{"id":20912,"date":"2024-05-05T22:37:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T05:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/?p=20912"},"modified":"2024-05-05T22:37:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T05:37:26","slug":"zero-infinitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/zero-infinitive\/","title":{"rendered":"Bare Infinitive (Zero Infinitive): Usage and Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"words-head\" id=\"words-3786321391\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5017566440575750\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5017566440575750\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3340569236\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">Bare Infinitive (Zero Infinitive): Usage and Examples<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever noticed how sometimes we use verbs without the little word &#8220;to&#8221; in front of them? This is called the <strong>zero infinitive<\/strong>, also known as the <strong>bare infinitive<\/strong>. It might seem like a small detail, but the zero infinitive plays an important role in many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/category\/sentences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">English sentences<\/a>. Today, we&#8217;ll delve into this concept and explore when to ditch the &#8220;to&#8221; and use the bare verb form effectively.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">What is the Bare Infinitive?<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>bare infinitive<\/strong>, also sometimes called the <strong>zero infinitive<\/strong>, is a verb form that appears without the word &#8220;to&#8221; before it. It&#8217;s essentially the base form of the verb acting in a non-finite way, meaning it doesn&#8217;t function as the main verb tense in a sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some examples to illustrate the difference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>To-infinitive:<\/strong> I want <strong>to go<\/strong> to the beach. (Here &#8220;to go&#8221; functions as the entire object of the verb &#8220;want&#8221;.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bare infinitive:<\/strong> Make her <strong>go<\/strong> clean her room. (Here &#8220;go&#8221; acts as the verb following the auxiliary verb &#8220;make&#8221;.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">Uses of the Bare Infinitive<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The bare infinitive shows up in various grammatical constructions, lending them specific meaning. Here are some common uses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">With Modal Verbs:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We use the bare infinitive after modal verbs like can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would. These verbs express abilities, permissions, obligations, and possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>She <strong>can speak<\/strong> three languages. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You <strong>should study<\/strong> for your exam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She can swim like a fish.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They could hear the music from miles away.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You may leave the classroom when you finish your test.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He might arrive late due to the traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must finish this project by tomorrow.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shall we dance?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You should study for your exams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Will you help me with my homework?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They would go to the beach every weekend if they could.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you ask nicely, I will lend you my car.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">After Perception Verbs:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bare infinitive follows verbs of perception like see, hear, watch, feel, notice, and smell when they have a direct object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I <strong>saw<\/strong> him <strong>leave<\/strong> the building. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We <strong>heard<\/strong> the band <strong>play<\/strong> a beautiful song.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She heard him sing beautifully at the concert.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I watched her paint a stunning landscape.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He felt the dog lick his hand affectionately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They noticed the children play happily in the park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We saw the birds fly gracefully across the sky.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She heard the wind howl loudly outside.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He noticed the flowers bloom in the garden.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They watched the sun rise over the horizon.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She felt the floor shake beneath her feet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I heard the neighbors argue loudly next door.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">With Let and Make:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These verbs are often followed by a bare infinitive to express commands or cause something to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Let<\/strong> them <strong>play<\/strong> outside. (Giving permission) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She <strong>made<\/strong> me <strong>cry<\/strong> with her story. (Causing something to happen)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She let her children play in the yard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He made his students complete the assignment before the end of class.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They let me borrow their car for the weekend.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She made him clean his room before going out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Let&#8217;s make a plan for the weekend.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He made her laugh with his silly jokes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They let the cat out of the house.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She made him apologize for his rude behavior.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Let me help you with that heavy box.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They made the decision to move to a new city.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Had Better and Would Rather:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These expressions take a bare infinitive to convey advice or preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You <strong>had bettergo<\/strong> to the doctor. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I <strong>would ratherstay<\/strong> home tonight.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You had better finish your homework before dinner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I would rather stay home and relax than go to the party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We had better leave early to avoid traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She would rather go for a walk in the park than watch TV.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You had better study hard if you want to pass the exam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I would rather eat pizza than sushi for dinner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They had better start saving money for their future.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He would rather take the train than drive in rush hour traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We had better call ahead to make a reservation at the restaurant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>She would rather read a book than watch a movie tonight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#00c853\" class=\"has-inline-color\">After Why Questions:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In informal contexts, we can use the bare infinitive after &#8220;why&#8221; in questions suggesting an action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why <strong>leave<\/strong> so early?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why go to bed early when we can stay up late and have fun?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why wait for tomorrow when we can do it today?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why worry about the future when we can enjoy the present?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why clean the house now when it will just get messy again?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why apologize when you did nothing wrong?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why rush to finish when we have plenty of time?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why bother cooking when we can order takeout?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why stress over small details when they don&#8217;t really matter?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why cry over spilled milk when we can just clean it up?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why stay indoors when the weather outside is beautiful?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, that&#8217;s the scoop on the bare infinitive! By mastering this little grammatical quirk, you&#8217;ll be able to express yourself more effectively and add variety to your sentences. Remember, practice is key! Try incorporating bare infinitives into your writing and speech, and you&#8217;ll soon see how natural they become. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Happy learning!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.users.wordsdaily\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Download the Word of the day<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Bare Infinitive (Zero Infinitive) - wordscoach.com\" class=\"wp-image-20917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bare-Infinitive-Zero-Infinitive-wordscoach.com-3.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bare Infinitive (Zero Infinitive): Usage and Examples. Bare Infinitive! What is the zero infinitive? Learn how to use the zero infinitive (bare infinitive) in English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15537],"tags":[20538,20537],"class_list":["post-20912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-bare-infinitive","tag-zero-infinitive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}