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Verb Usage Review / 41

INFINITIVE

In English, the infinitive consists of to + verb (for example, “to speak,” “to talk”). In
Italian, the infinitive form is one word consisting of stem + infinitive ending. The
Italian infinitive has two tenses:
• The present has three main endings: –are, –ere, and –ire (cantare, prendere,
finire).
• The past is composed of avere or essere plus the past participle of the main
verb.

The following chart shows examples of the present infinitive and of the formation
of the past infinitive. The helping verbs avere and essere are in the infinitive. The
past participle of the verbs lavorare, ricevere, dormire, and arrivare are given. The
past participle agrees with the subject in number and gender when the verb is con-
jugated with essere.

Present Infinitive Past Infinitive
lavorare (to work) aver(e) lavorato (having worked)
arrivare (to arrive) essere arrivato/arrivata/arrivati/arrivate (having arrived)
ricevere (to see) aver(e) ricevuto (having believed)
dormire (to sleep) aver(e) dormito (having slept)

Note that in the past infinitive, aver is generally used instead of the full verb avere.
There is a fourth type of infinitive ending in –rre, but there are very few of them:
produrre (“to produce”), tradurrre (“to translate”), porre (“to put”), trarre (“to pull”),
and their compound verbs. The conjugation of these verbs is based on the Latin
infinitive form (for example: producere, traducere, ponere).
The infinitive may be used alone in the following cases:
• As the subject or direct object of a sentence: In English, either the
gerund (–ing form) or infinitive is used.
È importante parlare almeno It is important to speak at least two
due lingue straniere. foreign languages.
È vietato fumare. Smoking is prohibited.

• As an imperative, to express a “generic instructions” addressed to
everybody: For this reason, it is frequently used in public notices, in
recipes, and in instructions for the use of machines.

Spingere. Push. (sign on a door)
Non disperdere nell’ambiente. Do not litter.
Cuocere in forno per 20 minuti. Bake for 20 minutes.
• After impersonal expressions that contain essere:
Sarebbe meglio aspettare. It would be better to wait.
È necessario riempire il modulo. It is necessary to fill out the form.