The Infinitive as Objective Predicative

§ 193.The infinitive as objective predicative is lexically depen-
dent — it is used after a number of transitive verbs in the active
followed by an object which is expressed by a noun or a pronoun.
Most of these verbs require an infinitive with to. The most fre-
quently occurring of them are: to advise, to allow, to ask, to as-
sume, to authorize, to beg, to believe, to cause, to challenge, to
command, to compel, to consider, to enable, to encourage, to ex
pect, to find, to forbid, to force, to get, to guess, to hate, to imag-
ine, to impel, to implore, to induce, to inspire, to instruct, to in-
tend, to invite, to know, to lead, to like, to love, to mean, to
observe, to order, to permit, to persuade, to prefer, to press, to re-
alize, to recommend, to request, to require, to suppose, to suspect,
to take (= to understand), to teach, to tell, to tempt, to think, to
trust, to understand, to urge, to want, to warn, to wish and some
others.

e-g. Why did he advise me to visitWestminster Abbey?
I must ask you to ringhim uptonight.
You've encouraged people tobelieve that.
We can't force you to stayhere.

Why don't you get my wife to explainit to you?
He ordered the door to be thrownopen.
Did he urge you to reconsideryour decision?

Note that after verbs expressing opinion or perception by far
the most common infinitive is the verb to be which is a link-verb
in this case.

e.g. No one could expect her tobe happy.

I hope you'll find the new method tobe of considerable inter-
est.

I never took him tobe a Norwegian.
I always believed him tobe a brute.
He didn't mean this tobe a long meeting.

There are a few verbs in English after which the infinitive as
objective predicative is used without the particle to. They are: to
feel, to have (=to get, to make), to hear, to know (=to experience),
to let, to make, to notice, to see, to watch.

e.g. I felt Margaret's hand tightenin mine.

I had not heard him speakbefore, and now I realized that he
was a good speaker.

What makes you thinkyou have any talent?

In the library I noticed Diana talkfor a moment with her sis-
ter alone.

She struggled for self-control, and I saw her hands clench
and unclenchspasmodically.

I've watched you grow for many years, from when you were
a little baby.

She was not quite so naive as she would have had me think.

Note. The verb to know in the meaning 'to be aware' is generally used in the
Present or Past Indefinite and followed only by the infinitive to be with the par-
ticle to.

e.g. We all knowit to beimpossible.

I knewthat tobe true.

In the meaning to experience', the verb to know is generally used in the
Present or Past Perfect and may be followed by the infinitiveof any verb. The in
finitive is used without to in this case.

e.g. She is worried; I'venever knownher loseher nerve before.
1 had never knownHector behave like this.

The infinitive after the verb to help may be used with or with-
out the particle to.

e.g. He said he would have helped me move in.

I was helping him to winas thoroughly as if my happiness
were at stake.

Note. To let somebody know is a set phrase,
e.g. Why didn't you let me knowyou were coining?
The subject of the infinitive in the function of objective pred-
icative is the noun or pronoun which serves as the object to the
predicate verb (see the examples above). There are instances when
the object of the predicate verb is a reflexive pronoun. Then it in-
dicates that the subject of the infinitive is the same person or
thing as denoted by the subject of the sentence.

e.g. Roger had made himself seemfriendly again.

Note. Note the set phrases can't bring oneself to do something and to set one-
self to do something which always require reflexive pronouns as objects.

e.g. But I still can't bring myself to feelthe way he does about things.
I hadset myself to tellthe absolute truth.

§ 194. The infinitive as objective predicative is also used after
afew verbs taking a prepositional object. The most regularly oc-
curring of them are: to appeal to, to call upon, to listen to, to
long for, to look for, to nod to, to rely on, to wait for, to watch
for. After these verbs the infinitive is used with to except for the
verb to listen to which takes an infinitive without to.

e.g. He was looking for someone to helphim.

But later, I'd lie awake, watching for the light to come

through the little window.

