[Grammar] The infinitive - a clarification needed please.

Dear All,

I have read in Teachers' grammar books- like Martin Parrots " Grammar for English language teachers"- that the infinitive is not a part of the tense of a verb.

Isn't a continuous infinitive like " He seems to be finding the pressure of work too much" a part of the tense?

Could someone clarify please.

Thanks,

Greystroke

greystroke said:

Dear All,

I have read in Teachers' grammar books, like Martin Parrott's " Grammar for English language teachers," that the infinitive is not a part of the tense of a verb.

Isn't a continuous infinitive[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE] like " He seems to be finding the pressure of work too much" a part of the tense?

Could someone clarify please?

Thanks,

Greystroke

Click to expand...

The infinitive verb is not a verb tense, however the continuous/progressive is a verb tense. I'm guessing there might be some argument among experts over whether the continuous infinitive would be classified as a single verb tense. Because "finding" is progressive, "to be finding" might also then qualify as a verb tense because it can't be any other way following a verb that requires an infinitive (like seem, appear, remember, etc.) However, I've seen some sources that suggest that a continuous infinitive is in fact two parts, not a unit. In this case, "to be" is the infinitive and therefore not a tense, but the progressive component "finding" is a verb tense.

I wouldn't necessarily be so nit-picky with something like this. Keep in mind that there are organizations like the Modern Language Association that decide what does and does not constitute proper grammar, punctuation, citations, etc. and they can and do change their minds from year to year.

(not a teacher, just a language lover)