Infinitives explained for kids

An infinitive is a verb with the word "to" in front, like "to run" or "to read." It tells about an action in a general way, not something happening right now. You will see infinitives in sentences like "I like to swim" or "We need to eat." They help add extra meaning to verbs and adjectives!

Infinitive examples

Example 1 (simpler):

Sentence: "She likes to draw."

Here, to draw is the infinitive. It is the base form of the verb "draw" with "to" in front. It does not tell when she draws or who is drawing, it just names the action that she likes.

Example 2 (more advanced):

Sentence: "To finish his homework on time, he turned off his game."

Here, to finish is the infinitive. It introduces a phrase that explains why he turned off his game. The infinitive phrase "to finish his homework on time" works like an adverb, giving the reason for his action.

Going deeper with infinitives

Infinitives can be used in several ways in a sentence. They can act like nouns (naming an action), like adjectives (describing a noun), or like adverbs (explaining why, when, or how something happens).

As a noun, an infinitive can be the subject or object of a sentence, as in "To read is fun" (subject) or "He wants to win" (object). As an adjective, an infinitive can describe a noun, as in "She has a book to read." As an adverb, it can explain a reason or purpose, as in "They hurried to catch the bus."

Older students also learn that sometimes the "to" is dropped in certain patterns, such as after some helping verbs, in what is called a "bare infinitive" (for example, "Help me find my keys" uses the base form "find" without "to"). Understanding infinitives helps with more advanced grammar, including recognizing different types of phrases and clauses.

Common mistakes with infinitives

  • Mistake 1: Thinking any word after "to" is an infinitive, as in calling "to school" an infinitive in "We walked to school."
    Correction: An infinitive must include a verb in its base form, like "to walk" or "to learn"; "school" is a noun, so "to school" is a prepositional phrase, not an infinitive.
  • Mistake 2: Believing an infinitive shows tense, for example saying "to play" is present tense and "to have played" is past tense.
    Correction: Infinitives do not show tense by themselves; they name an action without telling when it happens, and tense is shown by other verbs in the sentence.
  • Mistake 3: Thinking you can never split an infinitive, so students avoid natural sentences like "to really understand" and force awkward wording instead.
    Correction: While some style guides prefer not to split infinitives, in modern English it is often acceptable to place an adverb between "to" and the verb if it makes the sentence clearer or more natural.

Where infinitives show up in everyday life

Infinitives appear in directions, rules, and goals your child sees all the time. Instructions like "Remember to wash your hands," classroom rules such as "Do not forget to listen," and personal goals like "I want to learn to code" all use infinitives to name actions people should do.

Related grammar terms

Understanding infinitives connects to other grammar ideas your child may study:

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