THE INFINITIVE FORM Present Inf to work to

THE INFINITIVE FORM • • • Present Inf. : to work , to do Present Continuous Inf. : to be working Perfect Inf: to have worked Perfect Continuous Inf. : to have been working Present Inf. Passive: to be done Perfect Inf. Passive: to have been done

USES OF THE INFINITIVE • Subject of a sentence – To lean out of the window is dangerous – To save money now seems impossible • The object of a verb – His plan is to keep the affair secret – He wants to pay – He wants to know how to do it – She didn’t know what to do.

USES • BE+INF. : to express commands or instructions • No one is to leave this building without the permission of the police. ( no one must leave) • He is to stay here till we return (he must stay)

USES • To express purpose – He went to France to learn French – They stopped to ask the way. – He sent Tom to the shop to buy bread

USES • After certain adjectives • I was depressing to find the house empty • It’s awful to be alone in such a place • It’s boring to do the same thing every day • It was impossible to study at home

The Perfect Infinitive • FORM to have + past participle e. g, to have worked, to have spoken

THE PERFECT INFINITIVE USE WITH AUXILIARY VERBS

The Perfect Infinitive • Used after was/were: The house was to have been ready today (but it isn’t) • To express an unfulfilled plan or arrangement

The Perfect Infinitive • With would, should, might, could • If I had seen her I should have invited her. • To form the perfect conditional

The Perfect Infinitive • With should and ought to: • He should have helped her. (but he didn’t) • I shouldn’t/oughtn’t to have lied to him (but I did) • To express unfulfilled obligation; or, in the negative, a foolish or wrong action

The Perfect Infinitive • With should/would like • He would like to have seen it (but it wasn’t possible) OR • He would have liked to see it • NO CHANGE IN MEANING • To express an unfulfilled wish

The Perfect Infinitive • With could • I could have made a lot of money. (but I didn’t) • To express past unused possibility

The Perfect Infinitive • With may/might/could • He may/might have left= It is possible that he (has)left. • You might/could have been killed! • He could have phoned her. [perhaps he (has)phoned] • Speculations about past actions

The Perfect Infinitive • with might/could • He might/could have told me = I am annoyed that he didn’t tell me • To indicate that the speaker feels upset or indignant at the nonperformance of an action

The Perfect Infinitive • With can’t/couldn’t • He can’t/couldn’t have moved the piano himself • We knew he couldn’t have paid for it, because he had no money • To express a negative deduction

The Perfect Infinitive • with must • He must have come this way; here are his footprints • To express affirmative deduction

The Perfect Infinitive • With needn’t • You needn’t have hurried. Now we are too early. • You needn’t have cooked it. We could have eaten it raw To express an unnecessary past action

THE PERFECT INFINITIVE WITH CERTAIN OTHER VERBS

THE PERFECT INFINITIVE With appear, happen, pretend, seem • He seems to have been…= It seems that he is • He seemed to have been…= It seemed that he had been. . • I happened to have driven that kind of car before=It happened that I had driven that… • He pretended to have read the book. =…

• He is understood to have THE PERFECT INFINITIVE left the country. =… With the following verbs in the passive voice • He is believed to have been acknowledge waiting for a message =People believed he was believe waiting for a message consider, find, • You are supposed to have know, report, been working= You should say, suppose, have been working : think, understand