Infinitives
What is an Infinitive?
 An infinitive is a verb without person (I, you, (s)he/it, we,
you, they) or number (singular or plural), giving its basic
meaning
 In LATIN, infinitives exist in three TENSE and MOOD
combinations:
TENSE
Present
VOICE
Active >>
Passive <<
Present
Active >>
Perfect
Passive <<
Perfect
Future
Future
Active >>
Passive <<
o The Jenney’s First Year Latin textbook shows a
summary of the Latin forms on p. 212 but does not
include the future passive, which these notes do.
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Infinitives
Some major Functions of Infinitives
 Complementary: completes the action of an intransitive
verb, such as
o possum, debeō (when meaning “ought”)
o dubitō (when meaning “hesitate”)
o constituō (when meaning “decide”)
o soleō (“to be accustomed”)
o Examples:
 possumusne saltāre? “Can we dance?”
 debēs mihi narrāre. “You ought to tell me.”
 ubi constituēs discēdere ex oppidō? “When will
you decide to leave town?”
 solēbam lūdere in silvā. “I was accustomed to
play(ing) in the woods.”
 Subjective: the infinitive may be the subject of est and
similar verbs, in apposition to the subject, or as a predicate
nominative.
o videre est crēdere. “To see is to believe.”
o dolēre est malum. “To suffer is evil.”
o necesse erit morī. “It will be necessary to die.”
 Objective: the infinitive may essentially be the direct
object of a transitive verb. This sounds very similar to a
complementary infinitive and, frankly, this is a distinction
that is difficult to document in reference materials.
o Verbs taking an infinitive with accusative subject, i.e.
“[verb] someone (acc.) to do something (infinitive)”
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Infinitives
 iubeō, iubēre, iussī, issum – to order
 cogō, cogere, coēgī, coāctum – to force, compel
 prohibeō, prohibēre, prohibuī, prohibitum – to
prohibit, prevent
 vetō, vetāre, vetuī, vetitum – to forbid
o Examples:
 meī parentēs iussērunt mē lavāre mē. “My
parents ordered me to wash myself.”
 mox novae legēs coēgerint illōs cīvēs habitāre
locō alterō. “Soon the new laws will have forced
those citizens to live in a new location.”
 nōlī prohibēre nōs discēdere! “Do not prevent
us from leaving!”
 alter cōnsul semper vetāre alterum agere
poterat. “The one consul was always able to
prevent the other one from acting.”
o Other commonly used transitive verbs that take an
“objective” infinitive:
 amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum – to love, like
 temptō, temptāre, temptāvī, temptātum – to
try, attempt
 cupiō, cupere, cupīvī, cupītum – to wish, want
 dēsīderō, dēsīderāre, dēsīderāvī, dēsīderātum
– to desire
 volo, velle, voluī – to wish, want
 timeō, timēre, timuī - to fear, to be afraid (to)
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Infinitives
o Examples:
 amāsne natāre in marī? “Do you like to swim
in the sea?
 meus magister temptat docēre nōs Latīnam
linguam. “My teacher is trying to teach us the
Latin language.”
 ille centurio relinquere auxilia in provinciā
cupīverat. “That centurion had wanted to leave
reinforcements in the province.”
 nuquam cupiēmus dēsistere. “We will never
want to stop.”
 paucī ex mīlitibus in Galliā voluērunt dēficere
ex exercitū. “A few of the soldiers in Gaul
wished to desert (from) the army.”
 timeō manēre domī (domī = locative case, showing “place where”
instead of an ablative place where) sine custōdibus. “I am afraid
to stay at home without guards.”
 Indirect Statement: the main verb of an indirect statement
is written in the infinitive mood.
o sciō tē audīre. “I know that you are listening.”
o audīvistīne eōs ē lūdō discēdere? “Have you heard
that they were leaving the school?”
o dīcit lūdum esse hilārem. “She says that school is
fun.”
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Infinitives
Mechanics: How do I form and translate Latin infinitives?
 Present Active >>
o RULE: the 2nd principal part of a verb is its present
active infinitive
o WATCH: necō, NECĀRE, necāvī, necātum
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necāre
“to put to death”
2nd
delēre
“to destroy”
3rd
caedere
“to slaughter”
interficere
“to kill”
sepelīre
“to bury”
adorīrī
(passive in form)
“to attack”
(active in meaning)
3rd-IO
4th
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES:
 licetne mihi iam DISCĒDERE? “Is it
permissible for me to leave now?”
 cūr temptās DIGREDĪ? “Why are you trying to
step away?”
 nōn saepe amō sōlus nocte AMBULĀRE. “I
don’t often like to walk alone at night.”
 nōlī mē PROHIBĒRE! “Do not prohibit me!”
 placet tibi mē RIDĒRE! “It pleases you to
laugh at me!”
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Infinitives
 Present Passive <<
o RULE:
 For all conjugations except 3rd + 3rd-IO, take the
2nd principal part and replace the final -e with -ī.
