An infinitive is the part of a verb
which is unaffected by person or number. In English this part of a verb is easily recognised as it is preceded by 'to'.
For example:
to call
In Latin there are three infinitive forms in the active voice.
(1) Present active
In a dictionary, the present active infinitive form of a verb is shown as the second principal part and we have come across it several times already.
voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum (1) to call
Normally the ending for first conjugation verbs is '–are', second conjugation verbs '–ere', third conjugation verbs '–ere', and fourth conjugation verbs '–ire'.
For example:
| Verb | Present active infinitive | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Latin | English |
| clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum (1) | clamare | to claim |
| habeo, habere, habui, habitum (2) | habere | to have |
| mitto, mittere, misi, missum (3) | mittere | to send |
| servio, servire, servivi, servitum (4) | servire | to serve |
(2) Perfect active
To form the perfect active infinitive of a verb, add '-sse' to the third principal part of the verb.
For example:
| Verb | Perfect active infinitive | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Latin | English |
| clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum (1) | clamavisse | to have claimed |
| habeo, habere, habui, habitum (2) | habuisse | to have had |
| mitto, mittere, misi, missum (3) | misisse | to have sent |
| servio, servire, servivi, servitum (4) | servivisse | to have served |
If there is a '-v' at the end of the stem, there is sometimes an abbreviated form of the infinitive which excludes the '-vi'.
For example:
clamavisse can become clamasse
servivisse can become servisse
(3) Future active
To form the future active infinitive of a verb, use the future participle (formed by removing the '-m' from the supine and adding '-rus') and add 'esse'.
For example:
| Verb | Future active infinitive | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Latin | English |
| clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum (1) | clamaturus esse | to be about to claim |
| habeo, habere, habui, habitum (2) | habiturus esse | to be about to have |
| mitto, mittere, misi, missum (3) | missurus esse | to be about to send |
| servio, servire, servivi, servitum (4) | serviturus esse | to be about to serve |
The future participle acts like an adjective, agreeing with the subject of the verb, and declines like ‘bonus, -a, -um’
.
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