English Language Learners Stack Exchange
English Language Learners Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [infinitives]

The infinitive is the base verb form, conveying no information about person, number, mood or tense.

The infinitive is the base verb form, conveying no information about person, number, mood or tense. It may be employed "bare" or with the infinitive marker to.

Note that the same form is employed as an imperative and (except for BE) as the simple present for all persons and numbers except the third singular person. The infinitive is distinguished from these by context and use.

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help you learn vs. help you to learn

Source: JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford (2008) Example: My goal here is to help you to learn to think in JavaScript. I will show you the components of the language and start you on the process of discovering the ways those…
Michael Rybkin
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What rule forbids "To boldly go where no man has gone before"?

I heard in an old British TV program (it was a funny sitcom, not an English teaching program) that it should be "To go boldly", due to some grammar rule about infinitives Is it incorrect to say "To boldly go where no man has gone before"? What is…
user13267
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How do I determine the main verb in a sentence?

I'm not a native speaker. How do I determine what the main verb is in a sentence like I used to hurt people.
Karanam Vishnu Vardhan
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"To a "

To kill a Mockingbird. To catch a thief. To catch a cheater. Why is "to" used in this examples what does this phrases mean? I am unable to interpret any of these phrases.
ikigai20
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'Her mother lived to be eighty five.' Is her mother still alive?

I saw this in a grammar book: Her mother lived to be eighty five. In this sentence is her mother still alive? Or did she die at 85? In addition, why does 'infinitive' have such a name? For example, it is easy for me to understand why…
Dasik
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Which is correct, to be built or to build?

Robots are too complex to be built. Robots are too complex to build. I'd like to know which is correct. Thanks a lot.
thein lwin
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I hope you are right/you to be right

Why is I hope you are right written in that way and not I hope you to be right
Schwale
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What are the uses of these four to-infinitives?

I shook my head: I could not see how poor people had the means of being kind; and then to learn to speak like them, to adopt their manners, to be uneducated, to grow up like one of the poor women I saw sometimes nursing their children or washing…
Listenever
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What does "not to ~" mean?

Calvin : “Do you believe our destinies are controlled by the stars?” Hobbes : “No, I think we can do whatever we want with our lives.” Calvin : "Not to hear mom and dad tell it." from Calvin and Hobbes(March 21, 2007) I don't understand what…
Jaewook
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to continue or continuing

Dear President-elect, the Czech Republic as well as I personally look forward to working with you and your administration and to continue developing the close relations which our countries enjoy. Source: https://twitter.com/PREZIDENTmluvci Don't you…
bart-leby
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Difference between "to X" and "to be X'ed"

In each of the following sets of sentences, are both of the sentences grammatically sound? Otherwise which is the correct sentence? 1(a) The system failed to report the amount of goods to export. 1(b) The system failed to report the amount of goods…
user223
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to be sitting vs to sit

Could you please explain why the infinitive that means "to be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs (especially the upper legs) are supported by some object" is to be sitting but not just to sit. What is the difference…
Natalia
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To excess insulin releasing / to excess releases of insulin?

I don't know which variant (the bold text) I should use. Sweeteners can reduce the intake of simple sugars to a level which does not provoke the pancreas to excess insulin releasing / to excess releases of insulin.
The Cook
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"It's not a problem at all TO do that" vs. "It's not a problem at all do that" (without TO before do)

Which of these is correct? It's not a problem at all TO do that vs. It's not a problem at all do that (without TO before do)
Virtuous Legend
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grammar - emphasis and inversion

Please tell me which one is more correct "What I want to do is to go there" or "What I want to do is go there". I'm really confused about this. And I also want to know where to leave out "to" when putting emphasis on verb like this. Thanks in…
mimi
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