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13.4 constructions with the infinitive

The infinitive (in Italian infinito) is an infinite form of the verb, in other words it is undefined concerning mood, person and number. Compare these two sentences.

a) He / she / it ate an apple.

b) Eating an apple he crossed the street.

In case a) we know already through the verb that he / she / it ate an apple and that they did it in the past. In case b) we are only informed about the kind of action, but eating doesn't reveal who has performed this action and when this action has been performed. It is through the finite verb  that we know who has performed the action and when because the infinite form (eating) shares his subject with the finite form (crossed).

But if the only interesting thing of the infinite forms, the infinitive, the gerund and the present participle were the fact that they are infinite we wouldn't talk about them. We talk about them because they have a lot of functions, in English even more than in Italian.

The Italian infinitivo resembles more to the English gerund than to the English infinitive, although sometimes the Italian gerund can or must be translated with an English infinitive as well. But it is useful to see that the Italian gerundio never, never, never corresponds to the English gerund. The italian gerundio corresponds to the english present participle. Let's see the difference between a gerund and a present participle.

a) Before eating you must wash your hands.

b) Having done their homework they can do what they want.

We are going to see as well, that sometimes the English gerund can be translated with a gerundio or an infinitive, but the meaning is not the same.

Having done their homework they can do what they want.
a) causal clause: Avendo fatto i loro lavori possono fare ciò che vogliono.
b) temporal clause: Dopo aver fatto i loro lavori, possonen fare ciò che vogliono.

The gerundio, case a) establishes a causal relationship, the infinitive, case b) a temporal relationship.

Before we start with a more detaild discussion let' s see some examples.

examples
In both languages the infinitive can express obligation
	Ci sono ancora un sacco di cose da fare.
	There are still a lot of things to do.
In both languages it is used after modal verbs
	Voglio vederlo.
	I want to see him.
In Italian it can be used as a subject (or as an object), the translation to English is to be done with a gerund
	Nuotare è bene per la salute.
	Swimming is good for the health.
It can substitute a relative clause
	Cerco qualcuno per giocare a tennis.
	I look for someone to play tennis with. I look for someone with whom I can play tennis.
In both languages it can be combined with a lot of other verbs (in English in this case sometimes the              infinitive and sometimes the gerund is used)
	Mi rifiuto di rispondergli.
	I refuse to do it.
He can abbreviate some subordinate clauses, for instance a finale clause
	Per vivere bene, si ha bisogno di un po' di soldi.
	To live well, some money is needed. (In order to live well, some money is needed.)

As we have already seen in the case of the gerundio the event / action described by the infinite form is to be located on the time axis. The events / actions of the infinite form can have happened before, at the same time or after the events of the finite form. In the case that the event / actions of the infinite form happened before the actions described with the finite form the infinito passato (aver mangiato) is to be used. In the case that the finite verb is in the present, the infinitivo passato corresponds to a passato prossimo / passato remoto. If the finite verb is in passato prossimo / passato remoto the infinitivo passato corresponds to a trapassato prossimo. The infinitive doesn't have in general a subject on his own, it shares the subject with the finite verb.

In the formation of the infinitive all the rules we already know are to be applied. The infinitive can be used in active voice (comprare), passive voice (essere comprato) and can be reflexive (aversi comprato) as well. If it is formed with essere and in this case it has to match with the subject (in general the subject of the finite verb.) If there is a direct object in front of the verb complex, the past participle has to match in gender and number with this direct object (Ricordo di averlo visto, but Ricordo di averla vista). In the case of an infinito passato the final e is omitted.

The table below shows every possible constellation.

active voice with a verb that is conjugated with avere
	simultanity	anteriority
	mangiare	aver mangiato
	dormire	aver dormito
	studiare	aver studiato
	English: to study	to have studied
active voice with a verb that is conjugated withessere
	simultanity	anteriority
	andare	essere andat(o/a/i/e)
	partire	essere partit(o/a/i/e)
	arrivare	essere arrivat(o/a/i/e)
	English: to arrive	to have arrived
reflexive verb
	simultanity	anteriority
	lavarsi	essersi lavat(o/a/i/e)
	vedersi	essersi vist(o/a/i/e)
	adattarsi	essersi adattat(o/a/i/e)
	to accustome	to have accustomed
passive voice
	simultanity	anteriority
	essere vist(o/a)	essere stat(o/a/i/e) vist(o/a/i/e)
	essere lavat(o/a)	essere stat(o/a/i/e) lavat(o/a/i/e)
	essere convint(o/a)	essere stat(o/a/i/e) convint(o/a/i/e)
	to convince	to have been convinced

	examples
	Crede di mangiare qualcosa di buono.
	He believes to eat something good.
	Crede di aver mangiato qualcosa di buono.
	He believes to have eaten something good.

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