3rd ed.), edited by the language scholar and lexicographer R. You don’t have to take our word for this. In modal constructions, infinitives (”go,” “read,” and “eat” in the examples) do not require “to.” The modal verbs are “can,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “shall,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and “must.”Įxamples, “I must go,” “he should read,” “they can eat,” and so on. “To” is not there, for example, when the infinitive is used with modal verbs (sometimes called modal auxiliaries or secondary auxiliaries). When “to” appears with an infinitive, it is generally referred to as an “infinitive marker” or “infinitive particle” it is not part of the verb and is not always used. The infinitive is the uninflected or basic form of a verb, and “to” is not part of it.
His is absolutely NOT the “standard” definition of an infinitive. Here’s the standard definition of an infinitive, from Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition: “An infinitive is a verbal consisting of to followed by the verb.”Ī: Sorry, but you’ve been misled, and the late John Warriner, a teacher and textbook author, was misinformed, as we’ll explain. Huh? Says who? Not any standard – or even nonstandard – grammar book or authority I’ve ever seen, heard of, or read. Help me invite all these people to our party.Q: In your recent article for Smithsonian magazine, you defend the split infinitive by saying “to” isn’t actually part of the infinitive. He can be the center of attention if that’s what he wants. The infinitive appears without to in a few places, particularly after the modal auxiliary verbs can/could/may/might/will/would/shall/should/must and after a few other verbs like help. This is another way to use the infinitive. It often comes after another verb, like want or likes above. The infinitive can't be the main verb of a sentence. The verb does not take a suffix -s, -ed, or -ing, and in particular, the word be can be used as the verb, rather than is, was, or being. The word to usually comes before the verb phrase In English, the easiest ways to identify the infinitive are The infinitive is another way to use a verb.
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