At the next lesson the teacher went on to explain the functions of the Infinitive.
The above mentioned verbs can also be used with a Gerund, although with a certain difference in meaning.
For example, the verb to stop + Gerund means to finish an action, to interrupt, as for to stop + Infinitive, it means to make a pause in order to do something. That is why the Infinitive after the verb to stop is used in the function of an adverbial modifier of purpose.
He stopped smoking for health reasons.
He stopped to rest for a few minutes
Go on + Gerund means to continue with the action. Go on + Infinitive means to do the next action, or change the activity.
He went on speaking for two hours.
After her early teaching career she went on to become a doctor.
3. Object
Most commonly used verbs followed by the Infinitive are the following: afford, agree, aim, appear, arrange, bother, care, claim, consent, decide, demand, determine, fail, guarantee, hesitate, hope, learn, manage, offer, prepare, pretend, proceed, promise, propose, refuse, resolve, seek, strive, swear, threaten, trouble, undertake, volunteer, vow.
The Infinitive may also be used as an object after an adjective. The most commonly occurring of them are: amazed, delighted, lucky, relieved, afraid, disappointed, sad, anxious, determined, shocked, ashamed, eager, pleased, astonished, fortunate, prepared, surprised, careful, glad, proud, sorry, certain, happy, ready, upset, content, hesitant, reluctant, willing, pleased, interested, etc.
Note
: Sometimes the introductory object
it is used.
He found it difficult to spot her in the crowd.
4. Attribute
The Infinitive in this function may modify nouns, substantivized adjectives, pronouns, numerals.
This is much to ask.
England, once «the workshop of the world», was the first to become a highly developed industrial country.
Hope is the last to die.
When we go out, he’s always the one to pay.
5. Adverbial modifier
The Infinitive can be used as an adverbial modifier of purpose, subsequent events, consequence, attendant circumstances, comparison, condition, exception, time, cause, or motivation [Кобрина, Корнеева, 2009].
Adverbial modifier of purpose. Indefinite forms of the Infinitive (both active and passive) are used in this function. The Infinitive may be preceded by the conjunction in order, so as or by limiting particle (just, only):
We all need stress in order to achieve and do our best work.
They never parked the big van in front of the house so as not to upset the neighbours.
Adverbial modifier of subsequent events or attendant circumstances. In this function the Infinitive denotes an action that follows the one denoted by the predicate. The Infinitive may be preceded by the particles only, merely, simply [Н. А. Кобрина, Е. А. Корнеева и др., 2009].
He left his home town, never to come back.
I tore open the box, only to discover that some of the parts were missing. I went to see the doctor, only to find him absent.
Adverbial modifier of result. In this function the Infinitive is used after adjectives and adverbs modified by too; enough; so …. as, and nouns modified by such.… as.
I was too afraid to try bungee jumping.
No man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
Would you be so kind as to send to me those documents?
Trade policy needed to be organized in such a way as to contribute to sustainable economic development.
Adverbial modifier of comparison or manner. In this function the Infinitive is introduced by the conjunctions as if, as though or than.
The cat looked up at me as if to say “I’m hungry.”
He nodded his head slowly as though to agree with everything she said.
He knows better than to marry her.
Adverbial modifier of condition denotes an action which pre-conditions the action expressed by the predicate. In this function the Infinitive is used but seldom.
To look at his works you would think that you have already seen them somewhere.
If to speak about teens, they stand somewhere between childhood and adulthood.
Parenthesis
The Infinitive used as parenthesis is usually part of a collocation, as in: to begin with, to be (quite) frank, to be sure, to make matters worse, to put it mildly, to say the least, to tell the truth, needless to say, strange to say, so to speak, to make a long story short, to crown all, to make matters worse, to be more precise, to say nothing of , etc.
When they had an accident, they were upset, to say the least.
John helps me with my taxes.He’s my accountant, so to speak.
Predicative constructions with the infinitive
The Infinitive is used in three types of predicative constructions:
The Objective with the Infinitive Construction.
The Subjective with thе Infinitive Construction.
The For-to-Infinitive Construction.
In all these constructions the Infinitive denotes an action ascribed to a noun or a pronoun. Due to their semantics and because of the attached position the nominal and the verbal elements are understood as forming a complex with subject-predicate relationship [Кобрина, Корнеева и др., 2009].
I saw him cross the street.
It is for him to decide.
He appeared to be a good doctor.
The objective infinitive construction
The Objective Infinitive Construction is a construction in which the Infinitive (usually the Infinitive phrase) is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case.
The Objective Infinitive Construction is used as a complex object in the following cases:
1. After verbs of sense perception (to see, to hear, to feel, to watch, to feel, to observe, to notice and some others). Only Indefinite Infinitive without the particle ‘to’ is used in this case.
We did not see her enter the room.
They watched me cross the street.
Note: If the verb to see or to notice is used with the meaning to understand, or the verb to hear with the meaning to learn, the Objective Infinitive Construction cannot be used. Here only subordinate object clause is possible.
I saw that they had nothing to say to me (Я понял, что…).
I hear your brother has returned from vacation (Я слышал, что…).
2. After verbs of mental activity(to know, to think, to believe, to consider, to suppose, to expect, to understand, to find and some others).
I expect the goods to be loaded immediately
He considers this question (to be) of great importance.
We found the breakfast she had cooked to taste very good.
3. After verbs denoting feelings and emotion (to like, to dislike, to love, to hate, and some others).
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
