Infinitives: Formation Rules

There are three tenses of the infinitive mood in Latin and in English:
perfect infinitive (active and passive voices)
present infinitive (active and passive voices)
future infinitive (active voice only)

The perfect active infinitive is formed on the third principal part stem, or
perfect stem, by adding isse to the stem:
vocavisse

monuisse

rexisse

cepisse

audivisse

to have called

to have warned

to have ruled

to have taken

to have
heard

The perfect passive infinitive is formed on the fourth principal part, or perfect
passive participle, by adding the present infinitive of sum:
vocatus esse

to have been called

monitus esse

to have been warned

rectus esse

to have been ruled

captus esse

to have been taken

auditus esse

to have been heard

The perfect infinitive always indicates that its action happened before the action of
the main verb in its clause.

Nota Bene: the perfect passive infinitive only exists for those verbs which are
transitive; transitive verbs are identifiable in Latin by their fourth principal part,
which must end in tus or sus.
Verbs which either end in urus in the fourth principal part, or which have no
fourth principal part, are intransitive verbs. Intransitive verbs have no passive
forms whatsoever.

The present active infinitive of all verbs is the second princpal part of the verb.
vocare

to call

monere

to warn

regere

to rule

capere

to take

audire

to hear

The present passive infinitive is formed by modifying the second principal part
of a transitive verb; the ending of the present passive infinitive features the letter
i.
Note the third conjugation formation rule carefully!
vocari

to be called

capi

to be taken

moneri

to be warned

audiri

to be heard

regi

to be ruled

The present infinitive always happens at the same time as the main verb in its
clause.

The future active infinitive is formed by modifying the fourth principal part, or
perfect passive participle, by adding ur- to the stem before the case ending.
Adding this sign has two important effects: it makes the tense future, and it makes
the voice active.
The present infinitive of sum follows this form.
vocatus becomes vocaturus esse to be about to, going to, intending to call
monitus becomes moniturus esse to be about to, going to, intending to warn
rectus becomes recturus esse

to be about to, going to, intending to rule

captus becomes capturus esse

to be about to, going to, intending to take

auditus becomes auditurus esse

to be about to, going to, intending to hear

The future infinitive always indicates that its action happens after or later than
the action of the main verb in its clause.

The Major Uses of the Infinitive Mood

The infinitive is a verbal noun, and thus its uses reflect common grammatical uses
of nouns. There are four such uses.
1. The Complementary Infinitive simply completes the meaning begun by the
main verb. In English, when the main verb is followed immediately by the
formula to + another verb the infinitive is complementary.
I like to run.

Currere amo.

I want to be kept safe.

Servari desidero.

2. The Subjective Infinitive replaces a traditional noun as the subject of certain

verbs. Verbs with an apparent subject of it take subjective infinitives. Such it
verbs are called impersonal verbs.
It is pleasant to see you.

Videre te gratum est.

(Seeing you is pleasant.)

It is necessary to work well.
(Working well is necessary.)

Bene laborare oportet.

3. The Objective Infinitive replaces a traditional noun as the direct object of

certain verbs. The most common of these verbs are jubeo, order; prohibeo,
prevent; veto, forbid; cogo, force or compel. Numerous verbs, however, may
take the objective infinitive. The Objective Infinitive has as its subject a subject
accusative.
Caesar ordered the men to attack. Caesar viros oppugnare jussit.
The consuls were forbidding the people to be free.
Senatores populum esse liberum vetabant.

4. The Infinitive in Indirect Discourse (or Indirect Statement) is similar to the

Objective Infinitive, except that the main verb is an action of saying, thinking,
knowing, or perceiving. Note well that verbs of perceiving are numerous:
seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding, realizing, and learning are verbs of
perceiving.
Note also that the Infinitive in Indirect Discourse is not translated with to, and
that the subject accusative noun is preceded in English by the conjunction that.
Vir dicit filium diligenter laborare. The man says that his son works hard.

Indirect Discourse: Sequence of Tenses of the Infinitives

Since the infinitive in indirect statement is translated to sound like an indicative
verb, the sequence of tenses must be observed. There are actually two
sequences for verb action: primary and secondary.
Primary Sequence means that the main verb is in the present, future, or
future perfect tense.
Secondary Sequence means that the main verb is in the past tense
imperfect, perfect, or pluperfect.

Translation patterns for Primary Sequence:

Vir dicit filium diligenter laboravisse.
The man says that his son (has) worked hard.

Perfect infinitive = before

Vir dicit filium diligenter laborare.

The man says that his son is working hard.

Present infinitive = same

Vir dicit filium diligenter laboraturum esse.

The man says that his son will work hard.

Future infinitive = later

Translation patterns for Secondary Sequence:

Vir dixit filium diligenter laboravisse.
The man says that his son (had) worked hard.

Perfect infinitive = before

Vir dixit filium diligenter laborare.

The man says that his son was working hard.

Present infinitive = same

Vir dixit filium diligenter laboraturum esse.

The man says that his son would work hard.

Future infinitive = later