The Infinitive and its Uses

The Complementary Infinitive Extended

185.¶40 gave the infinitive after galėti, norėti and mėgti. The same construction completes a much longer list of verbs that need a second action rather than a noun: pradėti (to begin), baigti (to finish), turėti in the sense to have to, bandyti (to try), mokėti (to know how), norėti and galėti as before. The finite verb alone carries person and tense; the infinitive never changes.

Ji pradėjo dirbti anksti.

She began to work early.

Mes turime grįžti.

We have to return.

Ar moki plaukti?

Can you swim? (do you know how)

The Purposive Infinitive after Motion

186.After a verb of motion — eiti, važiuoti, ateiti, eiti namo and their kin — an infinitive states the purpose of the going: einu pirkti is I am going (in order) to buy. English often inserts to or in order to; Lithuanian puts the bare infinitive next to the motion verb. No kad is needed for this short construction.

Einu pirkti duonos.

I am going to buy bread. — genitive after a verb of obtaining, as at ¶32

Važiuojame mokytis į Vilnių.

We are going to Vilnius to study.

Ji atėjo padėti.

She came to help.

Grįžau pailsėti.

I came back to rest.

• [1] The motion verb is finite and carries the tense; the infinitive only names the purpose. Einu pirkti is present going; ėjau pirkti was past going for that purpose.

Purpose with Kad and the Conditional

187.When the purpose is a full clause — especially when its subject differs, or when no motion verb is present — Lithuanian uses kad with the conditional: Dirbu, kad uždirbčiau — I work so that I may earn. The conditional here is not politeness (¶117) but the mood of a purpose not yet achieved. Tam, kad makes the purpose explicit when the clause is heavy.

Mokausi, kad galėčiau kalbėti lietuviškai.

I study so that I can speak Lithuanian.

Jis dirba, kad šeima gyventų geriau.

He works so that the family may live better.

Ateik anksčiau, kad spėtume.

Come earlier so that we may manage in time.

• [1] Do not use a bare infinitive for this: Dirbu uždirbti is not Lithuanian. Motion + infinitive (¶186) is one construction; kad + conditional is the other.

The Nominal Infinitive

188.An infinitive may stand as the subject (or predicative complement) of a sentence, naming the action as a thing is named. The predicate is then usually a neuter adjective of the kind met at ¶126 — gera, sunku, naudinga, brangu — which agrees with nothing, because the subject is not a gendered noun. English often uses a gerund (reading is useful); Lithuanian keeps the infinitive.

Skaityti yra naudinga.

To read / reading is useful.

Gyventi Vilniuje brangu.

Living in Vilnius is expensive.

Mokytis lietuvių kalbos sunku, bet įdomu.

Learning Lithuanian is hard but interesting.

Rūkyti čia negalima.

Smoking is not allowed here. — impersonal *negalima* with an infinitive subject-complement

The Infinitive Keeps its Own Government

189.Whatever case a verb governs as a finite form, it governs in the infinitive too. Skaityti knygą keeps the accusative; norėti kavos in a larger phrase still shows the genitive on the noun if norėti is the governing verb; eiti į mokyklą keeps į + accusative. The complementary or purposive frame does not rewrite the inner case.

Noriu skaityti šią knygą.

I want to read this book. — *skaityti* takes accusative *knygą*; *norėti* here takes the infinitive, not a genitive noun

Einu pirkti pieno.

I am going to buy milk. — genitive after *pirkti* in the partitive sense

Turime padėti draugui.

We have to help a friend. — dative after *padėti*

Choosing the Construction

190.Three questions decide the form. Is the infinitive completing a verb such as galėti, norėti, pradėti? → complementary (¶185). Is it the purpose of a verb of motion, with no new subject? → bare purposive infinitive (¶186). Is the purpose a full clause, often with a different subject? → kad + conditional (¶187). Is the action itself the subject of yra sunku / naudinga? → nominal infinitive (¶188). Mixing them — einu, kad pirkti or dirbu uždirbti — is the error this section exists to prevent.

Pradedu rašyti, kad baigčiau šiandien.

I begin to write so that I may finish today. — complementary *pradedu rašyti* + purpose clause *kad baigčiau*