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Infinitive is a grammatical term referring to certain verb forms existing in many languages. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is derived from Late Latin ''() infinitivus'', a derivative of ''infinitus'' meaning "infinite". They are most often used as non-finite verbs. In traditional descriptions of English, the infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without the particle ''to''. Thus ''to go'' is an infinitive, as is ''go'' in a sentence like "I must go there" (but not in "I go there", where it is a finite verb). The form without ''to'' is called the bare infinitive, and the form with ''to'' is called the full infinitive or ''to''-infinitive. In many other languages the infinitive is a single word, often with a characteristic inflective ending, like ''morir'' ("(to) die") in Spanish, ''manger'' ("(to) eat") in French, ''portare'' ("(to) carry") in Latin, ''lieben'' ("(to) love") in German, etc. However some languages have no forms which can be considered to be infinitives. Many Native American languages and some languages in Africa and Australia do not have direct equivalents to infinitives or verbal nouns; in their place they use finite verb forms in ordinary clauses or various special constructions. Being a verb, an infinitive may take objects and other complements and modifiers to form a verb phrase (called an infinitive phrase). Like other non-finite verb forms (like participles, converbs, gerunds and gerundives) infinitives do not generally have an expressed subject; thus an infinitive verb phrase also constitutes a complete non-finite clause, called an infinitive (infinitival) clause. Such phrases or clauses may play a variety of roles within sentences, often being nouns (for example being the subject of a sentence or being a complement of another verb), and sometimes being adverbs or other types of modifier. Infinitives are not usually inflected for tense, person, etc. in the way that finite verbs are, although some degree of inflection sometimes occurs; for example Latin has distinct active and passive infinitives. ==Infinitive phrases and clauses== An ''infinitive phrase'' is a verb phrase constructed with the verb in infinitive form. This consists of the verb together with its objects and other complements and modifiers. Some examples of infinitive phrases in English are given below – these may be based on either the full infinitive (introduced by the particle ''to'') or the bare infinitive (without the particle ''to''). *(to) sleep *(to) write ten letters *(to) go to the store for a pound of sugar Infinitive phrases often have an implied grammatical subject making them effectively clauses rather than phrases. Such ''infinitive clauses'' or ''infinitival clauses'', are one of several kinds of non-finite clause. They can play various grammatical roles like a constituent of a larger clause or sentence; for example it may form a noun phrase or adverb. Infinitival clauses may be embedded within each other in complex ways, like in the sentence: *I want to tell you that Brett Favre is going to get married. Here the infinitival clause ''to get married'' is contained within the finite dependent clause ''that Brett Favre is going to get married''; this in turn is contained within another infinitival clause, which is contained in the finite independent clause (the whole sentence). The grammatical structure of an infinitival clause may differ from that of a corresponding finite clause. For example, in German, the infinitive form of the verb usually goes to the end of its clause, whereas a finite verb (in an independent clause) typically comes in second position. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「infinitive」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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