What are the verbs in INFINITIVE

The infinitive is a verb form in which verbs only show your action, but at no time do they provide any information about the time in which that event occurred, the number or the person who carried it out. Also, the infinitive is the one that gives the name to verb, for example the verb play.

In this lesson from a PROFESOR we want to explain in more depth everything you need to know about the infinitive verb conjugation and we will show you what are the verbs in the infinitive through some examples.

Index

1. what is the infinitive
2. Conjugations of verbs in the infinitive
3. Syntactic functions of the infinitive
4. Examples of verbs in the infinitive
5. Examples of infinitive verbs in sentences
6. infinitive exercise
7. Answers of the exercises of infinitives

In Spanish there is three types of grammatical categories which we call them fixed forms and these are the gerund, the participle and the infinitive. They are called that because they do not act the same as the other verb tenses, but instead act as if they were

The three types of fixed form cannot be conjugated so they will not give us any information about the time in which the action happens, the number or the person who performs it.

The infinitive is the verbal form that we want to talk about today and we will start by explaining that they are verbs, but that act in a sentence as nouns, therefore, it will be necessary to be very careful when identifying its function within a sentence.

Having a function similar to that of the noun, it is the verb form that has been chosen for name each of the verbs. For example: "I sing" is from the verb "to sing". The word sing is an infinitive. When you want to look up a verb in the dictionary, you must do it by its infinitive form.

Lets put An example clear so you can see it more easily. The verbal conjugation of "saltaré" is giving us information that the action is "jump", that it will be done in the future and that the person who will do it is the first of the singular, that is, me.

Instead, if we search its infinitive which is "jump", it does not give us any other information than the action that will be carried out, without knowing when or by whom. That is why we can say that verbs in the infinitive do not have a verb mood, verb tense or verb person.

The verbs are sort by the way they end or also called conjugations. In Spanish we have three types different conjugations and all verbs in the infinitive must end in one of these three ways:

• first conjugation: All the verbs that end in are of the first conjugation. "-ar". For example: act, download, copy, draw, last, etc.
• Second conjugation: Are of the second conjugation all the verbs that end in "-er". For example: access, drink, fit, defend, want, etc.
• third conjugation: All the verbs that end in "-go". For example: open, convert, spread, sleep, fry, etc.

The infinitives have functions very similar to the noun within sentences. Therefore, depending on who they refer to or where they are positioned in the sentence, we can find different syntactic functions performed by the noun.

infinitive as subject

The subject is that particle of the sentence which he calls who is doing the action. The predicate, on the other hand, is the action that is carried out by the subject. Therefore, in some way the subject is responsible for the action of the predicate.

In this case the infinitive, like the noun, can develop the subject function in a sentence (it can be preceded by the article "the".

Let's see some examples:

• Hear his speech was exciting
• To run It's the only thing that will save us
• Walk is good for health
• Arrive to an agreement between the parties would solve the problem
• The pretend that nothing has happened will not do any good

Infinitive as Direct Object

The direct complement is the person, animal or thing on which the action of the verb falls.

Let's see some examples:

• Some of those present want to eat already
• I just want to to live
• Dislike dinner so late
• john needs get out every morning.
• do you prefer sleep out tonight?

Infinitive as an indirect object

The indirect compliment is the one that indicates the addressee or beneficiary of the action of the verb.

Let's see some examples:

• we are dedicated to sell potatoes
• The desire to learn They are fundamental.

Infinitive as Circumstantial Complement

Indicate the ssituation or circumstance in which the action proposed by the verb is carried out.

Let's see some examples:

• Don't act without think
• I regret to give me account of everything

adjective complement

Words that accompany the adjective to modify its meaning.

Let's see some examples:

• This test is difficult to study
• she is easy to want

Complement of the adverb

Words that accompany the adverb to modify its meaning.

Let's see some examples:

• I sat after look at to everywhere
• He spoke before think

predicative complement

add a verb quality, as long as the verb is not a link, since then we would be talking about an attribute.

Let's see some examples:

• i heard him to laugh
• we saw you arrive all arranged

As instruction or prohibition

used to name prohibitions or instructions in short sentences.

