Infinitives
Infinitives are the basic, unconjugated form of a verb and they often tell you what kind of action or state you're dealing with. This guide goes over how infinitives work, common endings, and useful related vocabulary.
What Is an Infinitive
An infinitive is the base form of a verb before it is changed for tense, person, or number. Infinitives can act like nouns, and they often come after certain helper verbs.
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Common Endings
Infinitives typically come with a consistent ending that signals the verb group, making them easy to spot and learn. In English, infinitives are marked by to plus the base verb.
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Using Infinitives
Infinitives are used after certain verbs, for expressing purpose, and sometimes as subjects or objects in a sentence. They can also appear in phrases that keep the action general or planned.
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Related Vocabulary
Knowing key verbs that are followed by infinitives helps you plan sentences and ask questions about actions. Common verbs that trigger infinitives include those for intention, desire, and necessity.
| English Example | English Equivalent |
|---|---|
| 🌱 I want to water the plants. | I want to water the plants. |
| ☀️ She needs to move the pots into the sun. | She needs to move the pots into the sun. |
| 🌿 They plan to prune the overgrown branches. | They plan to prune the overgrown branches. |
| 🧴 He forgot to fertilize the garden. | He forgot to fertilize the garden. |
| 🧹 We hope to clean up the fallen leaves. | We hope to clean up the fallen leaves. |
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Summary
Infinitives are the foundational form of a verb that lets you talk about actions in a general way. Learn the common endings and practice spotting infinitives after helper verbs to make sentence planning easier.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025