Her whole life had been spent listening to other people talk.
He nodded to the mechanics to removethe block.
They appealed to him togive upthe idea.
They were waiting for dinner to be announced.

Occasionally, the infinitive as objective predicative may be
found after a few verbs which do not regularly require preposition-
al objects. Here belong, for example, such verbs as to arrange, to

ask, to beckon, to cry, to manage, to plan, to provide, to shout, to
sign, to telegraph, to wire and some others. The most commonly used
preposition is for, but occasionally we may also find with or to.
e.g. Then she looked at me and beckoned for me to come over.

By the way, I must arrange for you to meet the old man some

time.

I arranged with the concierge to make my coffee in the morn-
ing and keep the place clean.

I know that she telegraphed to Julia to come and bring me

with her.
They drove up to the verandah steps and shouted to me to

come down.

The subject of the infinitive is always the person or thing de-
noted by the prepositional object (see the examples above).
(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 222 and 241.)

The Infinitive as Adverbial Modifier
§ 195. The infinitive may serve as an adverbial modifier of a

verb. In this function it is used to express purpose, consequence,

comparison, condition and exception.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted

by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166.

§ 196. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of purpose is al-
ways used with the particle to.

The number of verbs followed by an infinitive of purpose is not
restricted and their lexical character may be quite different. But
they are all alike in one respect — they all express actions deliber-
ately carried out with a definite aim in view. In other words, these
actions are aimed at the realization of the action denoted by the
infinitive. The action of the infinitive follows that of the predi-
cate verb and is unaccomplished as yet.
e.g. I dressed and went out to buy the morning paper.

I came in to see if I could help you pack, Alison.

I did my best to stop her.

He put his head out of the window to get some fresh air.

The infinitive of purpose may occasionally be preceded by the
modifiers in order and so as which emphasize the idea of purpose.

e.g. I was silent for a moment in order to give greater force to

my next remark.

Next we slid into the river and had a swim, so as to freshen
up and cool off.

So as is quite common with a negative infinitive of purpose,
however.

e.g. We had gone into the middle of Hyde Park so as not to be

overheard.
She hurried so as not to give him time for reflexion.

The infinitive may also be preceded by other modifiers. Unlike
in order and so as, which only make the idea of purpose more
prominent, the other modifiers serve to add their own specific
shades of meaning.

e.g. He opened his mouth wide as if to speak.

Christine smiled mockingly and turned away, as though to

go out of the room.
He gave me a little smile as much as to say, "You see, I

don't mean any harm."
"He had never cared for that room, hardly going into it from

one year's end to another except to take cigars.
They were waiting in there just to see him.
He told his joke merely to gain time.

The infinitive of purpose generally follows the predicate verb
(see the examples above). But if special stress is laid on the infini-
tive of purpose, it may be placed at the head of the sentence. How-
ever, it is not often found in this position,

e.g. To relieve my feelings I wrote a letter to Robert.

I forgive you. To prove it I'll drop in at your lab some time.

Occasionally the infinitive of purpose is placed between the
subject and the predicate.

e.g. Ann, to pass the time, had left her kitchen to see whether
Mr Faber was all right.

§ 197-The infinitive as adverbial modifier of consequence is
used with the particle to. It is structurally dependent — we find
it in a peculiar sentence pattern the first part of which is (he)
had only to... or (he) had but to... .

e.g. I had only to look at Mother to knowthe answer.

He had only to open the door to findthem anxiously waiting

for him.
Here was romance and it seemed that you had but to stretch

out your hand to touchit.

Inthis sentence pattern the action of the infinitive is the con-
sequence of the action expressed by the predicate verb — it is suf-
ficient to perform the first action for the second action to follow.
A similar pattern in Russian usually begins with стоило только... ,

The use of the infinitive of consequence is infrequent.

§ 198.The infinitive as adverbial modifier of comparisonis

also structurally dependent. It is preceded by than and modifies a
predicate group containing the comparative degree of an adjective
or adverb. The infinitive is generally used with the particle to,
though sometimes it may be found without it.

e.g. She seemed more anxious to listen to the troubles of others
than to discussher own.

