Must indefinite form. Indefinite form of verbs

It would seem, what a simple thing! But this linguistic phenomenon also has its own characteristics and even "pitfalls", which will be discussed later in this article.

Brief description of the infinitive in Russian

An infinitive verb is what we see written in a dictionary entry. It has no mood, person, number, time, that is, it does not change depending on who performs the action, since there is simply no such subject. However, such a verb still has some features - aspect (perfect or imperfect) and conjugation (first or second). In addition, it is characterized by recurrence or irreversibility, as well as transitivity or intransitivity.

How to understand that the verb is in the infinitive

To determine that a given form of an action word is in fact an infinitive, you need to ask questions of the indefinite form of the verb to it. These include: " what to do?' (for example, 'read' or 'talk') or ' what to do?" (for example, "gift" or "drink"). If the verb answers them, then it is in the initial form.

In addition, there are always suffixes in: -t-, -ti-, -ch-, -st- and -sti-. It is worth noting that some linguists argue that these are the endings of indefinite verbs, since this morpheme is subject to change. However, the controversy has not subsided so far.

What is the indefinite form of the verb used for?

The Russian language is rich enough in various possibilities of using the infinitive. The indefinite form of a verb can be a subject, predicate, definition, object in a sentence, and also be an integral part of the verbal predicate, express the imperative mood or the future tense. Next, we will consider each of these cases in more detail with examples.

Specific syntactic roles of the verb in the initial form

So, a verb in an indefinite form is a subject if it is somehow characterized. For example:

• Drawing was the meaning of his life.
• Being a mother is the meaning of Svetlana's life.

In these proposals draw" and " to be (mother)» are subject, as they are separate, independent actions.

In addition, a sentence can contain two infinitives, one of which characterizes the other:

• To live means to love.

Then here" live" is the subject, and " be in love"- predicate. The member of the sentence is determined in this case easily: the subject goes before the predicate. Also instead of " means" can be a dash or the words " this", "is» and the like.

An infinitive can be a definition if it is in this form, for example:

• He went to bed determined to read a book tomorrow.

It turns out that the verb "read" here answers the question "what kind?" With what decision did he go to bed? Read (tomorrow a 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 object if, for example, it is used in such a phrase:

• Dad asked Lena to pick up the pencil.

That is, the verb "asked" here has a full-fledged lexical meaning. Both verbs refer to different people (" asked"to dad, and" raise"- to Lena).

The infinitive is an integral part of the verbal predicate if used with a verb that denotes the beginning, continuation or completion of an action, that is, it has an auxiliary meaning. For example:

• The puppy quickly began to fall asleep.
• The teacher continued teaching.

"Started" and " continued" are just such verbs, therefore " fall asleep" and " lead" will be parts of the predicate.

The infinitive expresses the imperative when used in a commanding tone. For example, a squad leader might order: Be silent!", and the captain of the ship shout:" All hands on deck!»

The initial form of the verb expresses the future tense in sentences like this:

• Yes, Ivan should not be a pilot!

That is, it must contain a certain shade of annoyance or regret.

Common spelling mistakes

In most cases, an infinitive verb is an easy thing to spell, but sometimes people get confused. This happens when the verb is reflexive. The soft sign in front of the suffix is ​​simply forgotten - Xia-, so it turns out that the verb is in the third person and singular. And sometimes it makes it very difficult to understand when reading.

In order to avoid mistakes and correctly write suffixes (or the endings of indefinite verbs), you need to mentally ask them questions every time: “h what to do?"or" h then do?» If the verb clearly answers exactly to them, it is necessary to put a soft sign. For example, in the last word in the sentence " Petya is going to sleep tonight" put a soft sign, because Petya going what to do? Get enough sleep.

Thus, the indefinite form 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.

In contact with

Indefinite verbs are used in dictionaries. What is an infinitive? Features are as follows:

1. Verbs in the indefinite form answer the questions "what to do?" and “what to do?”.
2. Endowed with grammatical features of the form (perfect or imperfect).
3. It is returnable and non-returnable.
4. Saved.
5. When forming, the suffixes of the indefinite form of the verb -t, -ti, -ch are used. For some verbs it is –st, -sti.

Important! Any verbal word form can be put in the initial one with the help of the question “what to do?” or “what to do?”.

Such word forms are called indefinite because it is impossible to determine their main grammatical features: time, person, mood, gender and number, which distinguishes them from the rest.

Indefinite form of the verb: signs

Signs of the indefinite form of the verb

The main features are the endings of verbs in -ti, -t and -ch. The questions “what to do?” will help determine this. and “what to do?”.

