The infinitive inflection integrates one of the most varied questions that affect most language users. In this sense, it is convenient that, first of all, we make a brief review of the concepts that guide this term.
The infinitive expresses a verbal process with no indication of time, such as speaking, selling and leaving. These examples are part of the so-called impersonal infinitive, given its aspect of merely representing an action. However, when we stick to some forms represented by “talking”, “selling” and “leaving”, we have that this is a personal infinitive, since an agent is assigned to such verbal processes, in the case represented by the first person of the plural, "we".
Based on this principle, let us return to the main focus of the article: the infinitive, now assuming the value of a noun, can it be inflected or not? In order to obtain the answer to this question, let us analyze the statement:
It is up to the coordinator and the school management to judge whether the teacher was correct in his decision.
At first, given the basic principle that the verb agrees with the subject, the inflection seems to be correct, since a sequence of elements appears after the infinitive, portrayed by "the coordinator and the direction of the school". However, it must be said that this perception is incorrect. Let's see why such an occurrence:
Something is up to the coordinator and the school board, isn't it?
When trying to find out, we found that it is “judging whether the teacher was correct in his decision”.
Going deeper into our analysis, we realize that "to the coordinator and the school board" represents the indirect object of the verb to fit, as to someone do something. As seen, the term could never represent the subject of the clause, since it is preceded by the preposition “ao”.
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Therefore, judging is relative to judgment. Thus, as a result of such aspects, the grammatical postulates state that the infinitive is not inflected when it has a noun value. Armed with this perception, it is necessary to reformulate the statement, evidenced as follows:
It is up to the coordinator and the school management to judge whether the teacher was correct in his decision.
By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Brazil School Team
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Infinitive inflection with noun value"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/flexao-infinitivo-com-valor-substantivo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
