- •Неличные формы глагола инфинитив
- •(Verbals)
- •Verbal Predicate
- •The infinitive
- •The infinitive can be:
- •1.1 Forms of the infinitive
- •Practice
- •1.2. The bare infinitive and the to-infinitive the use of the bare infinitive
- •1.2.1 “Let”, “make”, “would rather/ sooner” and “had better”
- •1.2.2 The infinitive with or without “to” after “help” and “know”
- •Practice
- •Context
- •When we were at school as children we were (make/wear) ……………………………
- •1.3. The functions of the infinitive
- •1.3.1 Infinitive as subject
- •The infinitive as predicative
- •The compound verbal predicate
- •Practice
- •Infinitive as subject
- •Infinitive as predicative
- •The infinitive as part of a compound verbal predicate
- •1.3.2 The infinitive as object
- •Come lend repeat show shut wait
- •2. Complete the sentences for each situation.
- •3. Complete these sentences so that the meaning is similar to the first sentence.
- •4. Put the verb in the right form:–ing or infinitive (with or without to).
- •1.3.3. The infinitive as attribute
- •5. The noun-substitute one.
- •Practice
- •Model: I had avoided the house all day and had brought food that we could eat by the lake.
- •Complete the following using the infinitives as attributes.
- •1.3.4. The infinitive as adverbial modifier
- •Adverbial modifier of purpose
- •Revision
- •1.4. Constructions with the Infinitive
- •1.4.1 The for-to-infinitive construction
- •In translating this construction into Russian a subordinate clause or an infinitive is used.
- •Sentence patterns with the for-phrase
- •Practice
- •1.4.2 The Objective with the Infinitive Construction (Complex object)
- •The Complex Object is used after the verbs:
- •Practice
- •1.4.3 The subjective infinitive construction (complex subject) (the Nominative-with-the-lnfinitive Construction)
- •Practice
- •1.5 Test yourself
- •Insert 'to’ where necessary before the infinitives in brackets:
- •Fill in the correct form of the Infinitive:
- •Paraphrase the sentences so as to use the Infinitive:
- •Define the function of the Infinitive:
- •Translate the sentences into English using infinitives and infinitive constructions:
- •Bibliography
The infinitive
1. 1 The infinitive is a non-finite form of the verb which names a process in a most general way. It is treated as the initial form of the verb, which represents the verb in the dictionaries.
The infinitive can be:
-
used with the particle “to” (the full infinitive/to-infinitive);
-
used without the particle “to” (the bare infinitive);
-
separated with the particle “to” by an adverb (the split infinitive eg. She doesn’t want to even see him). It is used very seldom to give special emphasis to the verb.
The infinitive has a double nature: it combines the features of the verb and the noun.
The nominal features are only syntactical. Like a noun the Infinitive can be used as
-
subject: Never to study at night was her rule.
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predicative: Judy’s intention was to become a writer.
-
object: Judy was sorry to leave the farm.
The verbal features of the infinitive are of two kinds:
-
Morphological: (like the verb) the infinitive has the category of voice, perfect, aspect.
Eg. to do -Active Voice, to be done - Passive voice;
To do – Non-perfect, to have done – Perfect;
To do – Common(Indefinite), to be doing – Continuous (Progressive).
-
Syntactical: the infinitive possesses the verb combinability (takes an object, can be modified by an adverb)
Eg. I promise never to do such a mistake again. (direct object)
I can do this job perfectly. (an adverb)
1.1 Forms of the infinitive
There are several forms of the Infinitive in English: Indefinite, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous which are used to show both the simultaneousness or the priority of the action of the Infinitive to the main verb and the form's aspect. Some of them have Passive forms:
|
|
Active |
Passive |
|
Indefinite |
to speak |
to be spoken |
|
Continuous |
to be speaking |
|
|
Perfect |
to have spoken |
To have been spoken |
|
Perfect Continuous |
to have been speaking |
|
Table A
The verb tenses corresponding to the forms of the infinitive are as follows:
|
Verb tenses |
Infinitive |
|
|
Present Simple Future Simple |
He works He will work |
-to work |
|
Present Continuous Future Continuous |
He is working He will be working |
-to be working |
|
Past Simple Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect |
He worked He has worked He had worked He will have worked |
-to have worked |
|
Past Continuous Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous Future Perfect Continuous |
He was working He has been working He had been working He will have been working |
-to have been working |
Table B
The Indefinite Infinitive expresses an action simultaneous with that of the finite verb, so it may refer to the present, past or future:
I'm glad to meet you.
I was glad to see her.
I'll be glad to come
It's glorious to love and to be loved.
There is no time to lose. = There is no time to be lost.
The Continuous Infinitive expresses an action simultaneous with that of the finite verb, but this is an action in progress:
They happened to be standing near a small restaurant.
The Perfect Infinitive expresses
1) an action prior to that of the finite verb:
I'm glad to have seen you.
2) a prior action that was not carried out:
I meant to have gone there. (But I didn't go there).
The Perfect Continuous Infinitive expresses the action which lasted a certain time before the action of the finite verb
She seemed to have been eating nothing for ten days.