Ishould have known better than to expectto find it.

Damn it, I've got more important things to do than lookat
the sea.

This function is not of frequent occurrence.

§ 199.The infinitive (with to) may serve as an adverbial modi-
fier of condition.In this case it expresses a condition under which
the action of the predicate verb can be realized. The predicate
verb is, as a rule, used in the form of the Conditional Mood.

e.g. To hearhim talk, you would think he was a celebrity.

"He is a popular singer," Monica said. "You wouldn't believe

it, to lookat him," remarked Teddy.
The infinitive in this function is not frequent either.

§ 200.The infinitive as adverbial modifier of exceptiondenotes
the only possible action that can be performed under the circum-
stances. The use of this infinitive is structurally dependent — it is
preceded by except or but and is generally used in negative or in-
terrogative sentences (after nothing could be done..., he could do
nothing..., what could he do..., he could not help... and the like).
The infinitive is, as a rule, used without to.

e.g. We care for each other and there is nothing to be done about

it, except tellyou the truth.
There was nothing to do but escape.
Atnineteen minutes to six —I could not help but watchthe

clock — the telephone buzzed.
What could he do but smile?

The use of the particle to is an exception.

e.g. Daniel held out his arm to her. She had no choice but to obey.
The infinitive of exception is infrequent.

§ 201.The infinitive may also serve as adverbial modifier of
an adjective. In this case it is always an adverbial modifier of
consequence.The infinitive here has the particle to.

The infinitive of consequence is not lexically dependent — it
can modify any adjective. But it is dependent structurally as it
can be used only in the following cases:

1) With adjectives modified by enough, which are, as a rule,
predicatives in the sentence.

e.g. He was old enough to beher father.

I can't think who'd be stupid enough toside with you.

I hope he's sensible enough to agreeto their proposal.

I had known him as a doctor, but was not old enough to have

knownhim as a friend.
I was young enough for the children not to feelshy and they

chattered merrily about one thing and another.

As is seen from the above examples, the action of the in-
finitive is made possible owing to the sufficient degree of the
Quality expressed by the adjective.

Note. The infinitive can also serve as an adverbial modifier of consequence of
an adverb modified by enough.
e.g. I wish I knew him well enough to judge.

2) With adjectives in the sentence pattern containing the cor-
relative conjunction so ... as.

e.g. He was so fortunate as to escape.

If you are so stupid as to lend him your car you must expect

it to be damaged.

It should be noted that sentences of the following kind have be-
come polite formulas to express requests:

e.g. Would you be so good as to answer the telephone if it rings?
Would you be so kind as to send us your catalogues?
The infinitive in the sentence pattern with the correlative con-
junction so ... as is not of frequent occurrence.

3) With adjectives preceded by too. The adjectives are generally
predicatives in the sentence,
e.g. Everyone seemed to be talking, but I was too shy to take part

in the conversation.

You're too young to start giving up your plans.
She told me she was too tired to go out.
He was too embarrassed for us to ask him about anything.

The action of the infinitive is made impossible owing to the
excessive degree of the quality expressed by the adjective.

Note. The infinitive can also serve as an adverbial modifier of consequence of
an adverb preceded by too.
e.g. He liked her too much to cause her any trouble.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 223-225.)

§ 202. The subject of the infinitive in all the above described
adverbial functions is the same person or thing as denoted by the
subject of the sentence (see the examples above). But the infinitive
may also have a subject of its own with which it forms the so-
called absolute construction.

The absolute construction with the infinitive is introduced by
the preposition with. The infinitive is used with the particle to.

The absolute construction has the function of adverbial modi-
fier of attending circumstances in the sentence.

e.g. It was a quiet house now, with only his secretary to see to

his meals and to take care of his business affairs.
Miss Heythorp is below, Sir, with a carriage to take you home.