Examples of Education

The infinitive ends with the suffix -ti if it is preceded by a consonant: come, crawl, shake. The suffix -т is used after vowels: write, fly, shoot, pull.

In some words ending in -ch, there is no ending in the initial form, and -ch is included in the structure of the root. For example, attract, bake, protect, crush.

How to use the indefinite form of a verb

The infinitive is needed to form other verb forms and check spelling.

Often the endings of verbs in personal word forms are unstressed, which raises doubts about their writing. To check spelling, you need to know how to put a verb in the indefinite form.

For example:

• Build - What to do? build. So, it is correct to write the ending -ish.
• Glues, glued - What to do? glue. The correct spelling is -it and -il.
• Hated - What to do? hate. Correctly write the vowel -e.

The unstressed suffix in the infinitive indicates its spelling in the past tense, in the gerund and participle form.

Glue - glued - gluing - gluing - gluing.

What is a reflexive or irrevocable verb

Sometimes, after the word-forming suffix -t, -ty, -ch, an additional postfix -sya or -s is used. For example, pray, take care, ask, take cover.

Postfix allows you to define the returnable and non-returnable form.

The rule explains that word forms with -sya (-s) are considered reflexive and mean the action of someone or something directed at themselves, the contact or position of the object. For example, tip over, deteriorate, equip, wade.

Irreversible infinitives express an action to someone or something. For example, winding, eavesdropping, ironing.

reflexive verb

Signs of transitive and intransitive infinitive

Transitivity in an indefinite form allows you to identify an additional word that indicates an object or phenomenon involved in the action.

As an additional word is used:

• A noun or pronoun used in the accusative case and without a preposition. For example, put on a coat, cook dinner.
• A noun (accusative or genitive) that expresses an attitude or proportion of something and is used without a preposition. For example, pour tea, wait for guests.
• A negative expression with an infinitive uses a noun or a pronoun in the genitive. For example, not to have a chance, not to hurt her.

Additional words give meaning to the infinitive, and without them the essence of what is happening is lost. Some part of the action is transferred to objects or circumstances, they acquire a clear semantic load.

In the intransitive infinitive, the action denotes one word.

Perfect and imperfect types

Verbs are classified into perfect and imperfect.

Imperfect characterize an action that lasts without a specific time reference. These actions can be called eternal, there is no indication of their completeness or incompleteness. They ask the question “What to do?”.

• I'm about to go on a trip.
• Street lights began to go out.

Perfect infinitives indicate completed action or something that is bound to happen. The result can already be observed or it is still to be expected. The question "What to do?" is used.

• After opening the can, the contents must be transferred.
• Did you receive instructions on what to report?

Known a minor part of dual infinitives. They are used in both forms in one word form. They are defined by meaning. For dual verbs in the infinitive, you can put a standard question.

• Tomorrow the entire area should be cleared. - "What to do?".
• Clean up trash on your desk and in your room. - "What to do?".
• Need to explore the city. - "What to do?".
• They were to explore the city at dawn. - "What to do?"

Perfect and imperfect view

The infinitive is the initial meaning of the verb. The peculiarity of the infinitive is that it denotes only a pure action, not tied to the person who performs it, does not indicate whether one or more persons perform the action, and also does not give an idea of ​​the time of the action. That is, the infinitive does not have the definiteness of the past, present or future tense.

This part of speech is also called the "indefinite form of the verb", because it does not characterize any details of the action being performed, revealing only its original meaning. latin word infintus, from which the term is derived, can be translated as "uncertain".

The indefinite form of the verb: rules and examples

The infinitive can only answer questions:

• "What to do?";
• "What to do?".

It is impossible, for example, to ask "Doing what?""What is he doing?","What are we doing?""What are they doing?""What you are doing?","What did you do?""What will you do?", since the infinitive is the indefinite form of the verb. Time and face remain unclear, and no reference is made to the details of what is happening.

Infinitive suffixes

The infinitive ends with word-forming suffixes:

• -t - give birth, grow up, die;
• -ch, - protect, burn, flog;
• -ti - carry, grow, row.

It can also be supplemented with a postfix -s (s), by which we can judge which indefinite form of the verb is irrevocable, and which is reflexive:

-s (-sya) - toil, pray, beware.

Signs of the infinitive

The infinitive is the form of the verb that always remains the same. It cannot be conjugated, presented in a different time or person. Infinitives can only have constant verbal features that are present in any verb, regardless of their form. Such signs include transitivity/intransitivity, recurrence/irreturnability and perfection/imperfection.

