Russian: an infinitive verb is ...

Infinitive is an indefinite or initialverb form. It would seem, what a simple thing! But this linguistic phenomenon has its own peculiarities and even "pitfalls", which will be discussed later in this article.

A brief description of the infinitive in Russian

The verb of an indefinite form is that wesee written in the dictionary entry. He does not have an inclination, a person, a number, a time, that is, it is not changed depending on who performs the action, since such a subject simply does not exist. However, such a verb still has some signs - a kind (perfect or imperfect) and conjugation (first or second). In addition, it is characterized by return or non-return, as well as transitivity or intransitivity.

How to understand that the verb stands in the infinitive

To determine that the given form of the word denoting an action is in fact an infinitive, one must ask questions of an indefinite verb form to it. These include: "what to do?"(For example," read "or" talk ") or"what to do?"(For example," give "or" drink "). If the verb responds to them, then it stands in its initial form.

In addition, in the infinitive in the Russian language there are always suffixes: -t-, -ty-, -ch-, -st- and -sty-. It is worth noting that some linguists claim that these are the endings of verbs of an indefinite form, since this morpheme is subject to change. However, the debate has not subsided until now.

Why use an undefined verb form

Достаточно богат на различные возможности The use of the infinitive is Russian. The indefinite form of the verb can be in the sentence subject, predicate, definition, addition, and also be an integral part of the verbal predicate, express imperative mood or future time. Next, we will take a closer look at each of the cases listed in the 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"be (mother)"Are subject, since these are separate, independent actions.

In addition, the sentence can have two infinitives, one of which characterizes another:

• To live, then, to love.

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

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

• He went to bed with a firm decision to read tomorrow's book.

It turns out that the verb "read" here answersto the question "how?" With which decision did he go to bed? Read (tomorrow's book). That is, an indefinite verb is a definition if it refers to a noun, which means necessity, decision, desire, expression of will, and the like.

An undefined form of a verb is also a complement, if, for example, it is used in such a phrase:

• Dad asked Lena to pick up a pencil.

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

Infinitive is an integral part of the verbalpredicate, if used with a verb that denotes the beginning, continuation, or completion of an action, that is, has an auxiliary value. For example:

• The puppy quickly began to fall asleep.
• The teacher continued his lesson.

"Began"and"continued"- these are the verbs, so"fall asleep" and "lead " will be parts of the predicate.

The infinitive expresses an imperative mood, if used in an orderly tone. For example, the detachment commander can order: "Be silent!", And the captain of the ship shouted:"All hands on deck!"

The initial form of the verb expresses future time in sentences similar to this:

• Yes, do not be Ivan the pilot!

That is, it should contain some shade of annoyance or regret.

Common errors in spelling

In most cases, the verb is of an undefined form- this is an easy thing in spelling, but sometimes people are still confused. This happens when the verb is returnable. Just forget the soft sign before the suffix -xia-, so it turns out that the verb stands in the third person and singular. And sometimes this makes understanding difficult when reading.

In order to avoid mistakes and correctly write the suffixes (or the endings of verbs of an undefined form), one must always ask them questions mentally: "hwhat should I do?"Or" hwhat to do?»If the verb clearly answers them, you need 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 to what to do? Get enough sleep.

Thus, the verb of indefinite form is quite an interesting and important part of the language, which can be used in different cases, the main thing is to learn them well.