As is seen from the above examples, there are two parallel ac-
tions in this sentence pattern: one of them is expressed by the
predicate verb, the other by the infinitive. Each action has its own
subject.

The infinitive absolute construction is infrequent and found
only in literary style.

(For comparison with the ing-form see § 226.)

The Infinitive as Attribute

§ 203. The infinitive in the function of attribute immediately
follows its head-noun and is used with the particle to.

e.g. There is only one way to do it.
You are just the man to do it.
He gave her permission to leave.
Have you any complaint to make against her?
He was touched by the man's desire to help him.
Whether you want to do that or not is a matter for you to
decide.

Note 1. The infinitive to come undergoes change of meaning — it means 'буду-
щий, предстоящий'.

e.g. He looked happy, as if he were dreaming of pleasures to come.
She did not realize it for months to come.

Note 2. If the infinitive is placed before a noun, it is part of a combination
whichtends to become a set phrase. The number of such phrases is limited, e.g.
what-to-do advice, this never-to-be-forgotten day, a much-to-be-longed-for place, an
ever-to-be remembered occasion and the like.
Although the infinitive mainly serves as an attribute of nouns
proper, it is also freely used with certain noun equivalents. Thus it
is typical of the infinitive to modify the indefinite pronouns some-
body, nobody, anybody, everybody, someone, no one, anyone, every-
one, something, nothing, anything, everything as well as the in-
terrogative pronouns what and who.

e.g. "Have you got anything to eat?"Katherine asked-
The sergeant said they had nothing to dothere.
It's been wonderful having someone to help.
"I haven't finished yet." "What is there to finish?"

The infinitive is also freely combined with ordinal numerals
(mainly with the first) and the substantivized adjective the last
which always have the function of the predicative in the sentence,
e.g. He was always the first to enterthe dining-room and the last

to leave.
Andrew was the third to be interviewed.

The infinitive also serves as an attribute to nouns which are
preceded by ordinal numerals or the adjective last.
e.g. He was the first man ever todiscuss the philosophy of sci-
ence with Erik.
The film star Ann Wilson is the 34th actress to playthis

part on the London stage.
Dear Steve, your last letter to reachme was two months old.

The infinitive may also serve as an attribute of pronouns and
pronominal expressions of quantity such as much, little, enough,
no more, little more, a great deal, a lot, plenty, etc.

e.g. I've got a lot tobe thankful for.

I thought you had quite enough to dolooking after the house

and so forth.

You are leaving me very little tosay.
You've got so much to learn.

Occasionally the infinitive is used to modify the prop-word one.
e.g. If you, boys, want to go on I'mnot the one to spoilthe game.
He wasn't an easy one to makefriends with.

§ 204.The infinitive in the function of attribute is char-
acterized by specific meanings. They are determined by the rela-
tion between the head-word and the infinitive. These relations may

be of two kinds:

1) The head-word may be either the subject or the objectof
the action expressed by the infinitive. When the head-word serves

as the subject of the infinitive it may be either active or passive,
depending on the active (a) or passive (b) form of the infinitive.

e.g. a) He was not the man to draw backwhen his dignity was
concerned.

She pitied the poor young man for having no one to look

after him.

b) Remember, Roger is a man to bewatched.
There is nothing to be gainedby pretending.

The head-word of an active infinitive may also be an object of
the action expressed by this infinitive.

e.g. Love? It's a funny word touse.

Except in little things, he was the hardest man to influence.
There was really nothing tofear.

In all the above examples we find the infinitive of verbs re-
quiring a direct object. If a verb requires a prepositional object,
the preposition follows the verb.

e.g. I'm not a very easy man to get on with.
Ihad nothing to worry about.

He realized that he didn't know anyone here to talk toexcept

Max.

If the infinitive is a link-verb followed by an adjective which
requires a prepositional object, the preposition is placed after the
adjective.

e.g. We have, all of us here, a good deal to be thankful for,
I'm sure you have nothing to beafraid of.
I'm afraid I haven't much to be proud of.

