Infinitive Verb

Do you know the difference between an infinitive verb and a base verb? Or,
do you know when and how do you use infinitive verbs? These questions,
and their answers are the key to understanding the uses of an infinitive verb.

Defining an Infinitive Verb

Basically, an infinitive verb is a verb with the word to in front of it.

to be

to have

to hold

to sleep

to dream
When you use an infinitive verb, the to is a part of the verb. It is not acting
as a preposition in this case. And the verb is always just the verb. Its not
conjugated in anyway no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end. Sometimes youll
see sentences like this:

She went from kissing him to slapping him in no time.

You see to slapping, and its easy to think thats an infinitive verb, but it
isnt. Its a preposition (to) and a gerund (slapping). You can tell its not an
infinitive because of the -ing on the end of the verb. Infinitives never have an
-ing ending.

Infinitive Verb vs. Base Verb

A lot of people think that the infinitive is the most basic form of a verb, but it
isnt. The most basic form is the base form. The base form is just the verb,
without the to. Some people also call this a bare infinitive.

be
have
hold
sleep
dream

Using an Infinitive Verb

There are several possible ways to use infinitive verbs. You can use them:
1.
2.

as the subject of a sentence To err is human; to forgive, divine.

like an adjective or adverb phrase that expresses purpose or intent
My instructions are to press this button every hour.
3.
following a direct object He told me to give this to you.
4.
following certain other verbs:

afford We cant afford to eat out every night.

agree Lets agree to disagree.

aim I aim to please.

appear She appears to have the chicken pox.
arrange Ill arrange to meet you at 3:00.
attempt We attempted to contact him several times.
determined They are determined to finish the race.
beg She begged to stay up past her bed time.
care Would you care to dance?
choose Hell always choose to eat pizza if given the choice.
claim They claim to have been home all night.
dare Do you dare to approach me?
decide We decided to get married in a hot air balloon.
demand I demand to know who said that!
deserve You deserve to have all you want in life.
expect Do you expect to see her any time soon?
fail She failed to achieve any of her goals.
happen I happen to have all the things you need.
help It would help to be able to swim.
hesitate He hesitated to ask for the day off.
hope She hopes to be engaged by the end of the summer.
learn Were learning to communicate better.
long Oh how he longed to hold her in his arms!
manage Have you managed to complete your work on time for once?
mean I didnt mean to hurt you.
need You need to think before you speak.
neglect He neglected to tell his parents about the accident.
offer Jim offered to help me pack.
plan What do you plan to do after college?
prepare Im preparing to run away.
pretend Dont pretend to sleep when Im talking to you.
proceed We then proceeded to drink until we blacked out.
promise I promise to love you forever.
refuse She refused to sign the documents.
resolve He has resolved never to fight again.
seem They seem to be having some sort of argument.
stop We stopped to use the restroom and stretch.
swear Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth?
tend I tend to laugh when Im nervous.
threaten He threatened to shoot me if I didnt give him my wallet.
use She gave MacGeyver her cigarettes and an earring, which he
used to make a bomb.
volunteer They volunteered to paint kids faces at the fair.
vow We vowed to love and cherish one another.

want Do you really want to hurt me?

wish Do you wish to see me cry?
would hate I would hate to be in his shoes.
would like The gentleman would like to accompany the lady home.
would love I would love to dance!
would prefer He would prefer to go bowling, but she wants to see a
movie.

As you can see, the infinitive verb has many uses, both functional (We need
to leave now) and philosophical (To be, or not to be? That is the question).