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-ing is a suffix used to make one of the inflected forms of English verbs. This verb form is used as a present participle , as a gerund , and sometimes as an independent noun or adjective . The suffix is also found in certain words like morning and ceiling , and in names such as Browning .
Like the -ing suffix, the to-infinitive spread historically from a narrow original use, a prepositional phrase referring to future time. Like the -ing form it spread to all English verbs and to form non-finite clauses. Like the -ing form, it spread by analogy to use with words of similar meaning.
The form without to is called the bare infinitive; the form introduced by to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive. The other non-finite verb forms in English are the gerund or present participle (the -ing form), and the past participle – these are not considered infinitives.
The infinitive is generally the form found in dictionaries. It corresponds to the English "base-form" or "dictionary form" and is usually indicated in English by "to _____" ("to sing," "to write," etc.). The ending of the infinitive is the basis of the names given in English to the three classes of Spanish verbs:
The main uses of the various nonfinite verb forms (infinitives, participles and gerunds) are described in the following sections. For how these forms are made, see § Inflected forms of verbs above. For more information on distinguishing between the various uses that use the form in -ing, see -ing: Uses.
There are also infinitives corresponding to other aspects: (to) have written, (to) be writing, (to) have been writing. The second-person imperative is identical to the (basic) infinitive; other imperative forms may be made with let (let us go, or let's go; let them eat cake).
The list that follows shows the base, or infinitive form, the past tense and the past participle of the verb. a- : for abide, arise, awake, see bide, rise, wake; be (am, is, are) – was, were – been; be- : for become, befall, beset, etc. see come, fall, set, etc. bear – bore – borne [spelt born in passive and adjectival uses relating to ...
A split infinitive is a grammatical construction specific to English in which an adverb or adverbial phrase separates the "to" and "infinitive" constituents of what was traditionally called the "full infinitive", but is more commonly known in modern linguistics as the to-infinitive (e.g., to go).