To-Infinitive, Bare Infinitive, and Split Infinitive
An infinitive is the basic form of a verb. (A verb as we know is a word that shows an action, occurrence, or state of being.) In English, we have the to-infinitive and the bare infinitive. The to-infinitive can also appear as a split infinitive.
- To-infinitive: Rita likes to swim.
- Bare infinitive: You must swim to the island.
- Split infinitive: Try to quietly swim along the shore without being seen.
The infinitive is a non-tensed verb form: it is not affected by a change in tense.
- Present tense: Rita wants to swim like a dolphin.
Past tense: As a child, Rita wanted to swim like a dolphin.The infinitive to swim does not change form in the past tense.
The to-infinitive
A verb in its basic form after the word to is the to-infinitive (also called the full infinitive): to + verb.
- Rita wants to live on an island.
- Lulu likes to sing while she bakes.
- Maya wants to travel the world.
- To hope is to live.
- I need something to drink.
- Your job is to supervise.
- It’s nice to meet you.
The to-infinitive is a verb form. Don’t confuse it with a prepositional phrase, in which the word to is used as a preposition.
- She wants to sing.
infinitive = “to sing” (to + verb)
- She went to Thailand last winter.
prepositional phrase = “to Thailand” (preposition + noun; no verb)
The bare infinitive
A verb in its basic form without the word to is the bare infinitive (also called the zero infinitive). It appears after the auxiliary verb do and modal verbs such as can, could, should, and must.
- You should leave.
Modal verbs like should are followed by a bare infinitive like leave (not “to leave”).
- I must go.
- I can call him back.
- I could send them an email.
- I do like you.
Verbs of perception (feel, see, hear, etc.) are followed by a noun phrase and the bare infinitive.
- I felt something move in the bag!
The verb feel (“felt”) followed by a noun phrase (“something”) and a bare infinitive (“move”).
- I saw it disappear for a second.
- Did you hear the phone ring?
Other verbs such as help, let, make, and have are also followed by a noun phrase and a bare infinitive.
- I’ll help you pack.
- We want to help our clients make the right decisions.
- Let it go.
- How can we make him understand how important this is?
- I’ll have someone send you the documents.
The split infinitive
A split infinitive is a to-infinitive in which a word (usually an adverb) appears between to and the verb.
- I plan to quietly leave the room.
- It’s nice to finally meet you.
- You can also try to carefully pull the two pieces apart.
- I want to somehow finish this report and go home.
- Maya hopes to someday write a novel.
Although purists may object, it’s perfectly fine to split the infinitive in English to improve clarity or emphasize an adverb.
- I need to not listen to other people.
- Try to gently slot it into its groove.
Now that you know the types of infinitives in English, also learn about their properties and how they are used.