ARE: Lesson - Uses of the Infinitive - Subject

Uses of the Infinitive - Subject

Please download the Uses of the Infinitive Links to an external site. handout. It contains additional information that is important to your learning.

In Latin I, the present active infinitive is used in two main ways: as the subject of a linking verb or as the complement of a verb. Let's begin by exploring how the infinitive is used as a noun in the nominative case in Latin.

Subject Infinitive

The infinitive can be used as the subject (nominative case) of a 3rd person singular linking verb - sum, esse, fui - to be. The 3rd person singular forms are:

  • est - (it) is
  • erat - (it) was
  • erit - (it) will be
  • fuit - (it) has been
  • fuerat - (it) had been
  • fuerit - (it) will have been

When an infinitive acts as a subject with a linking verb, it is almost always completed with a neuter singular adjective. Recall: an infinitive is a neuter singular noun, so the adjective must agree in gender (neuter) and number (singular).

The typical structure will look like this: Infinitive linking verb adjective (neuter singular ending):

  • Putare est bonum.
    • To think is good. It is good to think. Thinking is good.

Notice that there are three translations - one placing the full infinitive form at the start (To think is good), one using "It" and placing the infinitive after the adjective (It is good to think), and one using the -ing form of the verb (Thinking is good). Any of these options would be an acceptable translation of the subject infinitive.

Adding Subjects and Objects to an Infinitive Phrase

Let's build from this basic foundation to see what else infinitives are allowed to do. Remember from the introduction, infinitives are allowed to have a subject - we can express who is doing the action of the infinitive. In Latin, that subject uses the accusative case - is this the case we typically use for a subject? No! We normally use the nominative case, but in this special situation, the subject of the infinitive is accusative. In English, we use the word for to express the subject of an infinitive. The subject is almost always placed directly before the infinitive in Latin. Notice how the phrase "for the boys" moves around in the English examples. Which one of the following translations sounds best to you?

  • Pueros putare est bonum.
    • For the boys to think is good.
    • It is good for the boys to think.
    • Thinking is good for the boys.

Infinitives are also allowed to take direct objects, indirect objects and prepositional phrases. The verb putare often takes a prepositional phrase (putare de = think about). Let's see what happens if we add this prepositional phrase to the above:

  • Pueros putare de libro est bonum.
    • For the boys to think about the book is good.
    • It is good for the boys to think about the book.
    • Thinking about the book is good for the boys.

At this point, you can still see the core infinitive construction: putare est bonum (it is good to think). The addition of a subject and objects creates a more dynamic sentence but does not change the fundamental structure.

Additional Examples

Let's look at two more sentences that involve an infinitive. We'll start now with a full sentence and try to work out the core infinitive phrase that is the foundation. For the second example, see if you can determine the information yourself (only the full translations will be provided).

  • Me pugnare fratrem meum erat iniquum.
    • Infinitive: pugnare - to fight
    • Neuter adjective: iniquum
    • Subject of infinitive: me
    • Object of infinitive: direct object - fratrem meum
    • Core infinitive expression: pugnare erat iniquum - to fight was wrong
    • Full translations: 
      • For me to fight my brother was wrong.
      • It was wrong for me to fight my brother.
      • Fight my brother was wrong for me.
  • Puellas portare frumentum fuerat aequum.
    • For the girls to carry the grain had been right.
    • It had been right for the girls to carry the grain.
    • Carrying the grain had been the right thing to do for the girls.
      • (Note: sometimes, English needs a few more words to say what the Latin is getting at - in this case, the adjective aequum means right as in "right thing to do" so it can be helpful to add in that nuance in your translation, if possible)