The third kind of
verbal is easy to recognize, but a bit tricky when you analyze its function in
a sentence.
INFINITIVES
As we said in
Chapter 14, an infinitive verb is usually
the present form of the verb preceded by the particle to: to laugh, to be, to seem, to break, to pontificate, to
discombobulate. There’s an infinitive
for every verb in English, except the modal auxiliaries.
But infinitive
verbs are never used as a main verb or as an aux-iliary verb. Like the other
verbals, infinitives perform the functions of other parts of speech, and
infinitives are particularly versatile. Infinitives can be used nominally,
adjectivally, and adverbially; but, like ordinary verbs, they can still take
complements and be modified by adverbs.
First, infinitives
can be used nominally, in any way that you’d use a noun:
To quit now would be a mistake.
[a subject]
He likes to run.
[a direct object]
His intention, to explain the law, is
reasonable.
[an appositive]
Our goal is to win.
[a predicate nominative]
His intention was to make friends.
[another predicate nominative]
To know her is to trust her.
[a subject and
a predicate nominative]
Notice that
sometimes you can recognize nominal infinitives with this simple test: You can
often replace them with gerunds without changing the meaning of the sentence:
To quit now would be a mistake.
Quitting now would be a mistake.
He likes to run.
He likes running.
This test won’t
work in every instance. It won’t work, for example, in To know her is to trust her. (We can’t say Knowing her is trusting her.)
Second,
infinitives can be used as adjectives, following a noun or certain linking
verbs:
I need a book to read.
[a modifier of book]
An opportunity to succeed is a
wonderful thing.
[a modifier of opportunity]
I’d like a chance to explain.
[a modifier of chance]
Notice that in
these examples, the infinitives specify the purpose of the nouns they modify: I need a book. Why? I need a book to read.
The following
adjectival infinitives follow linking verbs, and they’re both predicate
adjectives, describing the subject of the sentence.
He appears to have some money.
They seem to be jerks.
Notice that, in
sentences like these, you can often replace the entire infinitive phrase with a
roughly synonymous adjective:
He appears wealthy.
They seem arrogant.
Third, infinitives
can be used as adverbs , modifying
verbs or adjectives. Modifying verbs, the infinitive is often moveable and
indicates how or why the action is performed:
She plays hard to win.
[Why does she play hard?]
To succeed, he studies every day.
[Why does he study?]
To listen well, you need a quiet place.
[Why do you need that quiet place?]
The adverbial infinitives
above, like many adverbs and adverbials, are moveable:
To win, she plays hard.
He studies every day to succeed.
Modifying
adjectives, the adverbial infinitive appears after the adjective and gives you
information about the intent or purpose associated with the modified adjective:
He was ready to study.
[For what was he ready?]
I’m happy to help.
[What are you happy to do?]
Eager to please, the new employees
arrived early.
[What are they eager to do?]
Notice that the
adverbial infinitives in these last three examples are not movable.
In a few cases,
infinitives are used without the to particle.
All of the underlined phrases below are infinitive phrases, but some don’t
contain the particle:
I want him to win the race.
I saw him win the race.
I allowed him to win the race.
I let him win the race.
I’ll ask him to go.
I’ll have him go.
I’ll force him to leave.
I’ll make him leave.
The absence of the to particle is determined by the verb that precedes the infinitive phrase: A small number of transitive verbs (such as saw, let, make, and have) make the to unnecessary—you simply cannot insert to into those sentences.
Following most
verbs, however, the infinitive must have to.
(In the exercises in these chapters, we will always use infinitives with the to particle.)
By the way, some
grammarians call an infinitive that is missing to a bare infinitive (which
is about as risqué as grammarians ever get).
Like gerunds and
participles, infinitives can be used with direct objects, with adverbs, and
with other grammatical entities associated with the verb. (See the examples
above wherein the race is a direct object.)
Infinitives can
even have subjects, which perform the action of the infinitive:
I like my
children to read every day.
