Russian: the verb of an undefined form is ...

An infinitive is an indefinite or initial form of a verb. 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 what we see 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 a verb stands in an 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 argue that these are 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 indefinite form of the verb

Rather rich in the various possibilities of using the infinitive is the Russian language. The undefined 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 sentences, " 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 " to live " is the subject, and " to love " is the predicate. The member of the sentence is determined in this case easily: the subject goes to the predicate. Also, instead of " means" there may be a dash or the words " this", "there " 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 the book tomorrow .

It turns out that the verb "to read" here answers the question "what?" With what decision did he go to bed? Read (tomorrow the book). That is, the verb of an indefinite form 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 " lift " - to Lena).

The infinitive is an integral part of the verbal predicate, if used with a verb that denotes the beginning, continuation or completion of an action, that is, it has an auxiliary meaning. For example:

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

" Beginnings " and " continued " are exactly such 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 squad leader may order: " Be silent! ", And the captain of the ship shout:" Whistle all up! "

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 writing

In most cases, the verb of an indefinite form is an easy-to-spell thing, but sometimes people are still confused. This happens when the verb is returnable. It is easy to forget the soft sign before the suffix - xia -, so it turns out that the verb is 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 should always ask them questions mentally: " What should I do? "Or" What shall I do? " "If the verb clearly responds to them, you must put a soft sign. For example, in the last word in the sentence " Petya is going to sleep today" a soft sign is put, since Peter is going to do what ? Have a sleep.

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