Infinitive, Definition, Examples, Uses, Rules, Exercise or worksheet, pdf

Infinitive, definition, Examples of Infinitive, exercise or worksheet for students, of class 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Uses, Rules, pdf.

Definition: Infinitive – A word which is not limited by the person or number of the subject is known as an Infinitive. It, in fact, is a kind of noun having certain features of noun. So it is also treated as a verb-noun.

Examples:

1. I love to speak English.
2. She likes to swim.

Note: A Finite verb is limited by the person of number of the subject.

Examples:

1. I love music.
2. She loves music.
3. They love music.

Also read:

• Participles
• Gerund
• Verbals
• Verb mood
• Types of verb
• Strong & weak verb
• Finite & Non-finite verb

Use of Infinitive

• As the subject of a verb.

Examples:

1. To advise others is easy.
2. To learn English is difficult.
3. To please Padma is hard.

Note: These sentences must be written with a preparatory subject ‘it’.

Examples:

1. It is easy to advise others.
2. It is difficult to learn English.
3. It is hard to please Padma.

• As the object of a transitive verb

Examples:

1. I wish to become a poet.
2. He likes to read books.
3. We propose to visit Agra. 

• As the complement of a verb

Examples:

1. Our greatest pleasure is to help the poor.
2. My ambition is to marry her. 
3. Her plan is to settle in Australia.

• As the object of a preposition

Examples:

1. I had no choice but to give up my hope.
2. We are about to begin our work.

• As an object complement

Examples:

1. We heard him speak to his father. 
2. We found her open the door. 
3. I noticed Madhavi smile at me.

• To qualify a verb to express purpose

Examples:

1. I wanted to marry Padmaja.
2. We have come to see Madhavi.
3. I read books to increase my knowledge.

• To qualify an adjective

Examples:

1. We are very happy to sit in the garden.
2. It is hard to please Padma. 
3. English is difficult to learn.

• To qualify a noun

Examples:

1. It is not the time to sleep. 
2. I have the letters to post.
3. She has a child to look after

• To qualify a sentence

Examples:

1. To tell the truth, we have no problem with you.
2. To explain bluntly, we are in need of money.
3. To tell you frankly, I am not able to help you.

Use of Bare Infinitive

Bare Infinitive is used with the following verbs:

Examples:

1. I bade him go 
2. Let him speak.
3. She made me understand life.
4. I helped her learn English.
5. I heard Madhavi tell her friend about me.
6. You need not worry about it.
7. She dared not speak with erh father.

Note: Dare and need as principal verb used with ‘to’ Infinitive.

Examples:

1. Did he dare to jump in the river?
2. We need two days to finish the work.

• With Auxiliary Verbs

Examples:

1. I shall go there.
2. You should know that.
3. She will pay the money.
4. They would help me.
5. You may do it tomorrow.
6. You might tell me the truth.
7. You can wait here.
8. She could explain the poem to me.
9. He did it well.
10. He must return the money.

• With Certain Phrases

Examples:

1. You had better consult a good doctor.
2. You had rather speak to her about it.
3. I would rather work hard than take rest.

• With Certain Prepositions

For example, Except, but, than

Examples:

1. Padma does nothing except blame others
2. I can do everything but understand her nature.
3. I would die rather than accept defeat.

Note: Bare Infinitives can be replaced by ‘to’ Infinitives.

Examples:

1. I can teach. (I am able to teach)
2. She bade me wait. (She asked me to wait)
3. Let me tell you something. (Allow me to tell you something)
4. I must respect her. (I ought to respect her or I am forced to respect her)
5. I will punish her. (I am determined to punish her)

The Split Infinitive

It is generally treated wrong to split an Infinitive in the middle.

Examples:

1. I expect Madhavi to carefully read the letter. (wrong)
2. I expect Madhavi to read the letter carefully. (right)
3. She tried to clearly explain the situation. (wrong)
4. She tried to explain clearly the situation. (right)

Note: The adverb can be used either before to or after the Infinitive.

Infinitive Rules

Rule 1

The infinitive without to is used after auxiliary verbs such as shall, will, can, may, should, must, etc. But ought to is an exception,

Examples:

1. You should do your work.
2. He can win this match.
3. You must abide by law.
4. You ought to respect your elders.

Rule 2

The infinitive without to is used after the verbs did, let, make, need, dare, see, hear, etc. except when need and dare are conjugated with ‘to‘.

Examples:

1. I bade him touch your book.
2. I made him sit in the sun.
3. You need not go there.

Rule 3

Following are some of the verbs which are followed by object + infinitive, tell, order, invite, compel, allow, permit, teach, instruct, warn, urge, advise, tempt, encourage, request, forbid, show, remind, etc.

Examples:

1. I warned him not to touch my books.
2. I instructed him not to leave the office.
3. I advised him not to contest the election.
4. He ordered me to finish the job.

Rule 4

The infinitive without to is also used after had better, had rather, would rather, sooner than, rather than, need not, etc.

Examples:

1. You had rather take rest.
2. You had better get your blood tested.

Rule 5

The infinitive without to is used after the prepositions ‘but’ and ‘than’.

Examples:

1. He did nothing but to laugh. (Incorrect)
2. He did nothing but laugh. (Correct)
3. He did no more than to laugh. (Incorrect)
4. He did no more than laugh. (Correct)

Rule 6

The split infinitive, that is the separation of ‘to’ from its verb by inserting an adverb or adverbial phrase between the two is wrong, because ‘to’ is regarded as part of the verb.

Hence, it should be placed immediately before the verb.

Examples:

1. I went there to personally see the situation. (Incorrect)
2. I went there personally to see the situation. (Correct)
3. I request you to kindly grant my application. (Incorrect)
4. I request you kindly to grant my application. (Correct)

Rule 7

It is not good English to leave ‘to’ of the infinitive pendent, i.e., to put no verb after it, leaving the verb to be implied.

Examples:

1. I will not go there unless I have to.
2. I did not stay there until I had to.

Rule 8

The ‘to’ of one infinitive can be made to do the duty for ‘to’ of another infinitive if the verb in the two infinitives are synonymous.

Examples:

1. He helped me to progress and to prosper. (Incorrect)
2. He helped me to progress and prosper. (Correct)

(Because progress and prosper are synonymous)

Rule 9

But, if two separate ideas are expressed by two infinitives, ‘to’ of the latter infinitive should not be omitted.

Examples:

1. It lies in my power to succeed or fail. (Incorrect)
2. It lies in my power to succeed or to fail. (Correct)
3. We are advised to rejoice and weep with others. (Incorrect)
4. We are advised to rejoice and to weep with others. (Correct)

Rule 10

An infinitive should be in present tense unless it represents an action prior to the action of the principal verb. 

Examples:

1. I should have liked to have gone. (Incorrect)
2. I should have like to go. (Correct)
3. He seemed to enjoy his stay in Mumbai. (Incorrect)
4. He seemed to have enjoyed his stay in Mumbai. (Correct)

Rule 11

When the infinitive is made to qualify a noun, it must be accompanied by the same preposition that it would have taken if the verbs were finite.

Examples:

1. I gave him a pen to write. (Incorrect)
2. I gave him a pen to write with. (Correct)
3. He has no paper to write. (Incorrect)
4. He has no paper to write on. (Correct)

Verb Infinitive Exercise

Combine the following pairs of sentences by using infinitive.

Infinitive pdf