Ifthe head-word is the subject, active or passive, or the object
of the action denoted by the infinitive, the latter acquires modal
meaning. Depending on the context, it may denote either possibil-
ity (a) or necessity (b).

e-g. a) Marion was not the type to put onweight.
He was not the man to dorash things.

There was nothing to beseen or heard,not even a barking
dog.

I had nobody to talk to.

Is there a place to get something to eatnear here?
b) Whenever there is any packing to be done,my wife doesn't

feel well.

I've got something dreadful to tellyou.
There was a quarter of an hour to kill,so we walked down

the river.

There is always a question or two to be considered.
I've got enough to dowithout bothering about you.

Note that the infinitive is not lexically dependent here. It can
modify practically any noun, concrete or abstract, as well as noun
equivalents (see the examples above).

Note. There is, however, one exception to the rule — the ordinal numerals and
the last (or nouns modified by them) always serve as the subject of the infinitive
but the infinitive does not acquire the additional modal meanings of possibility or
necessity in this case.

e.g. He was the first to speak.

2) The head-noun may be neither the subject nor the object of
the action expressed by the infinitive as attribute. In this case it
acquires appositive meaning,i.e. itserves to explain the meaning
of its head-noun. That is why it can modify only those abstract
nouns that admit of or sometimes even require an explanation of
their meaning. So the use of the infinitive with appositive mean-
ing is lexically dependent.

The number of nouns with which it is used is quite conside-
rable. The most commonly occurring of them are: ability, advice,
attempt, authority (= right), capacity, chance, command, compul
sion, decision, demand, desire, determination, duty, eagerness, ef-
fort, excuse, failure, freedom, impulse, inclination, instruction,
intention, invitation, keenness, license, longing, matter, motion
(= proposal), necessity, need, obligation, occasion, offer, opportuni
ty, option, order, patience, permission, possibility, power (= right),
precaution, promise, proposal, readiness, recommendation, refusal,
reluctance, resistance, resolution, right, sign, suggestion, tempta
tion, tendency, urge, way, will, willingness, wish and some others.

e.g. He had a keen desire to learn.
He had an impulse to run away.
He made an effort to collecthimself.

He accepted willingly my invitation to remainfor a few days

in my apartment.

He's given me permission to talkto you myself.
You've no right to askthose questions.
Her eyes had a tendency to shiftfrom point to point about

the room.

He bit back the urge to tella lie.
Ralph was glad of a chance to changethe subject.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted
by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166. (For comparison with the ing-
iorm see §§ 227-230, 242.)

§ 205. When the head-noun is neither the subject nor the ob-
ject of the action expressed by the infinitive in the attributive
function, the latter may acquire the meaning of consequence.
This is found in certain sentence patterns or when the head-noun
has special modifiers.

1) In the sentence pattern "have (get, possess, lack) + the +
noun +■ infinitive".

e.g. He had the courage to tellthem what he thought of them.
She had thenerve to tellme a lie!

The action of the infinitive is made possible owing to the qual-
ity expressed by the head-noun.

The infinitive is lexically dependent in this sentence pattern —
it modifies a number of nouns that denote mental or moral quali-
ties. The most commonly occurring of them are: assurance, audac-
ity, authority, cheek, courage, cruelty, decency, energy, experi
ence, foolishness, good (bad) taste, guts, heart (= courage),
humility, ignorance, imagination, impertinence, ingenuity, intelli-
gence, knowledge, nerve, patience, power, presence of mind, sense,
spirit, strength, stupidity, tolerance, vanity, willingness, will pow-
er, wit(s) and some others.

e.g. They had the cheek to runaway.

Why haven't you got the wit to inventsomething?
She lacks the knowledge to doit the way it should be done.
I can't think how you can have the impertinence to remainhere.
She possessed the will power to achieveher aim.

The subject of the infinitive in this function is the same as
that of the predicate verb.

