ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE
LINGUISTICS & CULTURE
PORTUGUESE
LINGUISTICS & CULTURE
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ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE LINGUISTICS & CULTURE |
| Autor: | José Roberto |
| E-mail: | josezambon@terra.com.br |
| Data: | 29/MAI/2005 11:49 PM |
| Assunto: | Re: infinitive / base form |
| Mensagem: | Sandra: "Is infinitive the same as base form? I learnt that base form is "learn" for example, and infinitive is "to learn", but I read on a book: Did you + infinitive + the complement? I learnt "Did you + base form + the complement? As a matter of fact the term "infinitive" is inappropriate to describe English verbs; Portuguese and Spanish verbs, for example, end in -ar,-er, -ir (and the verbs derived from 'pôr' in Portuguese like 'compor') so if one takes 'estudAR' from this verb you form all the conjugations 'eu estudo, eu estudei, tu estudarás...'. and in English you get the present or 'imperative' of'(to) study' as 'I study' (the '-s' in 'he,she,it' is due to historical reasons), 'Study now!', and three forms in English can be translated as infinitive in Portuguese: (1) I want TO WATCH TV now. (2) They saw Mary WATCH TV in the living room. (3) I enjoy WATCHING TV when I get home from work. So there is no specific form for 'infinitive' in English. The so-called 'bare infinitive' ('infinitive' without 'to') is the same form as the base form; the ideia of base form is the stem of the verb and various endings (or prefixes sometimes) are added to indicate person or tenses, that's not the case of English. Lewis proposes the term 'basic form' which comprehends the Present Simple, the Imperative and the Infinitive. From infinitive and base form (avoding new terminology which is proposed by one author, so it is not largely accepted)I'd use base form. For more on this see The English Verb - Michael Lewis. José Roberto |
English Made in Brazil -- English, Portuguese, & contrastive linguistics
infinitive / base form – Sandra Tiriba 29/MAI/2005, 4:13 PM Re: infinitive / base form – Johannes 29/MAI/2005, 6:01 PM 
Re: infinitive / base form – José Roberto 
29/MAI/2005, 11:49 PM Re: infinitive / base form – pat 30/MAI/2005, 8:59 AM To Pat : infinitive / base form – Johannes 30/MAI/2005, 10:07 AM Re: To Pat : infinitive / base form – pat 31/MAI/2005, 7:49 AM Re: To Pat : infinitive / base form – Rodolfo 31/MAI/2005, 9:57 AM Re: To Pat : infinitive / base form – pat 01/JUN/2005, 7:53 AM To Pat : can: infinitive / base form – Johannes 01/JUN/2005, 5:40 PM Re: To Pat : can: infinitive / base form – pat 02/JUN/2005, 8:03 AM Re: To Pat : can: infinitive / base form – Johannes 02/JUN/2005, 1:19 PM To Pat – José Roberto 30/MAI/2005, 12:33 PM