Transitive and intransitive infinitives

The transitivity of the verb is determined in accordance with the presence of an additional word of the indefinite form of the verb, denoting an object or phenomenon, to which the action is partially transferred. Intransitive verbs consist of a single word denoting the action itself. The transitive infinitive can include:

• nouns or pronouns put in the accusative case without a preposition: make an injection, thread;
• nouns put in the genitive case, without a preposition, which express the share of something, or involvement: wait for trouble, pour water;
• nouns or pronouns put in the genitive case, if the verb has a negative expression: be unable to notice them.

Thus, these words are part of the verb, filling it with meaning, and without them the essence of the action is lost. Part of the action, in turn, goes to the object or circumstance, giving it a specific semantic load.

Reflexive and irrevocable infinitives

The indefinite form of the verb can also be reflexive and non-reflexive. Irreversible verbs express an action performed by someone or something in relation to someone or something. Returns express an action directed by someone or something on itself, or mean another closed interaction or state of the object and have a postfix at the end -sya (sya). On the -sya the reflexive indefinite form of the verb usually ends. The rule says that reflexive verbs cannot be transitive.

Examples of irrevocable infinitives: put on, put on, peek. Examples of reflexive infinitives: get dressed, get down, sneak.

As we can see from the above examples, some reflexive verbs can be obtained from non-reflexive ones by simply adding a postfix -sya(as in the case of the pair " lower-lower"). This only changes the direction of the action, but the general meaning remains. In rare cases, according to the rules and norms of the use of verbs, it is impossible to use the verb in both its word forms - perfect and imperfect, as, for example, the reflexive indefinite form of the verb is unacceptable for "put on" (example " put on-dress"). "Put on" denotes an action performed in relation to some object or person, while "dress" can refer exclusively to the object that performs the action (it can be used in other word forms, but provided that this reflexive meaning is preserved) . Although such a limited indefinite form of the verb is not often encountered, the rule remains the rule. Also, from some imperfect forms of verbs, we will not be able to make a perfect one, based on their key meaning, which we can see on the example of the verb "peep" - you can’t peep behind yourself. By the same principle, in Russian there is no imperfect form of the verb "sneak" - you can't " sneak"anything.

Perfect and imperfect infinitives

Infinitives can also be perfective or imperfective. The indefinite form of the imperfective verb expresses actions that continue in time and do not have a specific binding - these are, as it were, eternal actions, and without additional indications in the context, it does not give us an idea of ​​the completion or incompleteness of the action. A question would be relevant here. "What to do?". Examples:

Perfective infinitives say that the action has already been done, or will certainly be done, that the result is already there, or will still be (of course, in cases of negation or question, it may have a relatively indefinite coloring). A question would be relevant here. "What to do?". Examples:

• After reading the note should have been burned.
• Thank me that you didn't have to burn that note.
• Were you instructed to burn the note?

Only a small number of dual infinitives contain Russian. The indefinite form of the verb, which is both perfective and imperfective, can be used this way and that, depending on the environment, without changing its word form. That is, she answers the question "What to do?", and to the question "What to do?". Examples:

• An order was issued to continue to execute all traitors. - "What to do?";
• An order was given to execute the traitor. - "What to do?";
• In the village they are used to marrying girls quickly. - "What to do?";
• By autumn, Martha managed to marry all her girls. - "What to do?";
• It's hard to tell your heart. - "What to do?"
• How to tell your heart not to love? - "What to do?"
• Exploring caves is very interesting, but at the same time dangerous. - "What to do?"
• Tomorrow we have to explore these caves. - "What to do?"
• You can attack them from any direction, while I will smash them head on. - "What to do?"
• You will have to attack them from the right, and I will go in from the flank. - "What to do?"

Conjugation of verbs

The conjugation of verbs reflects their change in accordance with person and number. Although the infinitives themselves cannot have a person, number or gender, and, therefore, cannot be conjugated, they nevertheless serve as a derivational basis for other verbs, therefore they are assigned to any of the two verb groups according to the type of conjugation - either to I , or to II. The endings of indefinite verbs related to the first group: -e, -yu(except for verbs of exceptions). The forms of these verbs have endings -u and -yu, -eat and -eat, -eat and -eat, -eat and -eat, -eat and -ete. The endings of indefinite verbs related to the second group: -and and on -I(except for verbs of exceptions). When conjugated, the forms of these verbs have endings -u and -yu, -ish, -it, -im, -ite, -at and -yat.

