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When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.
Raymond Chandler

Meaning of "infinitive" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF INFINITIVE

infinitive  [ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF INFINITIVE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Infinitive is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES INFINITIVE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

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.

Definition of infinitive in the English dictionary

The definition of infinitive in the dictionary is a form of the verb not inflected for grammatical categories such as tense and person and used without an overt subject. In English, the infinitive usually consists of the word to followed by the verb.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH INFINITIVE


admonitive
ədˈmɒnɪtɪv
affinitive
əˈfɪnɪtɪv
cognitive
ˈkɒɡnɪtɪv
competitive
kəmˈpɛtɪtɪv
definitive
dɪˈfɪnɪtɪv
genitive
ˈdʒɛnɪtɪv
lenitive
ˈlɛnɪtɪv
monitive
ˈmɒnɪtɪv
neurocognitive
ˌnjʊərəˈkɒɡnɪtɪv
non-punitive
ˈnɒnˈpjuːnɪtɪv
noncognitive
ˌnɒnˈkɒɡnɪtɪv
nonpunitive
ˌnɒnˈpjuːnɪtɪv
philoprogenitive
ˌfɪləʊprəʊˈdʒɛnɪtɪv
precognitive
priːˈkɒɡnɪtɪv
premonitive
prɪˈmɒnɪtɪv
primogenitive
ˌpraɪməʊˈdʒɛnɪtɪv
progenitive
prəʊˈdʒɛnɪtɪv
punitive
ˈpjuːnɪtɪv
recognitive
rɪˈkɒɡnɪtɪv
unitive
ˈjuːnɪtɪv

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE INFINITIVE

infin.
infinitant
infinitary
infinitate
infinite
infinitely
infiniteness
infinitesimal
infinitesimal calculus
infinitesimally
infinities
infinitival
infinitivally
infinitive marker
infinitively
infinitude
infinitum
infinity
infirm
infirmarer

WORDS THAT END LIKE INFINITIVE

active
additive
aperitive
capacitive
case-sensitive
false positive
fugitive
HIV-positive
inquisitive
insensitive
intransitive
intuitive
nutritive
positive
price-sensitive
primitive
prohibitive
repetitive
sensitive
time-sensitive
transitive

Synonyms and antonyms of infinitive in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «infinitive» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF INFINITIVE

Find out the translation of infinitive to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of infinitive from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «infinitive» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

不定词
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

infinitivo
570 millions of speakers

English

infinitive
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

क्रिया के साधारण
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

مَصْدَرٌ
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

неопределенная форма глагола
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

infinitivo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অসীমের
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

infinitif
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Infinitif
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Infinitiv
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

不定詞
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

부정사
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Infinitive
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

nguyên thể
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

வினையெச்சம்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

अमर्याद
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

mastar
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

infinito
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

bezokolicznik
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

інфінітив
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

infinitiv
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

απαρέμφατο
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

onbepaalde
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

infinitiv
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

infinitiv
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of infinitive

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «INFINITIVE»

The term «infinitive» is regularly used and occupies the 59.990 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
72
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «infinitive» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of infinitive
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «infinitive».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «INFINITIVE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «infinitive» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «infinitive» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about infinitive

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «INFINITIVE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word infinitive.
1
Sri Aurobindo
Spirituality is indeed the master key of the Indian mind; the sense of the infinitive is native to it.
2
Raymond Chandler
When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «INFINITIVE»

