Infinitive

Definition of the infinitive
An infinitive is a verb form that appears in its basic form. In front of it is a particle "to", which can serve as an adjective, adverb or noun.

The infinitive phrase is a combination of infinitive and objects, additions or modifiers such as "He plans to play cricket." Take, for example, a simple infinitive: “After the job was done, we had tremendous relief. You felt the impulse to sing, break into a run, giggle ”(A Hanging, by George Orwell). All underlined verbs are infinitive.

Difference between infinitive and prepositional phrase
Although infinitive and prepositional phrases may look the same, they are actually different. An infinitive begins with a particle "to" that comes before a verb, such as. B. “He wants to play.” A prepositional sentence, on the other hand, begins with a preposition “to” which is placed in front of a noun, e.g. “He went to school” Verb "go.
Give the shoes to shine.
Here the infinitive works as an adjective that modifies the shoes.
I don't want to see
Here the infinitive "to" serves as an adverb and modifies the verb "see" that follows it. .
Writing is his passion.
Here the infinitive "a" functions as the subject of "is".
Examples of infinitives in literature
Example # 1: Ulysses (by Alfred Lord Tennyson)
“Now we are not that force that in the old days earth and sky; what we are, we are;
An equal temperament of heroic hearts,
weakened by time and fate, but strong in will
To fight, seek, find and not give in. ”

Tennyson has made excellent use of infinitives in the end line of this example. These infinitives are "strive", "seek", "find" and "yield".

Example # 2: The decline of cinema (by Susan Sontag)
"Until the advent of television emptied movie theaters, it was from a weekly visit to the cinema that you learned (or tried to learn) how to walk, smoke, kiss, fight , cry. ”

In this example, the author has used five infinitives in a sequence:“ walk ”and“ smoke ”,“ kiss ”,“ fight ”and“ cry. "All of them start with the particle" bis "that precedes the verbs.

Example 3: Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)
" In what particular thought I don't know
But to the broadest extent of my opinion
This is a strange outburst for our state ...
As it seems good to our state -
But to recover with a strong hand.
A Mote is to disturb the eye of the spirit.
In the highest and palm-richest state of Rome. “

In this case there are two infinitives:" work "and" cause trouble ". These two infinitives appear before the main verbs “work” and “anger” and serve as direct objects of the verbs.

Example 4: The melting pot (by Arthur Miller)
“That doesn't mean that nothing has broken in. This strict and gloomy way of life. When a new farmhouse was being built, friends would gather to "raise the roof" and special foods were cooked and probably a strong cider passed around ... The parochial snobbery of these people was partly responsible for their probably preferred land too to take from Gentiles instead of fellow Christians. “

Here the infinitives of the verbs“ say ”and“ convert ”function as direct objects of their verbs.

Example 5: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Lewis Carroll)
“Either the well was very deep or it was falling very slowly because she had plenty of time as she went down to look around and wonder what was going on, trying next to look her down and see what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; Then she looked at the sides of the fountain and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. “

Carroll made abundant but clever use of infinitives in this passage. There are five infinitives including “look”, “wonder”. "To happen" and "to see". All of them work as direct objects of their respective verbs, saving the author from having to use many words that would have been used without an infinitive. An infinitive is used to clarify meanings when describing two functions of a subject in the same sentence. In fact, he shows a sense of this second function.

Hyphen Interjection