The Infinitive: -are, -ere

The Infinitive

Level 1

The infinitive is the to form of a verb.

How It Works

Verb	Infinitive	Meaning
amo	amare	to love
canto	cantare	to sing
laudo	laudare	to praise
habeo	habere	to have
video	videre	to see
rideo	ridere	to laugh

The vowel before -re is long in both families, so the stress falls on it: a-MA-re, ha-BE-re.

An infinitive often follows another verb: Puella cantare amat means The girl loves to sing.

For first and second conjugation verbs the infinitive is easy to build: stem plus -re. Third conjugation infinitives end in a short -ere (ducere), so check the dictionary line. They come at Level 2.

Examples (4)

amare
to love
The infinitive of amo. The ending -are shows the first conjugation.
habere
to have
The infinitive of habeo. The ending -ere with a long e shows the second conjugation.
Puella cantare amat.
The girl loves to sing.
Cantare is the infinitive, and it completes the meaning of amat.
Iulia rosas videre amat.
Iulia loves to see roses.
Videre is the infinitive, and rosas is its object.

How It Connects

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The Infinitive: -are, -ereLevel 1The Infinitive

Learn This First

The infinitive is the second dictionary form of a verb, so the present tenses come first.

Present Tense: habere
Know the present tense of both families, because the infinitive is the form to look up: amare, habere.
Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Can: possumLevel 3

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