[My children is the subject of the infinitive; they do the reading. Every day is an adverbial phrase.]
I like Kelly
to enjoy these nightly readings.
[Kelly is the subject of the infinitive verb; she does the enjoying.
These nightly readings is the direct
object of to enjoy.]
I need you
to go to the store today.
[You is the subject; to the
store and today are adverbial,
modifying the infinitive.]
I want her
to enjoy reading.
[Her is the subject of the infinitive; reading, a gerund, is the direct object of the infinitive.]
Notice the last
example above: When a pronoun precedes the infinitive as the subject of that
infinitive, it will (strangely) be in the objective case:
I like them
to read every day.
I need him
to go to the store today.
I want us
to enjoy reading.
PASSIVE
INFINITIVES
All the
infinitives we’ve seen so far are linking or intransitive, or they are
transitive and active. But there are other forms.
A less often used
but important variant is the passive
infinitive, constructed with the infinitive of be (i.e., to be) followed
by the past participle of a main verb (to
be recognized, to be known, to be
continued).
In these examples,
nominal passive infinitives follow transitive verbs and function as direct
objects:
I’m nervous about my surgery,
so I prefer to be driven to the hospital.
I needed to be helped, but no one was
nearby.
He has longed to be
recognized by his colleagues for his contributions.
He did not expect to be
apprehended by the authorities for his misdeeds.
These passive infinitives are subjects:
To be recognized for his contributions was his goal.
To be apprehended was his fear.
Passive infinitives can also be predicate
nominatives and appositives:
His goal was to be recognized for his
efforts.
He never achieved his goal, to be
recognized for his work.
And there are also adverbial
passive infinitives. In the following examples, the adverbial passives are
moveable:
To be prepared for your finals, study throughout the semester.
To be found, the lost hiker built a fire on the hill.
And in the next examples, the
adverbial passive infinitives modify the adjectives preceding them:
She was ready to be tested.
They were eager to be heard.
PERFECT
INFINITIVES
The infrequently
used perfect infinitive is
constructed with the auxiliary have (never
has or had) followed by the past participle of a main verb (to have known, to have seen, to have
continued), as in these examples of nominal perfect infinitives used as
subjects:
To have known Lincoln would be remarkable.
To have heard him deliver the
Gettysburg Address would be thrilling.
To have continued performing
the play after the announcement was impossible.
These perfect infinitive phrases are direct objects:
The police did not expect to
have apprehended the criminal by this time.
We had hoped to have seen our new nephew
by this time.
Perfect infinitives can be adverbial, too:
They are known to have lived here for many
years.
We seldom
encounter the passive and perfect infinitives be-cause we usually express the
idea in some simpler way: People know that they lived here for many years.
There are still
other, even rarer, forms of the infinitive: They can be perfect progressive (to have been speaking) and passive
perfect (to have been shown), but we
had hoped to have been finished with this topic by now.
POINTS FOR
WRITERS
1. The split
infinitive.
One of the
best-known rules of prescriptive grammar says that we must not split
infinitives. That is, we must not put an adverb between to and the verb:
He wants to quickly finish college.
He wants to finish college quickly.
Work hard to gradually improve your
writing.
Work hard to improve your writing gradually.
As the second
example in each pair demonstrates, it’s usually easy to fix a split infinitive.
In some contexts, however, many writers occasionally and judiciously do the
splits. As in all good writing, tread carefully.
2. Go dangle
your infinitives elsewhere, bub.
There can be dangling
infinitives, which, like dangling partici-ples, do not clearly or logically
work with the rest of the sentence. A passive verb elsewhere in the clause
often creates this problem:
To get to the market today, your chores should be done early.
To be heard in this large room, the microphone must be adjusted.
Make the independent clause
active, and the infinitive phrase usually makes better sense:
To get to the market today, you should
do your chores early.
To be heard
in this large room, we must
adjust the microphone.
Respectable people never
dangle their infinitives (at least, not in public).
