the bare infinitive is the version of the infinitive verb without the 'to'
The bare infinitive is the version of the infinitive verb without the opening 'to'.
So, if the verb infinitive is to sleep, the bare infinitive is sleep.
Questions tagged [bare-infinitive]
107 questions
8
votes
2 answers
Can the verb “tend” be followed by a bare infinitive (“tend be” v.s. “tend to be”)?
I thought tend (used to imply “regularly or frequently behaving in a particular way or having a certain characteristic – Oxford’s def; 1.1) always has to be used with the to-infinitive form of verbs.
Today, however, I encountered this example:
Most…
Imfego
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2
votes
1 answer
Can we use a bare infinitive after the copula freely?
But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the
locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans
outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have
caught him in mid- jump. (Harry Potter and…
Listenever
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1
vote
2 answers
Talk to him is what I did
Talk to him is what I did.
(this sentence is from forum.wordreference.com)
"Talk" is a verb here that is not in the imperative mood. I suppose, it's in the infinitive form. But then how can it stand alone, without "to"?
What will be if we add "to"…
Loviii
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1
vote
3 answers
bare infinitive
Today I come across this sentence:
I recommend having customer service agents end their emails a variety of ways.
Can you explain why to is not added before end?
Why is having used before an Object?
It seems to me it should be like this:
I…
1
vote
2 answers
Is this an it-cleft with bare infinitive?
"Actually, we didn't get lost," the tall one says. "We
ran away." "Not running away so much as just
stumbling onto this spot and deciding to stay put," the brawny one
adds. "That's different from getting lost." "Not
just anybody…
Listenever
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0
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"I heard my life be told" vs. "I heard my life being told" (object+bare infinitive complementation)
You may have heard A Song They Won't Be Playing On The Radio by Molly Nilsson. I doubt this song will ever be considered the pinnacle of the English poetry, but it makes use of a passive simple (rather than the passive continuous) infinitive in…
Russ80
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