What is an infinitive?

An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, meaning 'to...' (for example 'to eat' or 'to dance'). In English, infinitives are two words long, whereas in French they are just one word, ending in 'er', 're' or 'ir'. For example, 'manger' means 'to eat', 'prendre' means 'to take', and 'finir' means 'to finish'. If we want to use an infinitive in relation to a person and a tense, we need to 'conjugate' it, which means slightly changing the word to make it suit the person and the tense. This is something we do in English too! Remember - we can say 'I eat', but we can't say 'he eat' as it doesn't make sense, we need to add an 's' to make it 'he eats'.

Answered by Lottie C. French tutor

1604 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

For regular verbs which have 'avoir' as their auxiliary verb, how would you form the perfect past tense? (for er, re and ir verbs)


What's the difference between "ce" and "se"?


What is the difference between the immediate (near) future tense and the future tense?


What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect tense?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences