English

Practical English Grammar


the infinitive and infinitive phrase


➲The third type of verbal, in addition to the participle and the gerund,
is the infinitive. An infinitive is composed of the word to plus a verb.
Examples of the infinitive include to remember, to cuddle, to pacify,
and to yodel.
Infinitives can function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

To succeed is Ted’s goal. (noun—subject of the sentence)
Franklin’s goal was to succeed. (noun—predicate nominative)
Melissa wanted to succeed. (noun—direct object)
Kelly has the drive to succeed. (adjective—Which drive? the drive
to succeed)
Kelly will endeavor to succeed. (adverb—How will Kelly endeavor?
to succeed)

➲ An infinitive phrase is composed of the infinitive, its modifiers (or
describers), and all the other words that are needed to complete the idea
begun by the infinitive.

To stay up later was the child’s wish. (noun—subject)
Lorene desired to be a doctor. (noun—direct object)
My cousin’s goal was to make the New York Yankees. (noun—
predicate nominative)
Henry’s ultimate goal was to make other people happy. (noun—
predicate nominative)
The musical to see is Oklahoma! (adjective—Which musical?
Oklahoma!)
The strong lifeguard swam out to save the struggling swimmer.
(adverb—Why did the lifeguard swim out? to save the struggling
swimmer)

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Notes


Practical English Grammar - Notes
1. Italics Hyphens and Brackets
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2. compound subjects part two
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3. Quotation Marks Part Three
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4. complete and simple subjects
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5. Sound a like words Part Four
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6. Regular Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs
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7. Second Capitalization List
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8. irregular verbs part two
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9. the object of the preposition
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10. complete and simple predicates
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11. the noun
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12. the noun clause
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13. Active and passive voices
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14. The possessive case
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15. Confusing usage words part six
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16. Irregular Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs
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17. agreement involving prepositional phrases
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18. the prepositional phrase
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19. the indirect object
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20. Confusing usage words part three
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21. More Apostrophe Situations
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22. Quotation Marks Part Two
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23. the correlative conjunction
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24. Confusing usage words part seven
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25. the adverb
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26. the adjective phrase
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27. Confusing usage words part four
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28. Sound alike words part one
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29. regular verb tenses
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30. the direct object
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31. Transitive and intransitive verbs
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32. The verb be
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33. the adjective
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34. Confusing usage words part two
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35. Sound a like words Part Two
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36. Periods Question Marks and Exclamation Marks
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37. More subject verb agreement situations
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38. compound complex sentences
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39. subject and verb agreement
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40. compound subject and compound predicate
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41. the appositive
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42. the gerund and gerund phrase
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43. Commas Part Three
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44. Commas Part Five
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45. The Colon
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46. The Semicolon
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47. Quotation Marks Part One
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48. First Capitalization List
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49. agreement between indefinite pronouns and their antecedents
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50. subject verb agreement situations
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