Editing Dutch grammar (section)

====Infinitive====

=====Verb phrases=====
The infinitive can be used in larger verb phrases with an [[auxiliary verb]] or [[modal verb]], much as in English. Like present participles, the infinitive can be accompanied by an object or adverb.

*{{lang|nl|Ik kan de auto '''zien'''.}} ("I can '''see''' the car")

=====Verbal noun=====
The infinitive also doubles as a verbal noun, corresponding to the [[English gerund]] in {{lang|en|-ing}}. The infinitive, when used as a noun, is neuter and has no plural. Dutch also has a feminine gerund in {{lang|nl|-ing}}, but this is no longer productive and usually has a concrete, technical meaning, e.g. {{lang|nl|het lenen}} 'borrowing, lending' vs. {{lang|nl|de lening}} 'loan'; {{lang|nl|het opleiden}} 'educating' vs. {{lang|nl|opleiding}} 'education'.

* {{lang|nl|Het '''doden''' van mensen is verboden.}} – 'The killing of people is forbidden', or less literally 'Killing people is forbidden'.
* {{lang|nl|Ik heb een hekel aan '''wachten'''.}} – 'I hate waiting.'

In the past, the infinitive was inflected for the dative and genitive. There are a few remnants of the latter, e.g. in:

* {{lang|nl|Tot zien'''s'''!}} – 'See you!'
* {{lang|nl|Een uur gaan'''s'''}}. – 'A distance that can be walked in one hour.'

It also occurs in expressions involving {{lang|nl|tot ... toe}} (until ... resulted):

* {{lang|nl|Hij werd tot bloeden'''s''' toe geslagen.}} – 'He was beaten until bleeding resulted.'

=====Impersonal imperative=====
The infinitive is also commonly used as a kind of impersonal or polite imperative (''infinitivus pro imperativo''). This often has a meaning much like the English “one must (not)…” or “please do (not)…” and can be used to soften a direct command into more of a strong request, or to make the command more general (e.g. on signs and in written instructions) rather than directed at the listener or reader at that specific moment in time. The distinction is not always clear, and often both the infinitive and the imperative may be used without a strong difference in meaning.

* {{lang|nl|Niet '''roken'''}} 'No smoking' (or less literally 'please refrain from smoking'), versus {{lang|nl|rook niet}} 'don't smoke!'.
* {{lang|nl|Hier '''betalen'''}} 'Pay here', alternatively {{lang|nl|betaal hier}}.
* {{lang|nl|'''Schudden''' voor gebruik}} 'Shake before use'.

=====With {{lang|nl|te}}=====
The infinitive is often preceded by the preposition {{lang|nl|te}}, analogous to the phrase {{lang|en|to}} + verb in English. It is used in combination with certain verbs like {{lang|nl|beginnen}} 'to begin'.

* {{lang|nl|Hij begon '''te hoesten'''}} ("He started '''to cough'''")

In combination with {{lang|nl|zijn}} 'to be' it can express a potentiality.

* {{lang|nl|Dat was '''te verwachten'''}}  ("That was '''to be expected'''").

The extended form can be used as an adjective:

* {{lang|nl|De '''te verwachten''' menigte}} ("The crowd '''that is to be expected'''")

But it can still carry adverbial expressions or objects:

*{{lang|nl|De '''in dat geval te verwachten''' menigte}} ("The crowd '''that is be expected in that case'''").

Compound infinitives also exist for the perfect and the future, as well as for the passive voice of transitive verbs, and they can be used to form abridged dependent clauses.

*{{lang|nl|Hij beloofde dat '''te zullen betalen'''.}} ("He promised '''that he would pay''' that")