What does infinitive mean?

instagram viewer

For anyone dealing with the grammar of a language, it is helpful to know what the technical term infinitive means to fully understand it.

Infinitives denote basic forms.
Infinitives denote basic forms.

The infinitive - origin and meaning of the word

  • The foreign word infinitive is derived from the Latin word finire, which means “to limit” in German.
  • From this, the term infinitive developed as part of the grammar: "Basic resp. Nominal form "of a verb (verb). The correct and complete Latin term for this is "modus infinitivus": unspecified verb form.

What does the infinitive mean for the verb?

  • The verb is known to everyone as a prerequisite for the formation of a predicate, which in turn is a grammatical component of a complete sentence. The foreign word verb comes from Latin and is derived from "verbum" (word, expression; Verb).
  • A verb is understood to be a conjugable (conjugate = to bend) word that names a state or process, or an activity or action. There are full verbs that alone can form a predicate and auxiliary verbs such as have, be, will, which are used for paraphrasing.
  • The verb can be examined in various ways, such as number (number), time (tense), mode (expressive). Correspondingly, the verbs are inflected, i.e. H. adapted in form according to the intention.
  • Infinitive Clauses - Examples

    Infinitive groups are a very important part of the German language. If those …

  • The still unchanged basic form of the word, on the other hand, is called the infinitive.

Examples

Examples of infinitives and the active and passive forms derived from them are:

  • Walking: He went for walks regularly.
  • Inventing: The money printing machine won't be invented until next year.
  • Conquer: The disease was discovered in the 19th century. Century defeated.
  • Knitting: She knits sweaters, stockings and skirts.

How helpful do you find this article?

click fraud protection