Infinitives - Santee School District / Overview
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Transcript Infinitives - Santee School District / Overview
Infinitives
The final verbal…..
Infinitives
are verbals which means they are verbs that
act as other parts of speech.
Remember the other verbals?
– Participles act as ADJECTIVES.
– Gerunds act as NOUNS, which in turn act as
subjects, direct objects, indirect objects,
predicate nominatives, objects of prepositions,
and appositives.
Infinitives
act as nouns, adjectives,
and adverbs
An infinitive is the TO
form of a verb
The infinitive of run… is TO
RUN
The infinitive of scream… is
TO SCREAM
The infinitive of eat… is TO
EAT
WARNING
Please note the difference between the following!
To THE MALL and to swim
One is an infinitive, and the other is a prepositional
phrase. Do NOT get these confused.
If “to” is followed by a noun or pronoun, then it is a
prepositional phrase. VERBALS ARE ABOUT
VERBS!
Infinitives as Nouns
Look at the following! First, find the infinitive
that is being used as a noun, and then
determine which role it is playing!
To err is human.
To err is human. Subject
Riff always wanted to act.
Riff always wanted to act. Direct object
Infinitives as Adjectives
Like all adjectives, infinitives acting
as adjectives modify NOUNS or
PRONOUNS!
The candidate to trust is Tony.
Note that the infinitive is to trust and
that it is modifying or describing
candidate.
More adjective examples….
Those are the easiest dogs to train.
Those are the easiest dogs to train. (note
that to train modifies DOGS.
He has a great ability to paint.
He has a great ability to paint. (To paint
modifies ability, which is a noun.)
Infinitives as Adverbs
Infinitives also act as adverbs; they must
modify VERBS, ADJECTIVES, or other
ADVERBS.
They act like adverb prepositional phrases.
Infinitives as Adverbs
Consider these examples….
The team was slow to score.
To score modifies the word “slow.” Slow is
an adjective.
My grandmother has come to stay.
To stay modifies the verb, come.
Now…. YOU TRY!!!
First, find the infinitive and then
determine how it is functioning in the
sentence!
We were asked to memorize this poem.
He was eager to experience college.
The person to help you is Doc!
To leave town is relaxing!
Did you get them right?
We were asked to memorize this poem. DO
He was eager to experience college. Adv.
The person to help you is Doc! Adj.
To leave town is relaxing! Subj.