infinitive

UK/ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/US/ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,451 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: infinitives

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, usually written with to. The infinitive form, a split infinitive, use the infinitive.

The rule against splitting one was invented in the nineteenth century on the model of Latin, where the infinitive is a single word and cannot be split. To boldly go is the most famous split infinitive in English.

Definitions of infinitive

1nouninfinitiveThe basic form of a verb, usually written with "to".B2+
“After verbs like want and hope, English uses an infinitive with to.”

infinitive is a form.

Where it comes from

Latin infinitivus means unlimited, from in- plus finitus, bounded.

Latin
īnfīnītīvus — unlimited, indefinite
Middle English
infenitife — without end, in perpetuity
English, today
infinitive

From Middle English infenitife (“without end, in perpetuity”), from Latin īnfīnītīvus (“unlimited, indefinite”), from Latin īnfīnītus (“unlimited, infinite”). by surface analysis, infinite + -ive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

infinitive in the wild

In traditional descriptions of English, the infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without the particle to.
Infinitive
The form without to is called the bare infinitive, and the form with to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.
Infinitive
The adverb is said to "split" the infinitive.
Split infinitive
The to-infinitive is also known as the full infinitive.
Split infinitive
Modal verbs generally accompany the base (infinitive) form of another verb having semantic content.
Modal verb

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

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