Introduction to infinitive verbs in French
In French, an infinitive verb (infinitif) is the basic form of a verb that is not conjugated to indicate tense, mood, or person. In other words, it’s the “to” form of the verb in English, like to speak, to eat and to go. These verbs are formed in French, not by combining it with another word. In fact, when you learn a verb, often times that already is the infinitive.
Take for example être (to be), the first French verb you problably have learned. Être is aleady the infinitive version. You don’t have to add or subtract anything. In French, infinitive verbs are identified by their endings:
- -er verbs: These are the most common verbs in French, and their infinitives end in “-er” (for example: parler – to speak, manger – to eat, aimer – to love).
- -ir verbs: Infinitives ending in “-ir” (for example: finir – to finish, partir – to leave, dormir – to sleep).
- -re verbs: Infinitives ending in “-re” (for example: vendre – to sell, attendre – to wait, comprendre – to understand).
When to use infinitive verbs in French
Infinitive verbs are used in various contexts in French:
- As dictionary entries: Infinitives are the form of the verb you’ll find in dictionaries, representing the verb in its most basic form. You can see it for example in our own overview of French verbs.
- To express actions in general: Infinitive verbs can stand alone to express actions in a general sense, without specifying who is performing the action or when it occurs. For example:
- Parler français est important
- Speaking French is important
- As complements: Infinitive verbs can function as complements to other verbs, nouns, or adjectives. For example,
- Je veux manger
- I want to eat
- In verb constructions: Infinitive verbs are used in various verb constructions in French, such as the passé composé, futur proche, passé recent and infinitive phrases.
Examples of the infinitive verb
Some examples of the infinitive verb in French that you probably already know.
- Parler – to speak
- Manger – to eat
- Aller – to go
- Venir – to come
- Écouter – to listen
- Regarder – to watch/to look at
- Faire – to do/make
- Penser – to think
- Aimer – to love
- Voyager – to travel
- Rire – to laugh
- Chanter – to sing
- Dormir – to sleep
- Lire – to read
- Étudier – to study
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