Infinitive
Infinitive is a grammatical term used to refer to certain verb forms that exist in many languages. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is derived from Late Latin
infinitivus, a derivative of
infinitus meaning "infinite". Infinitives are used mostly as non-finite verbs. In traditional descriptions of English, the infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without the particle
to. Thus
to go is an infinitive, as is
go in a sentence like "I must go there" (but not in "I go there", where it is a finite verb). The form without
to is called the
bare infinitive, and the form with
to is called the
full infinitive or
to-infinitive. In many other languages the infinitive is a single word, often with a characteristic inflective ending, such as
manger ("(to) eat") in French,
portare ("(to) carry") in Latin,
lieben ("(to) love") in German, etc. However some languages do not have any forms identifiable as infinitives.