2) When the infinitive serves as an attribute of a noun modi-
fied by enough. The noun can have different functions in the sen-
tence. The infinitive is not lexically dependent here.

e.g. There wasn't enough air to stir the leaves of the lime trees.
He isn't fool enough to believe that sort of thing.
We need every man who has got enough spirit to say what he

really thinks.
I noticed her curious trick of throwing questions at me when I

could not have enough knowledge to answer.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted
by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166.

3) When the inifinitive serves as an attribute of a noun pred-
icative modified by an adjective that is preceded by too. The infin-
itive is not lexically dependent here. (For the place of the article
see "Articles", § 66.)

e.g. He was too clever a man to be bluffed.

This is too serious a business to be trifled with.

The action of the infinitive is made impossible owing to the
excessive degree of the quality expressed by the adjective that
modifies the head-noun.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted

by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166.

4) In a sentence pattern where we find the correlative conjunc-
tion such ... as.

e.g. He can't have been such a fool as to give them a definite an-
swer right away.

The use of the infinitive of consequence in the last three sen-
tence patterns is not of frequent occurrence.

§ 206. The infinitive may be used as attribute in a special sen-
tence pattern with a formal it as subject. The infinitive is lexical-
ly dependent here — it can modify a more or less limited number
of nouns. Among them we find such se-mantically "pale" nouns as
action, business, experience, idea, matter, problem, question, stuff

task, thing, way. As a rule, these nouns are modified by adjectives
which are semantically more important than the nouns them-
selves. The most frequently occurring other nouns are: achieve-
ment, (dis)advantage, comfort, consolation, cruelty, custom, de
light, desire, dream, duty, embarrassment, encouragement, error,
folly, frustration, fun, habit, hell, honour, intention, job, joy, luxu-
ry, madness, miracle, misfortune, mistake, nonsense, outrage, pity,
plan, pleasure, privilege, relief, rule, shame, surprise, torture, treat,
triumph, trouble, wonder and some others. The infinitive has ap-
positive meaning in this sentence pattern.

e.g. It's a good idea to use both methods.

It's our job to worry about that, isn't it?

It was a mistake to deny it.

But it was a surprise to hear him insisting on it.

It was utter nonsense to suggest that he was lying.

It was my intention to show her how greatly she had underes-
timated me.

"It must be a terrible thing to have received a classical edu-
cation," she said soberly.

It's a great disadvantage to be held back by middle-class mo-
rality.

It was a bitter experience for Philip to learn that his best
friend had let him down.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted
by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 231 and 243.)

§ 207. The infinitive is also used as attribute in a sentence
pattern with it as a formal object of a verb. It is mainly found af-
ter the verbs to find, to make and to think.

e.g. I think Helena finds it rather a lot of work to clean the place.
Everyone now called him Reggie, but he still found it an ef-
fort to get used to it.

He thought it great fun to be out boating.
He made it a point to call her by her first name.
He had made it a rule to get up at sunrise.
He found it a good idea to send them a telegram.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted
by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166.

The construction is not of frequent use in English though it is

not restricted to any style.

(For comparison with the ing-form see § 232.)

The Infinitiveas Parenthesis

§ 208.The infinitive as parenthesis is used with to. It is gener-
ally a set phrase, such as so to speak, strange (needless) to say, to
be quite frank, to make matters worse, to put it mildly (crudely),
to say the least, to tell the truth and some others.

The infinitive phrase as parenthesis serves either to show the
speaker's attitude towards the situation described in the sentence
or to attract attention to some fact or to sum up an idea, and, last
but not least, it may serve as some sort of reservation on the part
of the speaker.

e.g. To tell the truth,I'm sick and tired of this nonsense.
To put it mildly,she is just a bit inquisitive.
To make matters worse, itbegan to rain and soon we got wet

to the skin.

When they found out I was not one of them, so to speak,they
politely turned from me and ignored me.

The place of the parenthetic phrase in the sentence is not
fixed though it is actually often found at the head of the sen-
tence. In writing it is marked off by a comma.

The Use of the ing-form