The Basics

An infinitive is a VERBAL NOUN. It is a form of a verb which is unaffected by person or number, and therefore without ending (get it?? it's infinite).

In English this part of a verb is easily recognized as it is preceded by ‘to’ (e.g. ‘to call’).

Infinitives are verbal nouns (neuter singular).

In Latin, the infinitive is used in the nominative and accusative; the gerund is used for the other cases.

Thus, infinitives may function

• as the subject (to err is human)

• as a complementary infinitive (I am able to speak)

• as a direct object (I love to laugh)

• as part of an object phrase capturing indirect speech, with an accusative noun for the subject

Forms & Base Translation

Infinitive Functions

The Infinitive has FOUR functions: Subject, Complimentary, Object, and Indirect Statement.

Indirect Statement

Indirect Statement is a form of subordinate clause, in this case "a subordinate clause which relates a thought or statement indirectly" (e.g. "He said that he was very good."). It is the opposite of direct statement, which entails quoting a person's words or ideas directly ("He said, "I am so good!").

There are the two essential ingredients in an indirect statement:

1. The first is a HEAD VERB (examples: saying, knowing, seeing, hearing, hoping, denying, etc)

2. The second is a a subordinate clause with its own subject (accusative case) and verb (infinitive). This clause is the indirect statement itself.

While English tends to prefer the conjunction "that" (a form that does not exist in Latin), Latin uses an accusative plus an infinitive to express the indirectness of the statement. Source

English: I believe that he is a good man. Latin: Credo eum esse bonum.

Latin Indirect Statement Requires

1) Head Verb
2) Accusative Subject
3) Infinitive

Relative Tenses

Infinitives operate on relative time—that is, their tense is relative to that of the main verb—
thus, the true time of the infinitive in indirect statement depends on the tense of the main verb.

Present Infinitive = action is contemporaneous with main verb (SAME TIME)

Perfect Infinitive = action was prior to main verb (TIME BEFORE)

Future Infinitive = action was subsequent to the main verb (TIME AFTER)

Examples