Infinitive Constructions

One of the mysterious principles that determine how languages function is that they try to be economical, that is find a way to express an idea with less words in an efficient precise manner.

Infinitive constructions allow you to shorten your German sentences.

How do infinitive constructions work in English? First, remember what an infinitive looks like in English: to be, to do, to have. In German, the infinitive is a single word ending in -en. It is "infinite" or undefined because it does not show tense, number, person, etc.

When do you use these infinitive constructions? With verbs of saying, hoping, calling to mind, affirming, the same verbs that take dass-clauses. If the subject of a subordinate verb is clear enough, you can express it using the infinitive, which is much more economical than constructing a whole clause. In English you say:

How do infinitive constructions work in German? Some verbs just automatically take an infinitive construction, that is, they are followed by zu + infinitive.

These are however just a few verbs which indicate the beginning or continuation of an action. In such a case, the subject of both verbs is the same (it begins... it rains). In most cases, the infinitive construction is an alternative to a dass-clause. We learned that there are frequently used verbs that want to be followed by a dass-clause, for example, glauben: Ich glaube, dass er uns morgen besucht.

Now, look at the following sentences:

Did you see that in these sentences the subject of the main clause and the subject of the dass-clause are the same? The second subject is in a way redundant...

In such cases, you can replace the dass-clause with an infinitive construction. In order to do that you 

omit dass, 
omit the (redundant) subject of the dass-clause, 
replace the conjugated verb of the dass-clause with  zu + infinitive.

More examples:

As you can see the infinitive construction is separated from the main clause by a comma when the infinitive has an object or is modified by a prepositional phrase.

These are some of the verbs that, when they appear in the main clause, either require or permit an infinitive construction. They are divided into 

1. verbs that require the construction, 
2. verbs that permit the construction depending on the subject of the main clause
3. verbs that usually take a present infinitive
4. verbs that require a prepositional complement
5. verbs that permit the construction depending on the object of the main clause.

 

1. Verbs expressing the beginning, the end, or the continuation of an action  (always with infinitive constructions)
anfangen	to begin
aufhören	to stop
beginnen	to start
fortfahren	to continue
beabsichtigen	to intend

2. Verbs expressing a subjective opinion, a desire, a feeling or an intention (choice of dass clause or infinitive construction based on the  subject of the main clause)
annehmen (= vermuten)	to assume
glauben (= vermuten)	to think
meinen	to mean
hoffen	to hope
erwarten	to expect
befürchten	to be afraid
verlangen	to demand
wünschen	to desire
versprechen	to promise
vergessen	to forget

3. Verbs which require prepositional complements to complete the sentence so that a da-compound is generated in the main clause. Examples: Wir bemühen uns darum, euch zu helfen. Sie hat sich daran gewöhnt, im Ausland zu leben.
sich bemühen um	to try to get,  to go through a lot of trouble for
denken an	to think of
sich gewöhnen an	to get used to
sich fürchten vor	to be afraid of
sich verlassen auf	to rely on
verzichten auf	to abstain from, to give up

4. Verbs expressing a request or suggestion (choice of dass clause or infinitive construction based on the object of the main clause = jemanden) Examples: Ich habe sie gebeten, mich anzurufen. Sie hat mir erlaubt, ihr Auto zu benutzen. Er hat mir geraten, in Deutschland zu studieren.
jemanden bitten (Ich bitte ihn/sie)	to ask s.o.
jemandem befehlen (Sie hat mir befohlen, .)	to order s.o.
jemandem erlauben (Sie erlaubt dir, ..)	to permit s.o.
jemandem raten (Er rät ihr, ..)	to advise s.o.
jemanden überzeugen (Wir haben sie überzeugt, .)	to convince s.o.
jemandem verbieten (Ich verbiete dir, ...)	to forbid s.o.
jemanden zwingen (Du zwingst mich, ...)	to force s.o.