Question

Use the correct form of the infinitive to complete the sentence:
No one has ever heard him________ the kids.

a) Scolded
b) To scold
c) Scold
d) Scolds

Answer 1

Hint: The infinitive is the root of a doing word. The question demands the base word, the base form of the infinitive.

Complete answer:

The infinitive is a sort of thing that highlights the action word specifically, particularly that of taking an item (when the action word is transitive) and verb-modifying qualifiers. The infinitive is a Verb-Noun.
The word ‘To’ is generally utilized with the infinitive, however, it is not a fundamental part or indication of it. So, after specific action words, ‘To’ is not required to be used.
Option a ‘Scolded’ is incorrect. ‘Scolded’ is not a base word. It is the past participle of a base word ‘Scold’. The question demands infinitive (base). So, this option is incorrect.
Option b ‘To scold’ is incorrect. Though ‘To scold’ has the word ‘Scold’ in its base form, the word ‘To’ is disrupting the meaning of the sentence and not giving it a coherent form. So, this option is incorrect grammatically.
Option c ‘Scold’ fulfills the demand of the question. It is both an infinitive and also holds the meaning of the whole sentence in a coherent manner. The sentence means that he has never been seen scolding his children which means he generally doesn’t scold them. This establishes a general statement or assumption and option c fulfills the motive. So, this option is correct.
Option d ‘Scolds’ is not the base form of the word and has been changed in order to agree with the singular subject which is not the focus of the question even if the subject is singular. The order of the sentence gets disturbed because of the presence of -s at the end of the word. So, this option is incorrect.

Note: One should know the use of infinitives and its rules. Do not get confused by the presence of ‘He’ in the sentence and mark ‘Scolds’ to be the answer as the rule says that the verb should be singular if the subject is singular but in the given sentence the subject is treated in a different way and the infinitive form of the verb is required.