infinitivus

Infinitivus is the Latin term for the infinitive, the non-finite verb form used to express action or state without specifying a subject. In linguistic descriptions, the infinitive serves multiple roles across languages, such as forming complements, acting as a verbal noun, or introducing subordinate clauses. The word infinitivus itself comes from Latin and is commonly used in scholarly discussions of Latin grammar and in cross-linguistic morphology to refer to non-finite verb forms.

In Latin grammar, the infinitivus denotes the set of infinitive forms that are not inflected for person or number. Latin has several infinitives: present active amare (to love) and present passive amari (to be loved); perfect active amavisse (to have loved) and perfect passive amatus esse (to have been loved); future active amaturus esse (to be about to love) and future passive amatus iri (to be about to be loved). These forms are used in various syntactic constructions, including indirect statements, purpose clauses, and as verbal nouns. The infinitive can also combine with esse or other auxiliary elements to express aspect or voice in non-finite clauses.

Beyond its Latin use, infinitivus is employed in grammatical literature to describe infinitives in other languages, where the term is sometimes replaced by local equivalents like infinitivo, infinitif, or infinitiv. In general, the infinitive functions as a base form for verbs, used without indicating tense, mood, person, or number, and it often serves to introduce purposes, complements, or nominalized verb phrases.