Function of the infinitive in a sentence

Verbs, as usual, perform the function of a predicate in a sentence. Together with the subjects, they form the grammatical basis of sentences. However, the infinitive, due to its peculiarities of use, can perform completely different functions in a sentence. Therefore, the role of any of the members of the sentence in this case can be performed by the indefinite form of the verb. An example of the use of infinitives as various members of a sentence:

Morphological analysis of the infinitive in a sentence

To carry out the morphological analysis of a verb in a sentence, you need to determine its part of speech, general grammatical meaning, ask him questions, determine the word form, indicate permanent and non-permanent morphological features, as well as its function in the sentence. Since the indefinite form of the verb does not change, the morphological analysis of the infinitive is carried out without indicating inconstant verbal features.

April 21, 2017

The infinitive is the indefinite or initial form of a verb. It would seem, what a simple thing! But this linguistic phenomenon also has its own characteristics and even "pitfalls", which will be discussed later in this article.

Brief description of the infinitive in Russian

An infinitive verb is what we see written in a dictionary entry. It has no mood, person, number, time, that is, it does not change depending on who performs the action, since there is simply no such subject. However, such a verb still has some features - aspect (perfect or imperfect) and conjugation (first or second). In addition, it is characterized by recurrence or irreversibility, as well as transitivity or intransitivity.

How to understand that the verb is in the infinitive

To determine that a given form of an action word is in fact an infinitive, you need to ask questions of the indefinite form of the verb to it. These include: " what to do?' (for example, 'read' or 'talk') or ' what to do?" (for example, "gift" or "drink"). If the verb answers them, then it is in the initial form.

In addition, in the infinitive in Russian there are always suffixes: -t-, -ti-, -ch-, -st- and -sti-. It is worth noting that some linguists argue that these are the endings of indefinite verbs, since this morpheme is subject to change. However, the controversy has not subsided so far.

Related videos

What is the indefinite form of the verb used for?

The Russian language is rich enough in various possibilities of using the infinitive. The indefinite form of a verb can be a subject, predicate, definition, object in a sentence, and also be an integral part of the verbal predicate, express the imperative mood or the future tense. Next, we will consider each of these cases in more detail with examples.

Specific syntactic roles of the verb in the initial form

So, a verb in an indefinite form is a subject if it is somehow characterized. For example:

• Drawing was the meaning of his life.
• Being a mother is the meaning of Svetlana's life.

In these proposals draw" and " to be (mother)» are subject, as they are separate, independent actions.

In addition, a sentence can contain two infinitives, one of which characterizes the other:

• To live means to love.

Then here" live" is the subject, and " be in love"- predicate. The member of the sentence is determined in this case easily: the subject goes before the predicate. Also instead of " means" can be a dash or the words " this", "is» and the like.

An infinitive can be a definition if it is in this form, for example:

• He went to bed determined to read a book tomorrow.

It turns out that the verb "read" here answers the question "what kind?" With what decision did he go to bed? Read (tomorrow a 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 object if, for example, it is used in such a phrase:

• Dad asked Lena to pick up the pencil.

That is, the verb "asked" here has a full-fledged lexical meaning. Both verbs refer to different people (" asked"to dad, and" raise"- to Lena).

The infinitive is an integral part of the verbal predicate if used with a verb that denotes the beginning, continuation or completion of an action, that is, it has an auxiliary meaning. For example:

• The puppy quickly began to fall asleep.
• The teacher continued teaching.

"Started" and " continued" are just such verbs, therefore " fall asleep" and " lead" will be parts of the predicate.

The infinitive expresses the imperative when used in a commanding tone. For example, a squad leader might order: Be silent!", and the captain of the ship shout:" All hands on deck!»

The initial form of the verb expresses the future tense in sentences like this:

• Yes, Ivan should not be a pilot!

That is, it must contain a certain shade of annoyance or regret.

Common spelling mistakes

In most cases, an infinitive verb is an easy thing to spell, but sometimes people get confused. This happens when the verb is reflexive. The soft sign in front of the suffix is ​​simply forgotten - Xia-, so it turns out that the verb is in the third person and singular. And sometimes it makes it very difficult to understand when reading.

In order to avoid mistakes and correctly write suffixes (or the endings of indefinite verbs), you need to mentally ask them questions every time: “h what to do?"or" h then do?» If the verb clearly answers exactly to them, it is necessary to put a soft sign. For example, in the last word in the sentence " Petya is going to sleep tonight" put a soft sign, because Petya going what to do? Get enough sleep.

Thus, the indefinite form 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.