THE INFINITIVE

1. Form
The infinitive is the base form of a verb. It may be preceded by 'to' (the to-infinitive) or stand alone (the base or zero infinitive).

2. Infinitive with or without 'to'

The to-infinitive is used:

a. after certain verbs. e.g. want, wish, agree, fail, mean, decide, learn
b. after the auxiliaries to be to, to have to, and ought to
c. in the pattern 'it is + adjective + to-infinitive'

Examples:

with 'to'

• The elephant decided to marry the mouse
• The mouse agreed to marry the elephant
• You will have to ask her
• You are to leave immediately
• He ought to relax
• She has to go to Berlin next week
• It's easy to speak English
• It is hard to change jobs after twenty years
• It's stupid to believe everything you hear

without 'to'

• I would rather visit Rome.
• She would rather live in Italy.
• Would you rather eat steak or fish?
• He would rather work in a bank.
• I'd rather be a forest than a tree.

PRE-DETERMINERS: SUCH, WHAT, RATHER, QUITE

These words are normally placed before the indefinite article.
Such and what are often used to express surprise or other emotions:

Examples:

a. What a lovely day!
b. She's such a lovely woman!
c. What an incredible film!
d. He's such a fantastic guitarist!

Rather and quite are 'commenting' words, referring to the degree of a particular quality. They can express disappointment, pleasure, or other emotions, and are used before a/an + adjective + noun:

Examples:

a. It's rather a small car. (= I'm a bit disappointed because it's small)
b. It was quite a nice day.(= I was agreeably surprised.)
c. He's had quite a bad accident. (= I'm worried)
d. I've just met rather a nice man. (= I'm pleased)

As+Adjective+As : Comparison of adjectives

To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as + adjective + as:

• Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.

More examples:

• Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
• Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
• Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
• A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.

Vestige

Vestige
(n.) a mark or trace of something lost or vanished.
Do you know if the mexican tortilla is a vestige of some form of aztec corn based flat bread.

Veracity

Veracity
(n.) truthfulness, accuracy
With several agencies regulating the reports, it was difficult for raja to argue against their veracity.

Venerate

Venerate.
(v.) to regard with respect, to honor
The tribute to John Lennon sough to venerate his music, his words and his legend.

Vapid

Vapid
(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull
The professor's comments about the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.

Variegated

Variegated
(adj.) diversified, distinctly marked
Each wire in the engineering exam was variegated by color so that he students could figure out which one was which.

Veneer

Veneer
(n.) a superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, facade
Thanks to her Chanel makeup, Shannen was able to maintain a veneer of perfection that hid that flaws underneath.

Venerable

Venerable
(adj.) deserving of respect because of age or achievement
The venerable Supreme court justice has made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years.

Verbose

Verbose
(adj.) wordy, impaired by wordiness
It took the verbose teacher two hours to explain the topic,while it should have taken only fifteen minutes.

Verdent

Verdent
(adj.) green in tint or color
The verdant leaves on the trees made the world look emerald.

Vex

Vex.
(v.) to cnfse or annoy
My little brother vexes me by poking me in the ribs for hours on end.

Vicarious

Vicarious
(adj.) experiencing through another
All of my lame friends learned to be social through vicarious involvement on my amazing experiences.

Vicissitude

Vicissitude
(n.) event that occurs by chance
The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me form predicting what might happen from one day to the next.

Rancid

Rancid
(adj.) having a terrible taste or smell
Raja was double -dog-dared to eat the rancid egg salad sandwich

Rail

Rail
(v.) to scold, protest
The professor railed against the injustice of the college's tenure policy

Quotidian

Quotidian
(adj.) daily
Raja's quotidian routines include blogging for two hours in the evening.

Quixotic

Quixotic
(adj.) idealistic, impractical
Raja entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.

Querulous

Querulous
(adj.) whiny, complaining
When deprived of his pacifier, Raja becomes querulous

Quell

Quell,
(v.) to control or diffuse a potentially explosive situation
Skilled leader deftly quelled the rebellion.

Quandary

Quandary
(n.) a perplexing unresolvable state
Raja found himself in a quandary: should he choose Fiat car or Hyundai Car.

Quaint

Quaint
(adj.) charmingly old fashioned
Raja was delighted by the quaint bonnets he saw at the Amish country.

Quagmire

Quagmire
(n.) a difficult situation
We'd all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.

Punitive

Punitive
(adj.) involving punishment
If caught smoking in office, the punitive result is immediate expulsion from work.

Punctilious

Punctilious
(adj.) eager to follow rules or conventions
Punctilious Raja insisted that his peers follow the rules.

Rancor

Rancor
(n.) deep, bitter resentment
When Raja challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in his eyes.