infinitive とはどういう意味ですか?

This is translated as "不定詞" in Japanese, but I don't quite understand what it means. Does that simply mean the basic dictionary form of a verb?

回答

jamesavery98

2020年4月26日

最も役に立った回答

英語 (アメリカ)

Yes, it is the basic (unconjugated) form of a verb. With verbs when learning a foreign language you typically learn the infinitive of the verb first, then you learn how to conjugate it.

So for example, the verb “to run” is in the infinitive form (It is healthy to run- this is an impersonal sentence meaning that it has no subject, hence the verb is not conjugated) The conjugated form of the infinitive “to run” could be “I ran all the way home just to say I’m sorry” for example.

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jamesavery98

2020年4月26日

英語 (アメリカ)

Yes, it is the basic (unconjugated) form of a verb. With verbs when learning a foreign language you typically learn the infinitive of the verb first, then you learn how to conjugate it.

So for example, the verb “to run” is in the infinitive form (It is healthy to run- this is an impersonal sentence meaning that it has no subject, hence the verb is not conjugated) The conjugated form of the infinitive “to run” could be “I ran all the way home just to say I’m sorry” for example.

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2up

2020年4月26日

日本語

@jamesavery98 Thanks for the answer. I see, so it means the basic (unconjugated) form of a verb, not the verb form that was used under the influence of the subject or tense. The Japanese term "不定詞" is really hard to understand, and I think many Japanese, including perhaps even some of the Japanese teachers who teach English, don't really understand it, I think.