Infinitives The final verbal Infinitives are verbals which
Infinitives The final verbal…. .
Infinitives § are verbals which means they are verbs that act as other parts of speech. § Remember the other verbals? – Participles act as ADJECTIVES. – Gerunds act as NOUNS, which in turn act as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, objects of prepositions, and appositives.
Infinitives § act as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs § An infinitive is the TO form of a verb § The infinitive of run… is TO RUN § The infinitive of scream… is TO SCREAM § The infinitive of eat… is TO EAT
WARNING § Please note the difference between the following! § To THE MALL and to swim § One is an infinitive, and the other is a prepositional phrase. Do NOT get these confused. § If “to” is followed by a noun or pronoun, then it is a prepositional phrase. VERBALS ARE ABOUT VERBS!
Infinitives as Nouns Look at the following! First, find the infinitive that is being used as a noun, and then determine which role it is playing!
§ To err is human. Subject § Riff always wanted to act. Direct object
Infinitives as Adjectives Like all adjectives, infinitives acting as adjectives modify NOUNS or PRONOUNS! § The candidate to trust is Tony. § Note that the infinitive is to trust and that it is modifying or describing candidate.
More adjective examples…. § Those are the easiest dogs to train. (note that to train modifies DOGS. § He has a great ability to paint. (To paint modifies ability, which is a noun. )
Infinitives as Adverbs § Infinitives also act as adverbs; they must modify VERBS, ADJECTIVES, or other ADVERBS. § They act like adverb prepositional phrases.
Infinitives as Adverbs § Consider these examples…. § The team was slow to score. § To score modifies the word “slow. ” Slow is an adjective. § My grandmother has come to stay. § To stay modifies the verb, come.
Now…. YOU TRY!!! First, find the infinitive and then determine how it is functioning in the sentence! § § We were asked to memorize this poem. He was eager to experience college. The person to help you is Doc! To leave town is relaxing!
Did you get them right? § § We were asked to memorize this poem. DO He was eager to experience college. Adv. The person to help you is Doc! Adj. To leave town is relaxing! Subj.
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