Questions tagged [infinitives]
The infinitive is the base verb form, conveying no information about person, number, mood or tense.
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How to know what form of the non-finite verb to be used in a sentence?
In this sentence:
He is the second person ___ this morning.
A. falling
B. to fall
C. fallen
D. fell
The answer is B.
I do understand the past tense fell is not a non-finite verb. But I am confused why ...
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Usage of "rely on"
Could you tell me who is doing the action of telling the time, me or my watch？
I don't sleep with a bedside alarm-clock, so when I wake up in the middle of the night, I rely on my watch to tell the ...
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be seen to do/be seen to have done
Usually, a plain infinitive is used with "be seen".
She was seen to leave at 9.
But is it possible to use the perfect infinitive? Here is one example which seems correct.
If a player is ...
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Strange intuition about split infinitives
I recently encountered a sentence in a story that has got me to thinking:
He at least had class enough not to leer.
The sentence as-is seems fine, although I would usually use a word order of "...
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Why is it "what is that supposed to mean?" And not "...to means?"
I know it looks stupid but I really couldn't understand why it's "mean" and not "means". Is it because it's on the past?
Ture McCartney
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it was/had been the right thing to do/to have done
I've come across the following sentence:
The doctors confirmed (after the surgery) that it was the right thing to have done.
In my opinion it would be much better to say either:
The doctors ...
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What is the difference between "going to" and "going to be"?
What is the difference between two sentences:
Are you going to be filling the bird feeder soon?
Are you going to fill the bird feeder soon?
Is this something to do with active and passive voice?
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"sitting on the fence" grammar
First of all,
I realise that "He's still sitting on the fence about buying the coat" sounds the most natural, but is "He is still sitting on the fence about deciding whether to buy the ...
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Questions about infinitives & when do we omit 'to'
I have been learning English and this question arose when I was doing some reading.
'not to do but to do' or ' not to do but do', which one is grammartically correct? And I have yet another question ...
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Is "to" in "going to" part of the verb
I have read that infinitives in English can function as one of three parts of speech, namely nouns, adjectives and adverbs. So for example in the sentence:
I am going to buy groceries.
Do we assign ...
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Coins are pretty easy to be found/to find
I have this assumption: we can use either passive or active infinitives when there isn't the agent in the sentence and the characteristic belongs to the very thing, for example:
This jalapeno is too ...
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(Hadn't got/didn't have) to have got
I know that "had to have +past participle" can be used for deduction about the past, so when it comes to the negative, can I use both "hadn't got" and "didn't have" + ...
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Mind to have or mind having
Two sentences are:
Would you mind having a cup of tea with me?
Would you mind to have a cup of tea with me?
I think both sentences should be correct. But internet says just no.1 is correct. Why ...
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Is it correct to use to plus infinitive with 'not'?
from The BBC Learn English: We don't use to + the infinitive with 'not'. For example, I wouldn't say "I went to bed not to watch TV." That doesn't make sense. I would prefer to use a ...
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Get to followed by a gerund or an infinitive?
I got to poking around and I found this oyster.
He gets to feeling ashamed of the showing he is making.
The new neighbours got to know each other.
I'd really like to see you again and get to know you ...
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Why is the infinitive form of the verb used after "for" and the present simple after "before" in this example?
In the sentence below, why is the infinitive form of the verb used after "for" and the present simple after "before"?
London is a beautiful place for her to visit, but she must go ...
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Comparing two forms of the infinitive
A few issues.
Am I correct in thinking that the first action to happen in 1 and 2 is "when I saw him"? I saw him first then I happened to ... Right?
1 I happened to be standing in a line (...
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Are both gerund and infinitive okay? "needed for earning" or "needed to earn"
I am struggling between gerund and infinitive in some cases, to me they look the same, is there a rule to decide or both are okay?
A university diploma is not needed for earning high profits trading ...
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Grammar with gerund or Infinitive
He tried ________ (work) in a newspaper firm but he still wasn't satisfied.
These variants are wrong:
working / to work / work / having worked
What is the correct form of (work)?
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Difference between 'happened to be' and 'happens to have been'
What's the difference?
He happened to be at that wedding.
He happens to have been at that wedding.
I know that different forms of the infinitive are used, but what's the difference in meaning?
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object + infinitive?
In a book there is an expression like '' Many verbs are followed by object + infinitive ''
I want you to listen.
They told me to go.
What is meant by '' object '' in this statement ?
Yes i know these ...
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"to be invited" vs "being invited"
I try to say
It's a great honor to be invited/being invited by you.
Which one is correct? If both are correct, what is the difference between them?
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Why is it "for me to buy it" rather than "for me to bought it"? What is the reason we use the infinitive?
Looking at the sentence:
"for me to buy this flat it needed to be furnished"
What is the grammatical reason for using "to buy" and not "bought" even though it refers to a ...
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Be + past simple verb
I was watching a video and I heard the narrator said:
“She had requested his brain be studied”
And I thought it was wrong, but some grammar correctors, like Grammarly, show that this is correct, my ...
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Is it posible to recommend somebody to do something
Among the patterns for “recommend” are:
you can recommend somebody/something [for something]
You can recommend somebody/something [as something]
But I am not sure if I can recommend somebody [to do ...
