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. It’s not conjugated in anyway – no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end.
Sometimes you’ll see sentences like this:
 She went from kissing him to slapping him in no time.
You see “to slapping,” and it’s easy to think that’s an infinitive verb, but
it isn’t. It’s a preposition (to) and a gerund (slapping). You can tell it’s
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 isn’t. 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. as the subject of a sentence – To err is human; to forgive, divine.
2. like an adjective or adverb phrase that expresses purpose or intent –
My instructions are to press this button every hour.
3. following an indirect object – He told me to give this to you.
4. following certain other verbs:
 afford – We can’t afford to eat out every night.
 agree – Let’s agree to disagree.
 aim – I aim to please.
 appear – She appears to have the chicken pox.
 arrange – I’ll 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 – He’ll 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 – We’re 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 didn’t 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 – I’m preparing to run away.
 pretend – Don’t pretend to sleep when I’m 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 I’m nervous.
 threaten – He threatened to shoot me if I didn’t 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).


Read more at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-

speech/verbs/infinitive-verb.html#KfA6CcBHkm8JYior.99
Exercises – Gerunds and Infinitives
Choose the correct gerund or infinitive from the parenthesis at the
end of the sentence.

1. She likes to get up early in the morning. (likes / dislikes)

1. 1. Alan can’t stand _________ on trains. (riding/ to ride)

2. Mr. Harris enjoys _________ people out to dinner. (inviting / to
invite)
3. In the old days, gentlemen challenged their rivals _______.
(fighting / to fight)
4. As the famous saying goes, there’s no use ______ over spilt
milk. (crying / to cry)
5. Jim stopped _________ his shoelace. Wait for him. (tying / to
tie)
6. My wife always volunteers ___________ cakes PTA meetings.
(baking / to bake)
7. Don’t waste my time ___________ about your salary.
(complaining/ to complain)
8. Eva is having trouble _________ on the exam. (concentrating /
to concentrate)
9. Please allow me ____________ your Facebook page. (joining /
to join)
10. You won’t forget _________milk on your way home, will
you? (picking up /to pick up)
GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Answers:

1. riding
2. inviting
3. to fight
4. crying
5. to tie
6. to bake
7. complaining
8. concentrating
9. to join
10. to pick up
 Learn English Grammar
PRESENT PARTICIPLES

PARTICIPLES | PAST PARTICIPLE | PERFECT

PARTICIPLE | PRESENT PARTICIPLE
What is the present participle?
The present participle is a participle that ends in ing. It can be used
with the auxilliary verb 'to be' to form the continuous tense. It always
takes the ‘ing’ form of the verb, even irregular verbs have an ‘...ing’
form, in fact virtually all English words that end with ‘ing’ are present
participles.

For example:-

I am learning English. (Learning is part of the continuous verb phrase

'am learning')

We were running through the woods. (Running is part of the

continuous verb phrase 'were running' ).

It can also be used as an adjective.

For example:-

As an adjective: I am a working woman. (Working is used here as

an adjective.)

!Note :-

The present participle can also be used as a noun denoting the action
of a verb a gerund. But remember the present participle can be used
as a verb or an adjective whilst the gerund is used as a noun.
Passive
de English Grammar Today

Passive: active and passive

We use the terms active voice and passive voice to talk about ways of
organising the content of a clause:

Cambridge University Press published this book. (active)

This book was published by Cambridge University Press. (passive)

The active voice is the typical word order. We put the subject (the
topic or the theme) first. The subject is the ‘doer’ or agent of the verb:

Edward Barnes designed these houses in the 1880s. (active)

In the passive, the person or thing that the action was done to
becomes the topic or theme. We can leave out the ‘doer’ or agent, or
we can place the ‘doer’ in a prepositional phrase (by + ‘doer’):

These houses were designed in the 1880s. (passive without agent)

These houses were designed in the 1880s by Edward

Barnes. (passive + by + agent)

We use the passive when we want to change the focus of a clause, or

if the doer of the verb is not important or not known or if we do not
want to say who the doer is.
 English passive voice - active to passive
exercise (mixed tenses).
Write the answers in the spaces provided. You can also do this test as a
listening exercise or as an English pronunciation and intonation exercise.

Change the following active sentences into the passive. The agent "by" is
not required unless the question asks for it.

Example:
The teacher spoke to the boy.

Answer:
The boy was spoken to.

1) John wrote the letter. ...

The letter . ...

2) We solved the problems. ...

The problems . ...

3) Her boyfriend gave her some flowers. ...

She some flowers. ...

4) Her boyfriend gave her some flowers. ...

Some flowers to her. ...

5) The greengrocer sells apples here. ...

Apples here. ...

6) His people had criticised him. ...

He by his people. ...

 7) You should insert the tubes first. ...

The tubes first. ...

8) They say that... ...

It that... ...

9) People believed that... ...

It that... ...

10) You can see strange things. ...

Strange things . ...

11) They should have studied these subjects. ...

These subjects . ...

12) Nobody can do it. ...

It . ...

*Incorrect answers are shown in red. You have two chances to find
the correct answers.

(Refresh page if button does not work.)

Solutions

1, The letter was written.

2, The problems were solved.

3, She was given some flowers.

4, Some flowers were given to her.

5, Apples are sold here.

6, He had been criticised by his people.

7, The tubes should be inserted first.

8, It is said that...

9, It was believed that...

10, Strange things can be seen.

11, These subjects should have been studied.

12, It can't be done.