bare infinitive
Low (it is a technical grammatical term, not a common word)Technical / Academic (used in linguistics, grammar teaching, and language analysis)
Definition
Meaning
The base form of a verb (without 'to') used in specific grammatical constructions.
A grammatical term for the uninflected, 'to'-less form of a verb when it functions as the complement of another verb (e.g., a modal or perception verb) or in certain other syntactic structures.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The term describes a verb form, not a concept with independent meaning. It is defined purely by its syntactic role (following modals, 'let', 'make', perception verbs, 'had better', etc.).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in the grammatical definition or usage. Spelling conventions for example sentences may vary (e.g., BrE 'realise' vs. AmE 'realize').
Connotations
Neutral technical term in both varieties.
Frequency
Equally low frequency in both, confined to pedagogical and linguistic contexts.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[modal verb] + bare infinitive[verb of perception] + [object] + bare infinitive[causative 'make'/'let'] + [object] + bare infinitive[expression 'had better'] + bare infinitiveVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “N/A (grammatical term)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare, except in training materials about business writing.
Academic
Common in linguistics, grammar, and language pedagogy textbooks.
Everyday
Virtually never used in casual conversation.
Technical
The primary context; used precisely in grammatical analysis and language teaching.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- We saw him cross the road.
American English
- They made her apologise for the error.
adverb
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A
adjective
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I can swim.
- Let me help.
- You should see a doctor.
- We heard the bird sing.
- The boss made the team work late.
- I'd rather stay at home tonight.
- Rather than speculate, we must observe the system function under stress.
- They felt the atmosphere change as soon as he entered.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a bear (bare) hugging a simple verb (like 'run' or 'eat') and saying, 'I don't need "to"!'
Conceptual Metaphor
GRAMMAR IS A TOOLKIT (The bare infinitive is a specific tool for building certain sentence structures).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Direct translation to Russian is "голая инфинитив" but this is not a standard term. The concept is usually explained as 'инфинитив без частицы to'.
- Russian does not have an exact equivalent syntactic category, leading to confusion about when to use it in English versus the 'to-infinitive'.
Common Mistakes
- Using a 'to-infinitive' after a modal (e.g., 'I can to go').
- Using a bare infinitive after verbs that require a 'to-infinitive' (e.g., 'I want go').
- Confusing it with the imperative form, which is identical in shape.
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence correctly uses a bare infinitive?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, 'be' is the base form. In 'They must be quiet', 'be' is a bare infinitive.
They look identical ('Go!'), but the imperative is a sentence type giving a command. The bare infinitive is a verb form used in specific constructions within a sentence (e.g., after 'should': 'You should go').
Yes, in questions and negatives, the main verb after the auxiliary 'do' is always in the bare infinitive form: 'Does she work here?' 'They did not arrive.'
Because it is the verb stripped 'bare' of the particle 'to' that usually accompanies the infinitive form in English.