 For 3rd + 3rd-IO, take the 2nd principal part and
replace the -ere with -ī.
o WATCH:
 delēre – -e = delēr- + -ī = delērī
 interficere – -e = interfic- + -ī = interficī
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necārī
“to be put to death”
2nd
delērī
“to be destroyed”
3rd
caedī
“to be slaughtered”
3rd-IO
interficī
“to be killed”
4th
sepelīrī
“to be buried”
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
NA – since adorior, adorīrī, adortus sum is deponent verb,
i.e. it uses passive forms to express action in the active voice,
you must use a non-deponent verb to say “to be attacked”
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES:
 nēmō NECĀRĪ hodiē cupit. “Nobody wants to
be killed today.”
 debēmus DOCĒRĪ ā meliōre magistrō quam
tē. “We ought to be taught by a better teacher.”
 necesse est ossibus SEPELĪRĪ. “It is necessary
for bones to be buried.”
 vetō cibum FERRĪ in meam cameram. “I
forbid food to be brought in my room.”
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Infinitives
 Perfect Active >>
o RULE:
 OPTION #1: Take the 3rd principal part of the
verb and add -sse to the end.
 OPTION #2: Take the perfect stem of the verb
and add –isse to the end.
o WATCH:
 #1: cecīdī + -sse = cecīdisse*
 #2: cecīdī – ī = cecīd- + -isse = cecīdisse
*N.B. The final –ī of the 3rd principal part is long, but the -i- of –isse is short.
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necāvisse
“to have put to death”
2nd
delēvisse
“to have destroyed”
3rd
cecīdisse
“to have slaughtered”
3rd-IO
interfēcisse
“to have killed”
4th
sepelīvisse
“to have buried”
adortus, -a, -um esse
(passive in form)
“to have attacked”
(active in meaning)
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES
 id melius est AMĀVISSE atque AMĪSISSE
quam numquam omninō AMĀVISSE. “It is
better to have loved and lost than never to have
loved at all.”
 debeō DIŪTIUS laborāvisse. “I ought to have
worked longer.”
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Infinitives
 Perfect Passive <<
o RULE: Take a form of* the fourth principal part of a
verb and pair it with esse
*N.B. “A form of” is meant to indicate that any of the three terminations, which
reflect the different genders, is acceptable, as are the inflected forms when this
infinitive is used as part of an indirect statement (more on that later).
o WATCH:
 delētus paired with esse = delētus esse
 sepulta paired with esse = sepulta esse
 necātum paired with esse = necātum esse
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necātus esse
“to have been put to
death”
2nd
delētus esse
“to have been
destroyed”
3rd
caesus esse
“to have been
slaughtered”
interfectus esse
“to have been killed”
sepultus esse
“to have been buried”
adortus esse
(passive in form)
“to have attacked”
(active in meaning)
3rd-IO
4th
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES:
 hoc opus PERFECTUM ESSE iam dudum
debet. “This work ought to have been finished
long ago.”
 semper volūmus in bonō lūdō DOCTĪ ESSE.
“We always wished to have been taught in a good
school.” (caveat: this is creaky English and probably worse Latin)
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Infinitives
 Future Active >>
o RULE
 OPTION #1: Take the 4th principal part of a verb,
remove the regular –us, -a, -um termination(s),
and add –ūrus, -a, -um, then pair with esse
 OPTION #2: Take the 4th principal part of a verb
and insert -ūr- in front of the –us, -a, -um
terminations, then pair with esse
o WATCH:
 necātus – -us, -a, -um = necāt- + -ūrus, -a, -um
= necātūrus, -a, -um paired with esse =
necātūrus, -a, -um esse
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necātūrus, -a,-um esse
“to be about to put to
death”
2nd
delētūrus, -a, -um esse “to be going to destroy”
“to be about to
caesūrus, -a, -um esse
slaughter”
3rd
3rd-IO
4th
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
interfectūrus, -a, -um
esse
“to be going to kill”
sepultūrus, -a, -um
esse
“to be about to bury”
adortūrus, -a, -um esse
(ACTIVE in form!)
“to be going to attack”
(active in meaning)
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES occur only in indirect
statement
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Infinitives
 Future Passive <<
o RULE: Take the neuter accusative form* of the 4th
principal part and pair with īrī.
*N.B. Actually, this form is technically what is called an accusative supine (more
on that much later).
o WATCH:
 interfectum paired with īrī = interfectum īrī.
 sepultum paired with īrī = sepultum īrī.
Conjugation
Latin
English
1st
necātum īrī
“to be about to be put
to death”
2nd
delētum īrī
“to be going to be
destroyed”
3rd
caesum īrī
“to be about to be
slaughtered”
interfectum īrī
“to be going to be
killed”
sepultum īrī
“to be about to be
buried”
3rd-IO
4th
Deponent
(3rd conj.)
NA – since adorior, adorīrī, adortus sum is deponent verb,
you must use a non-deponent verb to say “to be about to be
attacked”
o CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES occur only in indirect
statement
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