LXXXI. INFINITIVES
315. Look at the following sentences:—
Dare to be true.
It is high time to go.
The bishop seemed to have talked with angels.
You ought to have been paying attention.
We have here certain verb forms,—to be, to go, to have talked, to have been paying,—which are very familiar to all of us, but which we have not yet studied. They are not forms of the indicative, subjunctive, or imperative mode, nor are they like any of the verb phrases that we have examined. They all begin with the word to, and they contain two, three, or four words, the last of which is the important one. We call these groups of words infinitives.
316. An intransitive verb has four infinitives, two of them denoting a present action, hence called present infinitives; and the other two denoting an action already completed, hence called perfect infinitives.
The four infinitives of the intransitive verb laugh are these:—
| Present | Perfect |
|---|---|
| to laugh | to have laughed |
| to be laughing | to have been laughing |
Which two of these infinitives belong to the progressive conjugation?
317. Transitive verbs have six infinitives. The infinitives of the transitive verb eat are these:—
| Present | Perfect | |
|---|---|---|
| Active | to eat | to have eaten |
| Active Progressive | to be eating | to have been eating |
| Passive | to be eaten | to have eaten |
318. The infinitives above are called infinitives with to, because they begin with the word to. This word is not used as a preposition, but merely as a sort of handle, or introduction, to the infinitive.
319. Besides the infinitive with to there is another form called the infinitive in -ing. The infinitives in -ing of the verb eat are these:—
| Present | Perfect | |
|---|---|---|
| Active | eating | having eaten |
| Active Progressive | having been eating | |
| Passive | being eaten | having been eaten |
What are the infinitives in -ing of the verb laugh? Which two forms does it lack?
Find the infinitives in -ing in these sentences:—
He was fined for losing his temper.
“Being a Boy” is the title of a book.
He was vexed at having misspelled so many words.
320. All infinitives are forms of verbs, but they cannot be predicate verbs because they do not assert. They are spoken of as verbals.
321. A verbal is used in a sentence like some part of speech,—a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The infinitive is most frequently used like a noun. The infinitive in -ing is very much like a noun in another respect too,—it names the action or state that the predicate verb asserts. If we should ask for the name of any action that we saw a person performing, the answer would be an infinitive in -ing; as, reaping, mowing, plowing, driving.
322. The infinitive in -ing is so much like a noun that it can be modified by a possessive noun or pronoun. We say, “Your winning the victory depends on your keeping cool.” “The farmer’s chagrin was due to his hay’s having spoiled.” Explain the use of all the possessives in these sentences.
Note.—The infinitive in -ing is often called a gerund.
323. The infinitive may take the same complements and modifiers that any other form of the same verb might take. The infinitive, together with all the words associated with it, makes an infinitive phrase. The base word of an infinitive phrase is always an infinitive. What are the infinitive phrases in all the illustrative sentences in this lesson?
Summary.—A verbal is a verb form that denotes action or being without asserting it.
A verbal is used in a sentence as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
An infinitive is a verbal that is generally used as a noun.
There are two classes of infinitives,—the infinitive with to, and the infinitive in -ing.
The infinitive has two tenses,—present and perfect.
The infinitive may be active or passive or progressive.
An infinitive phrase is a group of words consisting of an infinitive together with its complement and modifiers.
Exercise 1.—Write all the infinitives of the verbs be, bring, come, find, freeze, go, leave, seem, taste, turn.
Exercise 2.—Select all the infinitive phrases in the following sentences. Tell the voice and tense of each infinitive.
Model—It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. To teach an old dog new tricks is an infinitive phrase. To teach is the present active infinitive of the transitive verb teach.
1. Am I to give a reason for all I choose to do?
2. The cherry pie seemed to have been left in the refrigerator for that hungry young pair.
3. Driving between these long lines of dainty-flowering and sweet-smelling rows of hedges is very delightful.
4. All the lines of pain smoothed out of her brow, and she seemed to be peacefully sleeping.
5. The lights had been extinguished, the buoys removed, and the whole coast seemed to have gone back hundreds of years.
6. Your having given me the opera glasses is no reason that you have a right to borrow them continually.
7. Any child should know that a hot stove is a thing to be avoided, but I did not seem to realize the fact.
8. The boy would like to have thrown a stone at the wagon.
9. Did you mind being reproved by your mother for sitting up so late?
10. It was already past the appointed hour for Mr. Cobb and his coach to be lumbering down the street.
11. From her having been staying at the Antlers the entire season, I should judge her to be wealthy.
12. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes.
13. There’s no use in making two bites of a cherry.
14. The fact of the letter’s having been opened was evident, but it could not be proved against the mail carrier.
Tell the part of speech and use of your, sentence 6, her 11, letter’s 14.