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Questions tagged [infinitives]

Questions about verbs in their basic (unmarked) forms, such as “be”, “do”, “have”, or “sit”, sometimes introduced by the particle “to” and other times used by itself.

The infinitive is the untensed citation form of a verb. Sometimes it is used with a prefix to particle, and sometimes it is just a :

  • I was happy to see you.
  • To see you is my greatest desire.
  • They made me see you.
  • I know that I should see you.
596 questions
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Help + Noun + Ing-form or Infinitive

Help my sister peel oranges. Help my sister to peel oranges. Help my sister peeling oranges. Help my sister with peeling oranges. Which of the above is/are correct, and why are the others incorrect?
TimK
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How to use the infinitive in this sentence?

I am doing documentation for a web application issue and I'm not sure how best to word what I'm trying to say: "This appears to work no longer in any web browser." "This appears no longer to work in any web browser." "This appears not to work any…
trpt4him
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2 answers

Consecutive infinitives

Is there a rule governing when it is acceptable to position two infinitives in a row? E.g.: The witness plans to refuse to testify.
Ilana
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Question on what role this infinitive plays in the sentence?

I am going to study. Does "to study" act as an adverb, a direct object, or something else? My gut feeling says adverb. Thanks for your help.
user234301
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Usage of consecutive infinitives of purpose

Is it possible to modify an infinitive of purpose with another infinitive of purpose if the action of the first one is not yet carried out? Ex. Jack brought beans home to give to his mother to plant in the garden. Ex. Jack went to the market to sell…
Sveta
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Does 'as' take bare infinitive?

Here a sentence from my grammar book. "It is as difficult to swim as drive. I know when 'than' is used in a sentence, then it takes bare infinitive. Like.. "She is better able to speak than(bare infinitive) write." Does it apply on my first sentence…
Ansh
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stated rule on use of infinitives in a sequence?

Is there a stated rule on use of infinitives in a sequence? Or is it a question of style? For example, It is vital for a viewer of this movie to listen for its main character's underlying position, to contrast it with those of the other…
Dina Lopez
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the to-infinitive as an adverbial(substitute of for+N?), an object, or a subject complement?

A. She is likely/sure/certain to start her new project. She may start her new project. Are the senses and the roles of the to inf. the same as 'start her new project' of 'may', complementing the (modal) verbs and indicating the action of the…
Kim Hui-jeong
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The verb 'TRY': Transitive or Intransitive

Consider these sentences, please: Try to complete the examination He tried to climb a cliff. Are the to-infinitives the objects of the verb try Or are they infinitives of purpose?
Mr. X
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"Helping you do something" or "Helping you to do something"?

Possible Duplicate: What is the correct way to use infinitive after the verb “help”: with or without “to”? In the phrase "Helping you to master Russian", is it correct to use "to" before "master"?
user9283
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Identifying parts of sentences with infinitive phrases

To help others is important. In this sentence, 'To help' is the infinitive (being used as noun subject) and 'is' is the verb. What is the object ? 'Others' ? And is 'To help others' an infinitive phrase ? Since 'others' is explaining 'To help…
Ahmad R.
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Can you use a 'to' infinitive instead of using 'by ~ing'?

To identify human genes and understand their roles allows researchers to discover the cause of various diseases. To contain the meaning of 'by ~ing' or 'while ~ing', can you use 'to infinite' like in the example above?
harry
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Infinitives in compound setence

I have a sentence: In order to quickly search for relevant information among them, it is necessary to structure and to categorize them. Would you use the infinitives twice (to structure and to categorize)?
user3637775
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Is `limited to viewing` correct in this context? Your account is `limited to` viewing only the first 100 pictures

As the title says, is limited to correct in that context? Let's say for instance that Facebook offers free and paid account and Facebook only allows free account to view the first 100 pictures of your friend. When a user tries to view more than 100…
user1764381
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The role of infinitive in this sentence

I have a question on this sentence "It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish." -Aeschylus What role does to seem play in this sentence. I think it is an infinitive. But does it act as verb, adverb, direct object, subect?,noun?
Fernando Martinez
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