## [infinitive, infinitive phrase](/writing-tips-plus/infinitive-infinitive-phrase) ## Avertissement Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement. An infinitive is a type of verbal—a verb form that looks like a verb but does not act as the verb in a sentence. An *infinitive* is the basic form of a verb, usually with to in front of it: *to go, to stay, to be*. Infinitives act as nouns, adjectives or adverbs: - Larissa wants *to leave*. \[noun, object of verb *wants*\] - I can show you the way *to go*. \[adjective modifying noun *way*\] - *To exit*, please turn to your left. \[adverb modifying verb *turn*\] An *infinitive phrase* is an infinitive with attached words. Because an infinitive is formed from a verb, it retains some of the properties of a verb, so it can take an object: - Larissa wants *to leave the concert*. \[infinitive *to leave* + object *the concert*\] Like a verb, an infinitive can also be modified by an adverb or a prepositional phrase: - *To exit quickly*, please turn to your left. \[infinitive *to exit* + adverb *quickly*\] - I can show you the way *to reach the exit from here*. \[infinitive *to reach* + object *the exit* + prepositional phrase *from here*\] In the above examples, *to leave the concert, to exit quickly* and *to reach the exit from here* are all infinitive phrases. Infinitive phrases may have their own subjects. The subject of an infinitive phrase is in the object form: - Yuri helped **him** *to count the money*. - Alison allowed **me** *to drive her Porsche*. Sometimes the word *to* is left out: - Yuri helped him ***count** the money*. - Alison let me ***drive** her Porsche*. An infinitive without *to* is called a *bare infinitive*. ## Other infinitive forms We can change the form of the infinitive to show different times: - An avid skier, Roberta appeared ***to be praying** for snow*. \[Ongoing action at the same time: She was praying when the speaker saw her.\] - Marty seems ***to have forgotten** his wallet*. \[Completed action at an earlier time: He forgot it before this comment was made.\] - The tenant is thought ***to have been cooking** at the time of the fire*. \[Ongoing action at an earlier time: The tenant was in the process of cooking when the fire broke out, as the investigators now believe.\] Infinitives can also be used in the passive voice: - The roof needs ***to be repaired** as soon as possible*. - This man claims ***to have been abducted** by aliens*. ## Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Writing Tips Plus © Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada ## Rechercher par thèmes connexes Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. Les résultats de recherche s’afficheront dans le [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator). - [Grammar and syntax](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Adjectives](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A477#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Adverbs](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A478#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Nouns](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A482#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Sentence structure](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A487#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) - [Verbs](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A476&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A488#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results) ## Liens connexes - [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil) - [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra) - [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques) - [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)