Infinitive Form in Italian

The infinitive is one of the impersonal forms of the verb and does not conjugate. Its form always stays the same irrespective of gender and number.

There is the present infinitive and the past infinitive. The present infinitive regular verbs finish with -ARE, -ERE and IRE.
The past infinitive is used to talk about a finished action. To make the past infinitive, we use either the verb avere or the verb essere.

Examples:

Es: Oggi devo lavorare fino alle 20:00. (presente) / Today I have to work until 8 pm.

 

Dopo aver pulito, ho guardato la televisione. (passato) / After cleaning, I watched the television.

 

Dopo essere stato in vacanza per tre mesi sono tornato a scuola. (passato) / After being on holiday for 3 months, I went back to school.

 

a. Present:

 
1st conjugation: Mangiare
2nd conjugation: Credere
3rd conjugation: Partire

 

b. Past:

Present infinitive of the auxiliary verb essere or avere
+
Past participle of main verb

 
1st conjugation: aver mangiato
2nd conjugation: aver creduto
3rd conjugation: essere partito

 

 

Past infinitive of the verbs essere and avere:

essere: essere stato.
avere: aver avuto.