Table of Contents
Can an infinitive function as an adverb?
Infinitives. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb (in its simplest “stem” form) and functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. However, the infinitive may function as a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence.
What can an infinitive phrase function as?
An infinitive is a verbal which functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb. It takes the form of “to + verb” in its simplest form. An infinitive expresses an action or state of being.
Can an infinitive function as a verb?
However, infinitives and base-form verbs function differently, so it is important to distinguish between them. An infinitive can be used in a sentence as a noun, an adverb, or an adjective, but it cannot act as a true verb that expresses the action of a subject.
How do you tell if an infinitive is an adverb?
An adverbial infinitive usually occurs at the beginning or at the end of a sentence and does not need to be near the verb it describes. infinitive. If the words in order make sense, the infinitive is adverbial.
Where do we use infinitive verbs?
The most common way to use infinitive verbs is as a direct object or an indirect object. When the subject performs an action, the infinitive can answer the question “What?” as the object of that action. Examples of the above infinitives used as direct include: I want to be an astronaut.
How do you find an infinitive phrase in a sentence?
An infinitive phrase uses an infinitive plus a modifier, object, complement or actor. There can be more than one of these and they may not all be present in the phrase. Infinitive phrases only require a comma when used as an adverb at the beginning of the sentence.
What are examples of an infinitive phrase?
He helped to build the roof.
Which sentence uses an infinitive as an adjective?
Infinitives as Adjectives An adjective is a word that modifies (adds to or describes) a noun. So infinitives function as adjectives when they modify or describe nouns in a sentence. Example: Joel wants a book to read. In this sentence, the verb is “wants” and the subject is the noun “book.”
Can an infinitive be an adjective?
If an infinitive is used as an adjective, it has to come after the noun it modifies. You can’t infer from that that all instances of infinitives after nouns are adjectival. There are certainly many cases where infinitives come after nouns and are not adjectival, and your example is just one of them.
Which is the adverbial phrase in the sentence?
An adverbial phrase (also known as an adverb phrase) is a group of words that functions as an adverb in a sentence. That is, it modifies a verb, adjective, adverb, clause, or the sentence as a whole. Adverbial phrases often feature an adverb (known as the head word) being modified by other elements, but not always.