TENSE TUESDAY: ONE USE OF THE BARE INFINITIVE
13 / 10 / 2015
TENSE TUESDAY: ONE USE OF THE BARE INFINITIVE: meaning and examples
Welcome back, everyone! For those of you who had yesterday off, I hope you enjoyed your long weekend.
For Tense Tuesday, we are looking at the BARE INFINITIVE. This is the infinitive without TO. Sometimes it is also called the BASE VERB.
There are many ways that we use this form. Today we are looking at just one way: when we have a clause with the construction VERB SUBJECT SUBJECT DOING SOMETHING. Here is an example:
Example 1: I will have the driver drop us off here.
Notice that driver is singular. Normally, with a singular subject, a regular verb in the present would end in S, (the driver dropS us off here). But here, we have the construction WILL HAVE THE DRIVER DROP. In this case, the BARE INFINITIVE DROP is used, not DROPS.
Here are some more examples:
Example 2: Her mother lets Diana help with dinner.
Example 3: The boss made the employees take a long break.
Example 4: I saw the dog eat the cat's food.
It is common for students to try and insert TO into these sentences, but this is incorrect.
Example 5 (incorrect): I am letting the kidsto stay awake late tonight.
Example 6 (correct): I am letting the kids stay awake late tonight.
That's all for today! If you have any questions, let us know on our Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/ZigguratEscuelaCorporativadeIdiomas
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
For Tense Tuesday, we are looking at the BARE INFINITIVE. This is the infinitive without TO. Sometimes it is also called the BASE VERB.
There are many ways that we use this form. Today we are looking at just one way: when we have a clause with the construction VERB SUBJECT SUBJECT DOING SOMETHING. Here is an example:
Example 1: I will have the driver drop us off here.
Notice that driver is singular. Normally, with a singular subject, a regular verb in the present would end in S, (the driver dropS us off here). But here, we have the construction WILL HAVE THE DRIVER DROP. In this case, the BARE INFINITIVE DROP is used, not DROPS.
Here are some more examples:
Example 2: Her mother lets Diana help with dinner.
Example 3: The boss made the employees take a long break.
Example 4: I saw the dog eat the cat's food.
It is common for students to try and insert TO into these sentences, but this is incorrect.
Example 5 (incorrect): I am letting the kids
Example 6 (correct): I am letting the kids stay awake late tonight.
That's all for today! If you have any questions, let us know on our Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/ZigguratEscuelaCorporativadeIdiomas
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