Let's see some examples:

• No to smoke
• No get in without shoes
• Introduce the ticket in the slot

Image: SpanishLearning

let's put some examples of verbs in the infinitive so you can see in which conjugation each of them ends. You can find many more verbs in the infinitive in the dictionary:

• embrace
• deport
• deny
• to open
• describe
• hear
• bored
• draw
• darken
• to camp
• spread
• leave
• to accept
• dilute
• let
• clear out
• discern
• prefer
• go
• argue
• provide
• to love
• to choose
• want
• tie up
• beautify
• recite
• knead
• start
• to laugh
• assimilate
• impoverish
• patch up
• associate
• sadden
• be reborn
• Attract
• clarify
• distribute
• attribute
• to write
• to resist
• to drink
• hear
• subtract
• walk
• spread
• stir
• sing
• expect
• pray
• conclude
• park
• to Salt
• drive
• dry off
• move
• to illuminate
• sentence
• know
• infer
• feel
• turn into
• include
• point
• to run
• influence
• simulate
• sew
• report
• smile
• believe
• to wash
• Sound
• culminate
• read
• underline
• achieve
• rock
• suppress
• to decide
• to lie
• subtract
• tell
• to lie
• fear
• to declare
• deserve
• end up
• defend
• Mix
• come
• to depend
• To die
• wear
• demolish
• born
• return

let's show some examples of infinitive verbs in sentences, so you can check how they behave and try to discover what syntactic function they perform within each sentence:

• I was so exhausted that I got to Sound in the middle of the movie at the cinema.
• The teacher suggested underline the most important job titles.
• Must dry off well the dishes before save them in the kitchen cabinet
• Dislike to camp in the mountains, I prefer that we go to a hotel.
• It is important not bored never to students, to make them pay attention in class.
• We have to to choose the country where we will travel next year.
• Must shake six eggs and then add the milk and the previously sifted flour.
• I like it read while I'm on the subway.
• The important thing in a play is that it achieves move to her audience.
• my grandmother knows sew, so I'm going to bring my pants to fix them.
• In elementary school they made me recite a song that I still remember today.
• I want see a comedy movie tonight, because the horror one didn't let me sleep.
• Capitalism does nothing more than impoverish to the working class.
• A good leader must have the capacity of influence in his team, so that he obtains good results.
• is already starting to dawn, so it must be six o'clock.
• To drink coke is not good for health.
• I would like wear good for the occasion, since it is my friend's wedding.
• In the French exam they made me describe a very nice painting.

The best way to know if you have learned a lesson correctly is putting it into practice. This way you will make sure that you have fully understood it or you will realize which section of this article you need to review again.

we leave you with an exercise that will help you practice using infinitives.

Exercise 1

write the infinitive of each of the verbs that we propose below. We leave you the first as an example so that you can better understand how the exercise works:

• Visited - to visit
• We organize -
• It was -
• I woke up -
• I opened -
• Saw -
• Toward -
• I was -
• There was -
• shone -
• felt -

we leave you with answers from the previous exercise. We recommend that you do not look at them until you have tried it yourself, in this way you can check what knowledge you still need to acquire.

Exercise 1

• Visited - to visit
• We organize - organize
• It was - to be
• I woke up - wake
• I opened - to open
• Saw - see
• Toward - do
• I was - be
• There was - to have
• shone - shine
• felt - feel

Now you know what are the verbs in the infinitive and you have seen some clear examples of words, sentences and even a practical exercise. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to consult the grammar and linguistics section.

If you want to read more articles similar to What are the verbs in the infinitive - with examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Grammar and Linguistics.

• Hernanz, M. L. (2016). Infinitive. In Encyclopedia of Hispanic Linguistics (pp. 663-678). Routledge.
• Ruiz-Morales, H. (1986). On the nature of some verb plus infinitive constructions. Thesaurus: newsletter of the Caro y Cuervo Institute, 41(1-3), 155-172.
• Hernandez Diaz, A. (2017). Periphrases with the verb haber + infinitive: of the values ​​expressed by these forms. Periphrases with the verb haber + infinitive: of the values ​​expressed by these forms, 197-227.