Rules for Infinitives- English Grammar Rules For Infinitives

What is an infinitive, and what are the rules of infinitives? An infinitive is a to that is added to the verb base form. For example, to dance, to play or to eat. While the entire infinitive is the base form in most cases, it is easy if students remember it as the base form. Both these forms are necessary to form the complete infinitive. Infinitives can either be the object or the subject of any sentence.

All verbs minus the modals have an infinitive and a gerund form. You need to figure out the form that you need. Let us focus on using the infinitives as an object and not as a subject. When using the infinitive as a subject, it may sound a little formal. Like You travel to live.

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English Grammar Rules For Infinitives

There are several kinds of infinitives in the English language. The most common among them is the “to do” form of a verb like, for example, I wish to study German. This is what you use after the verbs. There is also the bare infinitive which is the infinitive without a to. We call these modal verbs, other verbs, or auxiliary verbs. The other kind of infinitive is the continuous infinitive like for example when you say He wishes to be working as a doctor by next year or the perfect infinitive I am sorry I seem to have forgotten your birthday and the passive infinitive form He hopes that he may be selected in the cricket team.

Verbs And Infinitive

Here are some verbs you will be using with the infinitive to do. These are – agree, afford, attempt, choose, beg, forget, hope, help, promise, plan, threaten, wish, and wash.

An object and an infinitive could also follow the same verbs.

wish someone to do

beg someone to do

hope someone to do

The below verbs are followed by an object and the infinitive.

Forbid, advise, permit, encourage, warn, allow, invite, order, teach, persuade, force, and tell.

There are certain verbs like begin, continue and start, followed by the infinitive with no change in its meaning.

Adjectives And Infinitives

You can also use the rules of infinitives after an adjective. Like for example:

I will be happy to help you.

It is easy to understand English.

I love to sit in this garden.

When you speak about using something, you will use the to do form.

Use this knife to cut this vegetable.

Here is an example when you talk about the object’s general purpose.

These scissors are used for cutting this material.

You can also use the infinitive to talk about a purpose.

He studies hard in order to pass the examination.

You can also make the infinitive negative by saying:

I decide not to apply for the interview.

Split Infinitives

Many English teachers will tell you that it is not a good writing style when you put an adverb between the to and the rest of the infinitive. When possible, you may put the adverb at the sentence end so that it does not separate the two parts of the infinitive.

Instead of stating:

He decided to quickly eat dinner you should say He decided to eat dinner quickly

Example of verb and infinitive with explanation

Verb=stop

He stopped to smoke. (This means he was doing something, and then he took a break to smoke.)

Verb= try

We tried to open the door but could not. (This means that we tried to open the door with full intention but were unable to do so.)

Verb= forget

She forgot to bolt the door. (This means that she did not bolt the door because she forgot to bolt the door.)

Verb= remember

She remembered to wish her mother. (This means that she had many things on her to-do list, and one of them was to call her mother.)

Verb= regret

They regret to let her go. (This means that they haven’t let her go, but they will have to even if they feel bad about it.)

Conclusion

If you end up asking the WHY for all of these rules of infinitives, then, unfortunately, English grammar says that these are rules, and there is no reason behind the same. This is just how grammar is, so memorising and practising to get it right is the only option.

You can start practising the rules for infinitives with these verbs and adjectives that have clear rules. After you are comfortable, you can start practising the remaining verbs and adjectives. You will need to practice and memorise it, but learning the whole list of verbs is not humanly possible. So listen to native speakers, watch movies, and be aware whenever you use the verb or adjective and infinitive.

FAQ

What are the adjectives and the rules of infinitives?

After the adjective, it is pretty common to use the infinitive verb. While you may use gerunds, the best choice is to use the infinitive in some cases. Like for example:
It was fun to play the board game this weekend
It was amazing to learn the rules of the game

What are the nouns and the rules of infinitives?

If you have the main verb with the object that is either a pronoun or a noun, then in most cases, it will be fooled by an infinitive verb. Like for example:
Did you wish for me to call you?
The student asked their friends to help them

What are the verbs and the rules of infinitives?

You can use the infinitive after the main verb. This is dependent on the verb, and there is no one rule for the case. Like for example:
He chose to learn Chinese
We will have to clean up this dirt

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