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"He was the first person to do" vs. "He was the first person who did"
I saw the following sentence in an book:
He was the first person of such stature in Wuzhou to devote himself to teaching and creating a community of learning.
Does it mean anything different from ...
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Infinitive forms as reducted relative clauses
I think use of infinitive forms as reducted relative clauses is advanced level of English (many grammar books and sites that I've read don't contain this topic) but I've just wanted to make permanent ...
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I brought this book with me to
a. I brought this book with me to read.
b. I brought this book with me to read it.
c. They took John to imprison.
d. They took John to imprison him.
Are the pronouns at the end of (b) and (d) ...
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Is "We are looking forward to hear from you." correct?
"We are looking forward to hearing from you." treats "to" as a particle used with "are looking forward" (V) and "hearing from you" (NP) to form the verb phrase &...
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taking these soldiers to fight our enemies
a. I am taking these soldiers to fight our enemies.
What is the implied agent of 'to fight'.
Are they going to fight our enemies or am I going to fight our enemies by using the soldiers?
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Most likely & mostly likely & more likely
I know that we always use infinitive after more likely but Do we use gerund or inginitive after most likely and mostly likely? If we use both gerund and infinitive please explain what the difference ...
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perfect infinitive mode
I have the task to change sentences to use the perfect infinitive. For example:
I wish I were in Madagascar. → I would like to have been in Madagascar
How do I rephrase the sentences below using ...
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'swear' with 'that clauses' and 'infinitives'
When the word swear means promise strongly to do something we can use either a noun clause or an infinitive after it:
I swear I will not tell anyone.
I swear to seek revenge.
What if we use phrases ...
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'To dance is fun' Versus 'It is fun to dance'
I am going through an English grammar book written for a particular test that I am targeting. The other day, when I was studying 'Infinitives' from it, I stopped at a sentence.
To dance is fun.
I knew ...
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Is the "know" in "Do you know" an infinitive?
Is the know in the sentence "Do you know where the mall is?" classified as a (bare) infinitive?
Is seems to, because the construction seems to be auxiliary verb + infinitive, much like "...
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Using passive voise
Using passive verb in this sentence:
The injured man couldn’t walk and had to .....
The correct ending of the sentence according to the textbook is "be carried"
That's the passive ...
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Use of be with is/am/are/was/were [closed]
It is necessary that all documents, in original, ______ Submitted.
(a) Are
(b) Be
(c) To Be
(d) Are To be
My Text book prefers (b) Be
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In "He went to bed," what form is "to bed"?
Is it a prepositional phrase or an infinitive phrase? In this phrase, we have to preceding a word that could be either a verb in base form or a noun in singular form.
Some other examples of this ...
Matthew Rips
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acknowledge + to infinitive or + verb ing
According to engVid 'acknowledge' is always followed by a gerund. However, these examples below are from highly reputed dictionaries.
It is generally acknowledged to be true.
She is usually ...
user138449
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What is the difference in meaning between "I want to do something" and "I want to have done something"?
In the 12th episode of the 2nd season of Suits one of the characters said the following.
I want to have talked to everyone of my clients by the end of the day.
That's the first time I've seen the ...
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the people’s anxiety for the war (to end)
"the people’s anxiety for the war to end"
"the people's anciety for the war" means they want the war to happen ?
What's the function of 'to end' after for the war? Is there any ...
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"Try to" or "try verbing" in this case [duplicate]
I tried to order/ordering a book on line but I did not succeed.
I think "to order" is better
I know the difference between "try to" or "try verbing" ("try to" ...
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something to make you angry
a. Tom must have done something to make you angry.
b. Tom must have done something so that you got angry.
c. Tom must have done something for you to get angry.
I think there are two possibilities here....
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The usage of infinitive as in "they insist that the results be overturned"
In:
they insist that the results be overturned
is should or have to omitted? Is it something else?
Which chapter in grammar books explains this usage of infinitive?
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I want you to finish/to have finished
I've given a friend of mine a task to do. I want him to finish it before I come in after an hour.
Which the simple or the perfect infinitive better with before and by?
I want you to finish it before ...
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Infinitive as modifier
Infinitive used as modifier can have a passive meaning:
the bench is too wet to sit on
"this bench can't be sat on"
The action "sit" is directed at the subject as if it were in ...
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for using our equipment
a. They paid a large sum for using our equipment.
b. They paid a large sum to use our equipment.
Can one tell whether we were paid before they used our equipment or after they used our equipment?
c....
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paid him to repair
a. I paid him for repairing my computer.
b. The money I gave him was for repairing my computer.
c. I paid him to repair my computer.
d. The money I gave him was for him to repair my computer.
e. ...
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a good game for them to lose
I was thinking about the structure 'adjective+noun+for+noun+infinitive' and was wondering whether the structure itself could be used in two ways.
Consider the following sentences:
a. This is a good ...
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I remembered to bring my books and I remember bringing my books. What is the difference between the two?
I remembered to bring my books and I remember bringing my books. What is the difference between the two?
I have been searching for the difference between the two sentences but to no avail. Can someone ...
