An infinitive is an indefinite or initial form of a verb. It would seem like a simple thing! But this linguistic phenomenon has its own characteristics and even “pitfalls”, which will be discussed later in this article.
Brief description of the infinitive in Russian
An indefinite verb is what we see written in a dictionary entry. He has no inclination, face, number, time, that is, he is not changed depending on who performs the action, since there is simply no such subject. However, such a verb still has some characteristics - form (perfect or imperfect) and conjugation (first or second). In addition, it is characterized by recurrence or irrevocability, as well as transient or intransitive.
How to understand that a verb is in the infinitive
To determine that a given form of a word denoting an action is actually an infinitive, one needs to ask questions of the indefinite form of the verb. These include: “ what to do? "(For example," read "or" talk ") or" what to do? ”(For example,“ give ”or“ drink ”). If the verb answers them, then it stands in its initial form.
In addition, in the infinitive in the Russian language there are always suffixes: -ty-, -ty-, -ch-, -st- and -sti- . It is worth noting that some linguists claim that these are the endings of verbs of indefinite form, since this morpheme is subject to change. However, the debate has not subsided so far.
Why use the indefinite form of the verb
The Russian language is rich enough in various possibilities of using the infinitive. The indefinite form of the verb can be in the sentence subject, predicate, definition, addition, as well as an integral part of the verb predicate, express imperative or future tense. Next, we will take a closer look at each of these cases with examples.
The specific syntactic roles of the verb in the initial form
So, a verb in indefinite form is a subject, if it is characterized in any way. For instance:
- Drawing was the meaning of his life.
- Being a mother is the meaning of Svetlana's life.
In these sentences, “ draw ” and “ be (mother) ” are subject, as these are separate, independent actions.
In addition, the proposal may include two infinitives, one of which characterizes the other:
Then here “ live ” is the subject, and “ love ” is the predicate. In this case, the member of the sentence is determined easily: the subject goes to the predicate. Also, instead of “ means” there can be a dash or the words “ this”, “is ” and the like.
An infinitive can be a definition if it stands in this form, for example:
- He went to bed with a firm decision to read a book tomorrow .
It turns out that the verb "read" here answers the question "what?" What decision did he go to bed with? Read (tomorrow book). That is, a verb of an indefinite form is a definition, if it refers to a noun, which means necessity, decision, desire, expression of will and the like.
The indefinite form of the verb is also an addition if, for example, it is used in such a phrase:
- Dad asked Lena to pick up a pencil .
That is, the verb “asked” has full lexical meaning here. Both verbs refer to different people (“ asked ” to dad, and “ raise ” to Lena).
The infinitive is an integral part of the verb predicate if used with a verb that indicates the beginning, continuation or completion of an action, that is, has an auxiliary meaning. For instance:
- The puppy quickly began to fall asleep.
- The teacher continued to teach the lesson.
“ Beginning ” and “ continued ” are just such verbs, so “ falling asleep” and “ leading” will be parts of the predicate.
The infinitive expresses an imperative mood, if used in a command tone. For example, a squad leader may order: “ Be silent! ", And the captain of the ship shout:" Whistle everyone up! "
The initial form of the verb expresses the future tense in sentences like this:
- Yes, do not be Ivan a pilot!
That is, it should contain a certain shade of annoyance or regret.
Common spelling mistakes
In most cases, an indefinite verb is an easy thing to spell, but sometimes people get confused. This occurs when the verb is reflexive. The soft sign before the suffix - sya - is simply forgotten, so it turns out that the verb is in the third person and singular. And sometimes it makes reading very difficult.
In order to avoid mistakes and correctly write suffixes (or the endings of verbs of indefinite form), you need to ask them mentally every time the questions: “ What should I do? "Or" what to do? »If the verb clearly answers them, you need to put a soft sign. For example, the last word in the sentence “ Petya is going to sleep today” puts a soft sign, since Petya is going to do what ? Get enough sleep.
Thus, an indefinite verb is a rather interesting and important part of the language that can be used in different cases, the main thing is to learn them well.