbial), or a predicate. A verb that is in the infinitive form always ends in -ir. It can be in the past or present tense.

Thus, a verb that is indefinite and has no connection with the one who performs the action is an infinitive. Examples of this form can be found in many languages ​​of the world, such as Russian, German, English and French.

Which has neither face nor number. The infinitive only names the action denoted by the verb. As in Russian, in English the infinitive form of the verb answers the questions “what to do?” and “what to do?”

To think - to think.

To say - to speak.

The indefinite form of the verb comes from a verbal noun and retains the properties of this part of speech, performing the syntactic functions of a noun in a sentence.

The formal sign of an infinitive in English is the particle to preceding it, which in some cases can be omitted. The particle to has no independent meaning; it is never stressed.

Functions of the infinitive

1. Function of the subject:

2. Nominal part of the predicate:

His aim was to deceive Mark. His goal was to deceive Mark.

3. Part composite verbal predicate:

We intend to celebrate this occasion.We intend to celebrate this event.

4. Function additions:

Peter asked me to look after his son. Peter asked me to look after his son.

5. Function definitions:

There is a lot of work to be done.There is a lot of work to be done.

6. Function circumstances:

I swim everyday to be fit.I swim every day to stay fit.

Infinitive forms: table

Transitive verbs in English have four infinitive forms in the active voice and two in the passive voice, for a total of 6 forms:

Only two forms of the infinitive are translated into Russian using the appropriate forms: Indefinite Infinitive Active and Indefinite Infinitive Passive. For other forms, there are no corresponding forms in Russian, so they cannot be translated in isolation from the sentence.

Using an infinitive with a particle to(full infinitive)

As mentioned above, the infinitive form of the verb in English is used with the particle to:

To swim- swim.

To play -play.

If two infinitives appear side by side in a sentence, then the particle to before the second of them is usually omitted:

He is too young to smoke and drink. He is too young to smoke and drink.

Sometimes a particle to can be used at the end of a sentence without a verb. This happens in cases where the verb to which the particle refers has already been mentioned in the sentence. In this situation, the particle to is stressed. This use of the particle is often found in sentences with verbs to want - to want, to wish - to desire, to mean - to have in mind, to try– try, try, to allow – to allow, to be going – to gather, should (would) like – would like and etc.:

She wants me to go there today, but I don’t want to. She wants me to go there today, but I don't want to.

(Implies: go).

I didn't want to stay there, but I had to. I didn't want to stay there, but I had to.

(Implies: stay).

Using an infinitive without a particle to(bare infinitive)

In some cases the infinitive is used without a particle to.

1. After modal verbs must, can (could), may (might) And need:

He must help me. He must help me.

You may come in.You can to come in.

2. After verbs to make - force,to let - allow, and sometimes also after to help - to help:

Help me choose a gift for my sister.Help me choose a gift for my sister.

Mother makes me clean my room.Mom makes me clean my room.

Father let me go to my friend.My father allowed me to go to a friend.

3. In circulation after verbs to watch - observe,to see - see,to hear - hear,to feel - feel and some others:

I saw her write the letter.I saw her writing a letter.

Note. If the verbs listed in paragraphs. 2–3 are used in the passive voice, then the infinitive following such a verb is used with a particle to:

He was made to clean his room.He was forced to clean the room.

She was seen to write the letter.We saw her writing a letter.

4. After set expressions had better - it would be better, would rather, would sooner - would prefer would:

You had better go home.You'd better go home.

I would rather stay here.I'd rather stay here.

Now you know everything about the infinitive in English. Ask questions in the comments.