The infinitive form of the verb is the verb in its basic form. It is the word that appears in the dictionary, e.g. eat, sleep, study. The infinitive has “to” in front of it, e.g.:

  • We are planning to go away on holiday in July.
  • Are you packed and ready to leave yet?
  • There are so many things to do!

    • What is wrong with this sentence? The man to feed his dog.

    The infinitive (to feed) cannot stand on its own in a sentence – it must follow a finite verb: The man decided to feed his dog.

    The finite verb can come earlier in the sentence: Can we save enough money to go on holiday?

    There can be more than one infinitive in a sentence: I’d like to save enough money to go on holiday.

    Usually in English, people think that you should not split the infinitive by placing another word between “to” and the verb, for example, it is incorrect to say: I am trying to quickly eat my lunch. The correct sentence is: I am trying to eat my lunch quickly.

    However, this rule may be a hangover from Latin, where the infinitive is one word. It is often formed by adding re: so ladare means to praise (laudo is the verb not in infinitive form), docere to teach (doceo is the verb not in infinitive form), ducere to lead (ducet) and audire to hear (audio). Some argue that just because it can’t happen in Latin doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen in English!