What are Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases?
An infinitive is a verb form beginning with “to” that can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
Examples of Infinitives
Some examples of infinitives would be the following:
Katrina took hours to choose the perfect outfit for the party.
We are planning to surprise Josiah with a birthday party next weekend.
My main goal is to read the first half of the book by Monday.
I need a strong person to lift this heavy box.
Raul is the first person in his family to graduate high school.
What to Know About Infinitives
It’s important to know that infinitives can have a variety of functions in a sentence. Let’s take a look at some:
Infinitive Acting as a Noun
– To sleep is relaxing.
Notice how the infinitive “to sleep” functions as the subject of the sentence, and because it functions as the subject of the sentence, it acts as a noun. We can eliminate the infinitive “to sleep” acting as an adjective or adverb because neither of those can be a subject of a sentence; therefore, we know it is acting as a noun.
Infinitive Acting as an Adjective
– Gertrude has a flight to catch.
Notice how the word “flight” is a noun (functioning as the direct object in the sentence), and because “flight” is a noun, the infinitive “to catch” is acting as an adjective describing the noun “flight.”
Infinitive Acting as an Adverb
– Jamal left to buy fruit.
In this sentence, “to buy” acts an adverb modifying the verb “left.” It answers the question “why” he left.
Be sure not to confuse infinitives with the start of a prepositional phrase. Notice the difference between the two:
Infinitive: I went to eat dinner.
Prepositional Phrase: I went to the store.
In the first sentence, “to eat” is an infinitive; however, in the second sentence, “to the store” is a prepositional phrase. Be sure there’s a verb that immediately follows the word “to” in order for it to be an infinitive.
Infinitives are easy to identify, but it can be challenging to determine how they function in the sentence. Do your best to identify the other parts of the sentence, and then you can slowly identify its function in the sentence through elimination.
When you’re ready to explore other verbals and how to use them in your writing, be sure to explore participles and then gerunds!
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