To Infinitive and Beyond Understanding Verbals

There are THREE types of Verbals Gerunds Participles Infinitives Verbals are words formed from verbs that function as a different part of speech.

Infinitives= to + a verb Examples: to vote to swim to dream to run to wait

Be Careful- Don’t confuse an infinitive (to + verb) with a prepositional phrase that begins with “to” (to + noun or pronoun) Infinitives: to joke, to jump, to draw, to belong, to need, to stand Prepositional phrases: to the store, to my brother, to the school board, to the moon

Functions of an Infinitive in a sentence: Subject Direct object Subject complement/ predicate noun/ predicate nominative Adjective Adverb

When you have an infinitive phrase, you must always label your subject and verb (LV or AV)

a. Subject EX: To joke seemed inappropriate. (label the subject and verb)

b. Direct Object EX: Everyone hoped to catch the fly ball. (label the subject and verb)

c. Subject Complement/Predicate noun EX: His dream is to fly. (label the subject and verb)

d. Adjective Describes a noun or a pronoun I want a tutor to help me study.  Describes the tutor I need a magazine to read on the train.  Describes the magazine There is a basket to put your exam in.  Describes the basket I wish I had a friend to study with me.  Describes the friend

e. Adverb When an infinitive phrase works like an adverb, it modifies the verb in a sentence. Adverbs answer questions like where, when, why, how, and for what reason/purpose, I went home to study for math.         Why did you go home? He sat down to take the exam.                          For what reason did he sit down? To get into college, you need good grades.  Why do you need good grades? To ace the exam, I studied for hours.  For what purpose did you study?

Practice Label the subject, verb, verb type, and function of infinitive. 1.) Most students plan to study. Most students (subj.) plan ( A.V.) to study ( D.O.) 2.) To hesitate is unwise. To hesitate ( subj.) is ( L.V.) unwise (P. Adj.) 3.) My biggest fear is to fail. My biggest fear ( subj.) is ( L.V.) to fail. (P. Noun)

Practice Label the subject, verb, verb type, and function of infinitive. 4.) You must play to win. You ( subj.) must play ( action verb phrase) to win. ( adverb infinitive; answers “how?”) 5.) He had the ability to draw. He ( subj.) had ( L.V. ) the ability (P. Noun) to draw. ( adjective infinitive; describes “ability”)

Split infinitives AVOID SPLIT INIFINITIVES- when an infinitive is “split up” by a prepositional phrase. EX: I like to, on rainy days, watch Disney movies. Fix this by putting modifying sentences at the beginning or end of a sentence. EX: I like to watch Disney movies on rainy days. (direct object) On rainy days, I like to watch Disney movies.