infinitive

Also known as INF

Infinitive (abbreviated '''''') is a term in linguistics for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The name is derived from Late Latin [] , a derivative of meaning .

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An infinitive is a verb form found in many languages that typically doesn't indicate a specific tense, allowing the verb to function in a more general or abstract way rather than tied to a particular time. Because verb structures vary significantly across different languages, linguists don't apply a single universal definition of infinitive to all of them.

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Commons category: Infinitive
exact match: www.lexinfo.net/ontology/3.0/lexinfo#infinitive
short name: INF
Stack Exchange tag: linguistics.stackexchange.com/tags/infinitive

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Article

17 sections

Contents

Phrases and clauses
Clauses with implicit subject in the objective case
Marking for tense, aspect and voice {{anchor|Perfect}}
English
Uses of the infinitive
Other Germanic languages
Latin and Romance languages
Hellenic languages
Ancient Greek
Modern Greek
Balto-Slavic languages
Hebrew
Finnish
Seri
Translation to languages without an infinitive
See also
Notes

Infinitive (abbreviated ') is a term in linguistics for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The name is derived from Late Latin [] , a derivative of meaning .

In traditional descriptions of English, the infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without the particle to. Thus to go' is an infinitive, as is go in a sentence like "I must go there" (but not in "I go there", where it is a finite verb). The form without to is called the bare infinitive, and the form with to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.