The infinitive as a non-finite form of the verb.

The infinitive was originally a verbal noun, but in the course of its development it has acquired some characteristics of the verb. That is why this non-finite form of the verb has both noun- and verb-characteristics.

The nominal character of the infinitive is manifested in its syntactical functions: like the noun, the infinitive may be used in the sentence as subject and as object.

Like the finite forms of the verb, the infinitive has aspect, tense and voice forms, can take a direct object and be modified by an adverb. These are the verb-features of the infinitive.

The morphological characteristics of the infinitive.

The infinitive distinguishes tense, aspect, voice. It has the following forms:

Infinitive	Active	Passive
Indefinite	to do	to be done
Continuous	to be doing	–
Perfect	to have done	to have been done
Perfect Continuous	to have been doing	–

Aspect and voice distinctions of the infinitive do not differ from those of the finite verb.

Tense distinctions of the infinitive are relative. The indefinite and the perfect forms of the infinitive are tense forms. These tenses differ from the tenses of the finite verbs, which show the time of the action. The tenses of the infinitive show simultaneousness or priority, i.e. they express time relatively.

The indefinite forms show that the action of the infinitive either takes place at the same time with the action of the finite verb or after it. They may express simultaneousness in the present, past or future time.

I am pleased to meet you.

I heard him cough.

Bring me a chair to sit on.

I brought a chair for you to sit on.

The perfect forms show that the action of the infinitive takes place before the action of the finite verb. They may express priority in the present, past or future time.

He seems to have lost weight.

I was sorry to have missed the match.

You will be sorry to have missed the performance.

Two people are reported to have been injured in the explosion.

The perfect infinitive following a modal verb may express doubt, supposition, near certainty about an action in the past or criticism of a past action.

He may have been at home yesterday.

He must have been working late.

You oughtn't to have started smoking.

The perfect infinitive following the past tense of the verbs to be (when used as a modal equivalent), to mean, to hope, to intend, to expect, (would) like shows that the action considered desirable or planned was not carried out:

I was to have seen Mr Kay tomorrow but the appointment has been cancelled.

They hoped to have won the match.

I expected to have left the office much earlier.

The indefinite infinitive in this case leaves the question open as to whether the plan or intention was fulfilled.

He was to come at 3.

They hoped to win the match.

1.3. The particle "to" before the infinitive

The infinitive is usually preceded by the particle to:

English is a difficult language to learn well.

Why did you go out? – To post a letter.

The infinitive is used without to:

1. After the auxiliary or modal (defective) verbs shall, will, do, should, may, can, must, dare, need:

You shall have a car for your birthday.

I suggested that they should drive along the coast.

You shouldn't have parked there.

We really must do something about the weeds in the garden.

I needn't have gone to the office yesterday.

2. After some verbs of perception: to hear, see, watch, observe, perceive, notice, feel:

The crowd watched the firemen climb the ladder, break a window on the first floor, and enter the building.

Liz suddenly felt something touch her on the shoulder.

Note 1. If the verb to feel expresses not physical but mental perception, the infinitive is used with to:

I felt this to be true.

Note 2. In the passive, verbs of perception are followed by the infinitive with to:

They were seen to climb through the window.

3. After the verbs to let (=allow), to make (= compel, force, cause), to have (=compel, cause, persuade, arrange):

The customs officer made Sally open her case.

That beard makes you look much older that you are.

Have the next patient come in now please, nurse.

Note 1. In the passive, the verb to make is followedby the infinitive with to:

Sally was made to open her case.

Note 2. Unlike let, make and have, the verbs to allow, to get (=compel, cause, persuade, arrange) and to tell (=allow, cause) are followed by the infinitive with to:

Nothing else but a major disaster will get us to realize that we can't go on destroying the forests of the world.

4. After the verbs to know (=experience, observe) and to have (=experience) in the perfect form:

I've never had such a thing happen to me before.

Note. The particle to is also possible after the verb to know in this form and meaning, and the use of a to -infinitive is more formal. In the passive, to is obligatory.

I've never known her to be late before.

He was known to have a quick temper as a boy.

5. After the verb to help the infinitive may be used with or without to. The use of a to -infinitive is more formal:

All this arguing isn't going to help us (to) win the election.

6. After the following expressions: had better, had best (less common than had better), would rather (… than), would sooner (… than), would have, need scarcely (only, hardly):

You'd better not to go near the edge.

Would you rather have tea or coffee? – Coffee, please.

I need hardly remind you that people will judge the school by the way you behave.

7. After but, except, rather than, sooner than used as conjunctions and after can (not) but, does nothing but:

This is a computer that can do everything except talk.

She does nothing but grumble.

8. After to do + to be the use of the particle to is optional:

All I did was (to) press this button.

9. The particle to is usually dropped before the second infinitive if the infinitives are joined by and, but, except, or and than:

Which would you prefer: to win a million pounds or (to) have a brain like Einstein's?

Where the second infinitive follows on closely from the first, it is normal to omit to before the second infinitive:

I'd like to lie down and go to sleep.

Note. To avoid repetition, we can often leave the verb out after to:

You don't have to eat it if you don't want to.

10. After Why? And Why not? in questions:

You're fully insured, so why worry?

Why not wait till the winter sales to buy a new coat?

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