Discover the use of infinitive in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to infinitive and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The English infinitive
The present study focuses exclusively on the contrast in meaning between the two versions of the English infinitival form, the so-called bare and to infinitives.
Patrick J. Duffley, 1992
2
Modality and the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Absolute
Employing contemporary cross-linguistic research on modality, Callaham's study presents a new and comprehensive analysis of the function of the infi nitive absolute in Biblical Hebrew.
Scott N. Callaham, 2010
3
The English Gerund-participle: A Comparison with the Infinitive
Original Scholarly Monograph
Patrick J. Duffley, 2006
4
The Grammaticalization of 'Give' + Infinitive: A Comparative ...
The author analyses the grammaticalization of 'give' with infinitive in causative and modal constructions in the closely related Slavic languages Russian, Polish and Czech.
Ruprecht Waldenfels, 2012
5
The Synchrony and Diachrony of the Balkan Infinitive: A ...
This study offers a comprehensive and illuminating account of the loss of the infinitive and its replacement by finite verb forms by the languages of the Balkan peninsula.
Brian D. Joseph, 2009
6
Split Infinitive: Poems and Songs
Dark and intimate poetry - and a rare collection of songs from the voice of Trespassers William.
Anna-Lynne Williams, 2003
7
The Rise of the To-Infinitive
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English.
Bettelou Los, 2007
8
Ergativity and Transitive Gradients in the Accusative and ...
THE ACCUSATIVE AND INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION: A POLYSEMOUS SYNTACTIC PATTERN In the previous chapters, my intention was to show how the grammars of three particular languages account for the accusative and infinitive ...
Javier Rivas, 2000
9
Infinitive Constructions with Specified Subjects : A ...
Overt subjects are usually considered as a property of finite clauses. However, most Romance languages permit specified subjects in a broad range of infinitive constructions.
Guido Mensching Professor of Romance Linguistics Free University of Berlin, 2000
10
A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax
Bill T. Arnold, John H. Choi. "he followed me with all his heart, by doing only that which was right in my sight" (1 Kgs 14:8). The specification infinitive construct often has HiC'? or fD'?'? after ...
Bill T. Arnold, John H. Choi, 2003

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «INFINITIVE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term infinitive is used in the context of the following news items.
1
The Word Guy: Mentors tend to plant grammatical oaks | TribLIVE
... written about “The Great Gatsby,” my 11th-grade English teacher, Mr. Wittern, spotted the shark fin of a split infinitive slicing through my prose. «Tribune-Review, Jul 15»
2
Studying and Teaching English: Who Benefits?
You carry each other through the darkened times of the infinitive vs gerund or perfect vs perfect continuous tenses. Them leaving with an ... «Russia!, Jul 15»
3
Pluto Probe Carries Ashes of Man Who Discovered the Planet
"To boldly go where no man has gone before," proclaimed Captain Kirk in the most famous use of a split infinitive in science-fiction. Well, this ... «2paragraphs.com, Jul 15»
4
A push to restore pride in the way Appalachians speak
For-to Infinitives: This occurs when speakers combine the preposition "for" with an infinitive verb, often in places where it could be left out ... «Asheville Citizen-Times, Jul 15»
5
The Pedant: There is no point splitting hairs over adverb placement
He thinks that to be really listened to is a split infinitive. Dennison is the author of two biographies. Subscribe now. Login. Already a subscriber? «The Times, Jul 15»
6
Carl Mays: There's some bad grammar going around – don't catch it
I used a split infinitive in the first sentence of this paragraph. It should read, "I certainly don't claim always to use proper grammar" or "I don't ... «The Mountain Press, Jul 15»
7
DU's Publishing Institute kicks off 40th year July 12
Others discover that they have no appetite for debating the deployment of a comma or the splitting of an infinitive. And still others realize that ... «University of Denver Magazine, Jul 15»
8
Trivia Bits: Despite gaffe, song's still a hit
D. Split infinitive. 2. Strictly speaking, if you've achieved a quantum leap, how much further ahead are you? A. One hundred trillionth of a ... «San Jose Mercury News, Jul 15»
9
Smigin Is a Foreign Language Tool That Doesn't Make You Sound …
One thing unique about Smigin is that users can only create phrases incorporating the infinitive form of verbs. This restriction allows the app to ... «TechCrunch, Jul 15»
10
Market for health centre
Accessed off Meares Avenue, the Infinitive Health Wellness Centre received its certificate of occupancy on Wednesday and can now take ... «Community Newspaper Group, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Infinitive [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/infinitive>. Apr 2024 ».
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