EXERCISES
1. Identify the function of the
nominal infinitives in these sentences:
To become a star was her adolescent dream.
She wants to become a star.
Her dream, to become a star, may never
come true.
To live is to dream.
To know him is to love him.
I’d like him to do the project.
He’ll ask her to help.
I’m hoping for them to succeed.
2. Locate the nominal
infinitive phrases in these sentences and
identify their functions:
I need to get some water.
To succeed requires hard work.
To discipline yourself means
to make sacrifices. [Hint: means is a
linking verb here.]
He explained his goal, to become fluent in
German.
He wants to see me in the morning.
It won’t be hard for him to see me then.
Would you like to see me, too?
There’s time for me to see you.
3. Identify the functions of the
adjectival infinitives in these sentences:
What words do they modify?
I have the tools to get the job done.
Time to use the tools is what I need
now.
Something to open the tool packages
would be handy now.
A scissors to open this would be
helpful.
I could help if I had some dynamite to open
this.
I need a screwdriver to loosen this.
A screwdriver to loosen this would
help.
The tool I need, a screwdriver to loosen
this, is not here.
4. Locate the adjectival
infinitives in these sentences and identify
the words they modify:
Every day we send urgent
messages to complain about the service.
She bought me a carry-on bag to take on my
trip.
Someone to guide me on the way would be
helpful.
I found someone to guide you.
To relax, he needed a book to interest him.
All she asked for was a book
to read, a place in which to stay warm, and something to eat.
5. Identify the functions of the
adverbial infinitives in these sentences:
What words do they modify?
To relax, he sang.
He read the book to please his daughter.
To please his daughter, he read the book.
To become a fireman, the young man studied and trained.
The young man studied and trained to become a fireman.
He was eager to become a fireman.
We were happy to help him.
He was careful to speak with me beforehand.
6. Yet again, locate the
adverbial infinitives here and identify the
words they modify:
You need a telescope to be an astronomer.
He was ready to be an astronomer.
She was determined to be an astronomer.
Eager to play ball, the team waited.
Happy to see her friend, Julie cried.
Reluctant to go, the children fidgeted.
We were sorry to leave.
She rose to leave.
7. Identify
all the infinitive phrases, with complements and modifiers, in these sentences and classify them as nominal, adjec-tival,
or adverbial:
That child needs me to look after her.
To succeed, you
have to work hard.
I’m looking for a place to sit down.
To be blunt, I will say that I’m angry at you.
He is trying to impress his boss.
I am not here to impress anyone.
His reason, to impress his boss, is
sufficient.
His goal is to impress his boss.
We want her to come to the party.
We hope she’d like to come to the party.
8. In
the following pairs of sentences, read the first sentence and then, using the first sentence as a clue, analyze the grammar
in the underlined verbal phrase in the second sentence.
An example:
Randolph likes Italian food.
Randolph likes to eat Italian food.
Because likes is a transitive verb, we can
reason that, in the first sentence, Italian
food is a direct object. So the infinitive phrase in the second sentence
must also be a direct object.
1. He likes mystery novels.
He likes to read mystery novels.
2. He reads them before school.
He likes reading them before school.
She is quite ready. She is ready to sing.
She is very happy. She is happy to sing.
The smiling opera star took center stage.
Singing the aria loudly, the opera star took center stage.
6. He annoys us.
His singing arias at 6 a.m. annoys us.
7. I don’t enjoy opera at 6 a.m.
I don’t enjoy listening to opera at 6
a.m.
8. I want music at any time.
I want to listen to opera at any time.
9. Identify
the underlined verbals as gerunds, participles, or infinitives. Then identify the function that the verbal performs in
each sentence.
He likes to read.
He likes reading novels.
Running quickly, he soon arrived at home.
His singing annoyed us.
Known to the entire community, the mayor is respected.
The silent film star, seen but never
recognized, lived in our neighborhood.
He wants to earn money.
He writes to learn.
They were prepared to fight.
To succeed, you must
be prepared to work hard.
