Word.ws English Dictionary

infinitive

/ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/

infinitive noun: the infinitive mood or mode (a grammatical mood).

Noun

infinitive (plural infinitives)

  1. The infinitive mood or mode (a grammatical mood).
    • The MANNERS of acting, in grammar called modes or moods, are four; Infinitive, Imperative, Indicative, Subjunctive or Conjunctive.1847, J. J. P. Le Brethon, L. Sandier, Guide to the French language; especially devised for persons who wish to study that language without the assistance of a teacher. the tenth edition, revised and...
    • There are four moods, the Infinitive, Imperative, Indicative, and Subjunctive. [...] the Infinitive is used to express a thing in a general manner.1857, Henry Tindall, A grammar and vocabulary of the Namaqua-Hottentot language, page 38
  2. A non-finite verb form considered neutral with respect to inflection; depending on language variously found used with auxiliary verbs, in subordinate clauses, or acting as a gerund, and often as the dictionary form.
  3. A verbal noun formed from the infinitive of a verb.

Adjective

infinitive (not comparable)

  1. Formed with the infinitive.
    • INFINITIVE MOOD or MANNER.
      To Have, Avoir.1847, J. J. P. Le Brethon, L. Sandier, Guide to the French language; especially devised for persons who wish to study that language without the assistance of a teacher. the tenth edition, revised and...
    • In English there are four moods:–1. The Infinitive Mood. 2. The Indicative Mood. 3. the Imperative Mood. 4. The Subjunctive Mood.1858, C. P. Mason, English grammar; including the principles of grammatical analysis, London, page 32
  2. Unlimited; not bounded or restricted; undefined.
    • […] to search out in some higher region of infinitive space a spot where it was impossible for defilement to follow them […]a. 1823, Cunningham's Sermons (quoted in 1823, The Edinburgh Christian Instructor, volume 23, page 328)

infinitive meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Kannada

infinitive in Tamil

செயவென் எச்சம்

infinitive in Urdu

مصدر

infinitive in Bengali

ক্রিয়ার আদি রূপ, অসমাপিকা ক্রিয়া

infinitive in Kannada

ಧಾತ್ವರ್ಥವಾಚಿಯ, ಭಾವಾರ್ಥ ಮಾತ್ರದ ಧಾತುರೂಪ
More languagesFewer languages
infinitive in Punjabi
ਅਕਾਲਕ akālak
infinitive in Tagalog
pawatas, panaganong pawatas
infinitive in Arabic
مَصْدَر maṣdar
infinitive in Persian
مصدر masdar
infinitive in Thai
รูปกริยากลาง
infinitive in Vietnamese
lối vô định

Examples of infinitive in a sentence

  • The verb can is defective in most English dialects, as it lacks an infinitive.
  • The formulation with the bare infinitive was somewhat less common.
  • "I bought a pen and some paper to write a note" is an example of an infinitive of purpose.

All 19 example sentences with infinitive

Forms of infinitive

pluralinfinitives

Plural of infinitive: infinitives

Origin of infinitive

From Middle English infenitife (“without end, in perpetuity”), from Late Latin īnfīnītīvus (“unlimited, indefinite”), from Latin īnfīnītus (“unlimited, infinite”). By surface analysis, infinite + -ive.

Words formed from infinitive

Phrases with infinitive

Questions about infinitive

What does infinitive mean?
Infinitive means the infinitive mood or mode (a grammatical mood).
What is infinitive in Tamil?
Infinitive in Tamil is செயவென் எச்சம். See Infinitive meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is infinitive?
Infinitive can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce infinitive?
Infinitive is pronounced /ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/.
What is the plural of infinitive?
The plural of infinitive is infinitives.

Words near infinitive in the dictionary

  1. infinitistic
  2. infinitistically
  3. infinitists
  4. infinitival
  5. infinitivally
  6. infinitive
  7. infinitive marker
  8. infinitive markers
  9. infinitive of purpose
  10. infinitively
  11. infinitives

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: infinitive (page history and authors); infinitive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); infinitive (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Infinitive (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); infinitive (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਅਕਾਲਕ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-infinitive.wav.

Cite this entry: “infinitive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/infinitive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.