infinitives - What part of speech is the word "to" in "Alice likes to dance"?




Annie likes to dance



What part of speech is the word to?


Reopen note:


Merriam Webster lists it as a preposition and gives the following definition:



8 —used as a function word to indicate that the following verb is an infinitive < wants to go > and often used by itself at the end of a clause in place of an infinitive suggested by the preceding context < knows more than she seems to >



It doesn't seem to very convincing that to is a preposition when it occurs before a verb like this.




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