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AMCHS Latin

INFINITIVES IN ENGLISH

An infinitive is the form of a verb that means "to wumbo." (In this case, substitute "wumbo" for any English verb you want.) Examples are "to run," "to talk," "to punch," "to defenestrate," and so on. 

We might think of an infinitive as just another type of verb, but really, it's kind of halfway between a noun and a verb. To see why, look at the sentence "I want to run." To run is the infinitive in that sentence. It is describing the action of running as a concept, and it is presented as a thing that you want, rather than an action being completed in the sentence. So it's actually more like a noun and not a verb. 

More Examples:
She really loves to sing.         I don't mean to be rude, but you smell bad.             Give him a chance to play, Coach.


INFINITIVES IN LATIN

In Latin, the infinitive is the second principal part of a verb. Look at the principal parts of these verbs. The infinitives are highlighted for you.

invītō, invītāre, invītāvī, invītātus

terreō, terrēre, terruī, territus

accipiō, accipere, accēpī, acceptus

custōdiō, custōdīre, custōdīvī, custōdītus

You can see that there are four different possible endings of the infinitive: āre, ēre, ere, and īre. These four endings are how we organize verbs into categories; each category is called a conjugation, and the conjugation that a verb belongs to basically tells us how that verb will behave in different grammar situations.

Infinitives come in different voices and tenses, just like verbs, although they do not have different persons because they have no need for them. Here are all the different possible voices and tenses of infinitives.

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IRREGULAR VERBS

There are also some verbs in Latin called "irregular verbs" that don't follow the normal grammar rules and don't look like other verbs. Their infinitive forms look unusual as well, and these verbs are not actually part of any particular conjugation. (Click here for more information on how the different forms of those verbs work.) Here's what their infinitive forms look like:

esse – “to be”         posse – “to be able”        ferre – “to bring”      velle – “to want”    nolle – “not to want”     malle – “to prefer”
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  • Home
  • Language
    • Words >
      • Nouns >
        • Nominative and Vocative Case
        • Genitive Case
        • Accusative Case
        • Dative Case
        • Ablative Case
        • Irregular Nouns
      • Verbs >
        • Tenses >
          • Present Tense
          • Perfect Tense
          • Imperfect Tense
          • Pluperfect Tense
          • Future Tense
        • Infinitives
        • Active, Passive, and Deponent Verbs
        • Subjunctive Mood
        • Imperative Mood
        • "Be" and Other Irregular Verbs
      • Other Basic Word Types >
        • Adjectives >
          • 1st and 2nd Declension
          • 3rd Declension
        • Adverbs
        • Prepositions
    • Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences >
      • Indirect Discourse >
        • Indirect Commands
        • Indirect Statements
        • Indirect Questions
      • Relative Clauses
      • Purpose Clauses
      • Result Clauses
      • Conditional Sentences
    • Literature and Literary Devices >
      • Poetic Meter
  • History
    • Origins of Rome
    • Kingdom
    • Republic
    • Empire
    • Crisis and Fall
  • Culture
  • Latin Club
  • Contact