Chapter LXXXI: Infinitives

=315.= Look at the following sentences:—

Dare _to be_ true.

It is high time _to go_.

The bishop seemed _to have talked_ with angels.

You ought _to have been paying_ attention.

We have here certain verb forms,—_to be_, _to go_, _to have talked_, _to have been paying_,—which are very familiar to all of us, but which we have not yet studied. They are not forms of the indicative, subjunctive, or imperative mode, nor are they like any of the verb phrases that we have examined. They all begin with the word _to_, and they contain two, three, or four words, the last of which is the important one. We call these groups of words =infinitives=.

=316.= An intransitive verb has four infinitives, two of them denoting a present action, hence called =present infinitives=; and the other two denoting an action already completed, hence called =perfect infinitives=.

The four infinitives of the intransitive verb _laugh_ are these:—

PRESENT PERFECT

to laugh to have laughed
to be laughing to have been laughing

Which two of these infinitives belong to the progressive conjugation?

=317.= Transitive verbs have six infinitives. The infinitives of the transitive verb _eat_ are these:—

PRESENT PERFECT

_Active_ to eat to have eaten
_Active Progressive_ to be eating to have been eating
_Passive_ to be eaten to have eaten

=318.= The infinitives above are called =infinitives with _to_=, because they begin with the word _to_. This word is not used as a preposition, but merely as a sort of handle, or introduction, to the infinitive.

=319.= Besides the infinitive with _to_ there is another form called the =infinitive in _-ing_=. The infinitives in _-ing_ of the verb _eat_ are these:—

PRESENT PERFECT

_Active_ eating having eaten
_Active Progressive_ having been eating
_Passive_ being eaten having been eaten

What are the infinitives in _-ing_ of the verb _laugh_? Which two forms does it lack?

Find the infinitives in _-ing_ in these sentences:—

He was fined for losing his temper.

“Being a Boy” is the title of a book.

He was vexed at having misspelled so many words.

=320.= All infinitives are forms of verbs, but they cannot be predicate verbs because they do not assert. They are spoken of as =verbals=.

=321.= A verbal is used in a sentence like some part of speech,—a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The infinitive is most frequently used like a noun. The infinitive in _-ing_ is very much like a noun in another respect too,—it _names_ the action or state that the predicate verb _asserts_. If we should ask for the name of any action that we saw a person performing, the answer would be an infinitive in _-ing_; as, _reaping_, _mowing_, _plowing_, _driving_.

=322.= The infinitive in _-ing_ is so much like a noun that it can be modified by a possessive noun or pronoun. We say, “_Your_ winning the victory depends on your keeping cool.” “The farmer’s chagrin was due to his _hay’s_ having spoiled.” Explain the use of all the possessives in these sentences.

NOTE.—The infinitive in _-ing_ is often called a =gerund=.

=323.= The infinitive may take the same complements and modifiers that any other form of the same verb might take. The infinitive, together with all the words associated with it, makes an =infinitive phrase=. The base word of an infinitive phrase is always an infinitive. What are the infinitive phrases in all the illustrative sentences in this lesson?

=Summary.=—A =verbal= is a verb form that denotes action or being without asserting it.

A verbal is used in a sentence as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

An =infinitive= is a verbal that is generally used as a noun.

There are two classes of infinitives,—the infinitive with _to_, and the infinitive in _-ing_.

The infinitive has two tenses,—present and perfect.

The infinitive may be active or passive or progressive.

An =infinitive phrase= is a group of words consisting of an infinitive together with its complement and modifiers.

=Exercise 1.=—Write all the infinitives of the verbs _be_, _bring_, _come_, _find_, _freeze_, _go_, _leave_, _seem_, _taste_, _turn_.

=Exercise 2.=—Select all the infinitive phrases in the following sentences. Tell the voice and tense of each infinitive.

MODEL—_It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks._ _To teach an old dog new tricks_ is an infinitive phrase. _To teach_ is the present active infinitive of the transitive verb _teach_.

1. Am I to give a reason for all I choose to do?

2. The cherry pie seemed to have been left in the refrigerator
for that hungry young pair.

3. Driving between these long lines of dainty-flowering and
sweet-smelling rows of hedges is very delightful.

4. All the lines of pain smoothed out of her brow, and she
seemed to be peacefully sleeping.

5. The lights had been extinguished, the buoys removed, and the
whole coast seemed to have gone back hundreds of years.

6. Your having given me the opera glasses is no reason that you
have a right to borrow them continually.

7. Any child should know that a hot stove is a thing to be
avoided, but I did not seem to realize the fact.

8. The boy would like to have thrown a stone at the wagon.

9. Did you mind being reproved by your mother for sitting up so
late?

10. It was already past the appointed hour for Mr. Cobb and his
coach to be lumbering down the street.

11. From her having been staying at the Antlers the entire
season, I should judge her to be wealthy.

12. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes.

13. There’s no use in making two bites of a cherry.

14. The fact of the letter’s having been opened was evident,
but it could not be proved against the mail carrier.

Tell the part of speech and use of _your_, sentence 6, _her_ 11, _letter’s_ 14.