The infinitive has only two tenses: present and past. Being an indefinite mood, it does not refer to any subject.
Present: This is the form of a verb you look up in a dictionary. The ending shows us what kind of verb it is and what kind of conjugation pattern it falls into.
andare (to go) 1° conjugationvedere (to see) 2° conjugation dormire (to sleep) 3° conjugation
Past: It is formed by combining the infinitive form of the auxiliary verb, “essere” or “avere”, together with the past participle of the main verb.
| Present | Past |
| andare (to go) | essere andato |
| parlare (to speak) | avere parlato |
| cadere (to fall) | essere caduto |
| bere (to drink) | avere bevuto |
| partire (to leave) | essere partito |
| dormire (to sleep) | avere dormito |
| essere (to be) | essere stato |
| avere (to have) | avere avuto |
Uses
The infinitive can be used alone or together with other verbs.
Infinitive alone
It can act as a noun or it can be used in some independent clauses and in several implicit subordinate clauses.
As a noun: It can appear alone or it can be introduced by an article or an articulated preposition.Fumare fa male alla salute. Smoking is bad for your health.L’aver mangiato il gelato non è stata una buona idea.Eating ice cream was not a good idea.Ti sentirai meglio col passare del tempo.You will feel better as time goes by.In independent clauses: For expressing a command or an order.Adesso, dormire! Now, sleep!Combined with “non”, it represents the negative form of the imperative for the second singular person:Non toccare quei biscotti! Don’t touch those cookies!Per favore, non dire niente. Please, don’t say anything.For expressing feelings such as surprise or a doubt:Io e te, uscire insieme?! You and I, going out together?!Che dire? What can I say?In implicit subordinate clauses: It can introduce several types of subordinate clauses. When performing this function, it is often preceded by a preposition.Penso di andare alla festa. I think I will go to the party.Dopo aver visto il film siamo andati al ristorante.After watching the movie, we went to the restaurant.Grazie per aver chiamato.Thank you for calling.
After other verbs
It can be found after helping verbs such as modals, aspectual and causative verbs.
Voglio mangiare una pizza. I want to eat a pizza. (after the modal verb “voglio”) Sta per piovere. It’s going to rain. (after the verbal periphrasis “stare per”) Faccio uscire il cane. I’ll let the dog out. (after the causative verb “faccio”)
