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Meaning & use

bare infinitive

noun·Advancedtechnical

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UK/ˌbeə ɪnˈfɪnətɪv/
US/ˌber ɪnˈfɪnətɪv/

Meanings

  1. nouncountabletechnical

    the simple form of a verb used without the word 'to', as in 'go' rather than 'to go'.

    Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a bare infinitive' or 'bare infinitives'.

    Patterns

    • a bare infinitive after a modal verb
    • use a bare infinitive
    • follow something with a bare infinitive

    In 'You must leave now', the verb 'leave' is a bare infinitive.

    After 'let', English uses a bare infinitive: 'Let me explain.'

    Teachers often ask students to spot the bare infinitive in each sentence.

  2. nouncountabletechnical

    this verb form when it works as the second verb in a pair, as in 'she heard him sing'.

    Grammar: Often used with 'the': 'the bare infinitive'.

    Patterns

    • the bare infinitive of a verb
    • a verb of perception + object + bare infinitive

    With verbs like 'see' and 'hear', the second verb is usually a bare infinitive: 'I saw her run.'

    If you change 'I saw her run' to 'I saw her running', you are no longer using a bare infinitive.

    The bare infinitive here shows the whole action from start to finish.

Word forms

pluralbare infinitives

Common combinations

a bare infinitive
A bare infinitive follows 'can' and 'must'.
use a bare infinitive
We use a bare infinitive after 'let'.
after a modal verb
After a modal verb, put a bare infinitive.
verbs of perception + bare infinitive
Verbs of perception take a bare infinitive when the action is complete.
the bare infinitive form
Write the bare infinitive form, not the -ing form.

Synonyms and how they differ

infinitive without 'to'
A descriptive phrase rather than a technical term; it means the same thing but sounds less formal.
base form
This names the dictionary form of a verb (go, eat); it looks the same as a bare infinitive but is used to talk about the verb itself, not its role in a sentence.

Opposites

to-infinitive

Word family

infinitive noun
the general verb form, with or without 'to'.
full infinitive noun
the infinitive with 'to', as in 'to go'.
split infinitive noun
an infinitive with a word such as an adverb placed between 'to' and the verb.

Commonly confused: bare infinitive or base form? bare infinitive or gerund?

bare infinitive vs base form

The base form is the plain dictionary shape of a verb; a bare infinitive is that same shape doing a particular job in a sentence, after verbs like 'can' or 'let'.

bare infinitive vs gerund

A gerund is the -ing form used as a noun ('Swimming is fun'); a bare infinitive has no -ing and no 'to'.

Practice

Which sentence contains a bare infinitive?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “bare infinitive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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