The Use of the Infinitive The Infinitive as Subject

§ 181. In this function the infinitive is always used with the particle to and usually expresses an action following the action denoted by the predicate verb.

e.g. To fulfil this condition was hopelessly out of my power. To visit her was all that I desired.

The infinitive as subject may also express actions which are si- multaneous with the action of the predicate verb, e.g. To visit her is always a pleasure.

The infinitive often acquires the additional modal meaning of condition in this function. This meaning is generally supported by the use of the Conditional Mood in the sentence, e.g. To take money from him would be like robbing a child (=if

you took money from him...).

To take him seriously would be absurd (= if you took him se- riously...)-

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

Sentences with the infinitive as subject have certain structural peculiarities:

1. The infinitive as subject may be used only in declarative sen- tences; it is never used in interrogative sentences.

2. The infinitive is always placed at the head of the sentence; it is never preceded by any secondary parts.

3. We generally find the nominal predicate in sentences of this kind. The predicative is usually expressed by a noun or an adjec- tive, qualifying the action denoted by the infinitive.

e.g. To go with him to picture galleries was a rare treat. To do it seemed a proper and natural thing. Not to go back was awful.

Sometimes another infinitive is used as predicative, e.g. To influence a person is to give him one's thoughts.

The use of the infinitive as subject is mainly found in literary English but even there it is infrequent.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 209 and 235.)

The Infinitive as Predicative

§ 182. The infinitive is generally preceded by the particle to in this function and in most cases expresses an action which follows that of the link-verb.

The link-verb in sentences with the infinitive as predicative is always to be.

e.g. His highest ambition was to write a monumental work on art. The job of a reporter is to expose and record. His greatest wish was to tell her everything. The only sensible thing is for you to go away.

The infinitive in this function always has appositive meaning, i.e- it explains the meaning of the subject of the sentence. Hence, sentences of this kind have the following structural peculiarity — the subject of the sentence can be expressed only by a limited number of nouns. They are nouns denoting abstract notions which

admit of and sometimes even require an explanation of their meaning. The most commonly occurring of these nouns are: act, action, advice, aim, ambition, answer, business, consequence, cus- tom, desire, difficulty, duty, function, habit, hope, idea, instruc- tion, intention, job, method, need, object (=aim), order, plan, poli cy, problem, purpose, reason, requirement, role, rule, task, thing (usually with an attribute), thought, way, wish, work and some others (see the examples above).

The subject of the sentence may also be expressed by all (and occasionally by the least and the most) modified by an attributive clause which usually contains the verb to do.

e.g. All I want to do is to help you.

The least we can do is to try and understand their idea. The most he could do at the moment was to give me a cigarette. After this type of subject the infinitive may be used without to.

e.g. All I wanted to do was run away.

All we can do is stick to our decision.

Sentences with the subject expressed by all, the least and the most cannot be used in the interrogative form.

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

The infinitive as predicative, unlike the infinitive as subject, is found not only in literary style but also in spoken English.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 210 and 236.)

The Infinitive as Predicate § 183. The use of the infinitive as predicate is restricted to the

following sentence patterns:

1) Interrogative (affirmative and negative) sentences begin' ning with why and implying a suggestion. We always find an in- finitive without to here.

In interrogative-affirmative sentences the implication is that

there is no need to perform the action, e.g. Why lose your temper over a little thing like that? Why waste your time on this kind of work?

In interrogative-negative sentences the implication is that there is nothing to prevent one from performing the action.

e.g. Why not go there right away?

Why not apologize if you know you're wrong?

The subject of the infinitive in this kind of sentences is always the person (or the persons) engaged in the conversation.

2) Exclamatory sentences showing that the person denoted by the subject is unlikely to perform the action of the infinitive — the speaker rejects the idea as impossible. The infinitive may be used with or without to.

e.g. You — a man-of-the-world — to suggest this! You know it's

impossible.

"Try to write," she said, "you're expressive, you can say what you want; why not try to be a writer?" I couldn't keep from laughing at that. It was so absurd. Me — write! "No," I said with a laugh.

Such sentences are emotionally coloured and found only in spoken English, but they are infrequent.

(For comparison with the ing-form see § 211.)

The Infinitive as Part of a Compound Verbal Predicate

§ 184. The infinitive is lexically dependent in this function — it is used only after certain verbs: a) after modal verbs (this use has been described in detail in "Verbs", § 76-120) and b) after the following intransitive verbs: to seem, to appear, to turn out, to Prove, to happen, to chance.

e-g- He seemed to know all about it.

I'm quite aware how improbable that sounds but it happens

to be the truth. He turned out to have no feeling whatsoever for his nephew.

These verbs may be followed by different analytical forms of the infinitive with to.

e.g. For a moment she appeared to be hesitating. He seemed to have gained all he wanted.

The letter seems to have been mislaid.

In that same week I happened to have been enquiring whether all the invitations had been sent out.

As is seen from the above examples, the Perfect infinitive ex- presses an action which precedes the action indicated by the finite verb, while the Continuous infinitive expresses an action simulta- neous with it.

The subject of the infinitive in this function is the same as the subject of the sentence (see the examples above). (For comparison with the ing-form see § 212.)

The Infinitive as a Second Action Accompanying the Action of the Predicate Verb

§ 185. The infinitive may express a second action in the sen- tence, accompanying the action of the predicate verb. The subject of the infinitive is the same as that of the predicate verb. This sec- ond action follows the action expressed by the predicate verb and may be called a subsequent action. Hence the term the infinitive of

subsequent action.

The infinitive of subsequent action always follows the predicate

and is used with the particle to.

The most commonly occurring verbs followed by this kind of infinitive are those of motion such as to come, to hurry, to reach, to return, to run, to rush, to turn, to walk and their synonyms as well as the verbs to look or to glance (followed by up, down, across, about, round, toward, etc.), to wake up, to awake, to be

awakened.

The infinitive of subsequent action itself may also be ex- pressed by a wide range of verbs of different lexical character, but by far the most frequently occurring verbs are to discover, to find, to hear, to see and their synonyms.

e.g. He turned to find her sad, calm eyes upon him. (= and found) He returned ten minutes later to find Bridget ready for de- parture. (= and found)

I looked across to see Mr Jesmond smiling at me. (= and saw} One night he awakened to hear a light rain whispering in the garden. (= and heard)

Then the sun came out again to brighten the last spatter of rain. (=and brightened) As a rule, the action of the infinitive instantly follows that of the predicate verb, as in all the examples above. Sometimes, how- ever, this immediate succession of actions is expressed in the sen- tence by means of special indications, such as in time, or just in time, the next moment and the like.

e.g. Alice arrived in time to hear Tom's remark.

Etta then shot out of the room just in time to shut the door behind her before she exploded into incontrollable shrieks of laughter.

If the action of the infinitive does not follow that of the predicate verb directly, there are usually special indications of time in he sentence.

e.g. I know of quite a few people who always start a new life on the 1st of January only to slip back to the old one on the 15th.

He walked out one morning without a word to anyone, to be heard of some time afterwards in Australia.

The infinitive of subsequent action is sometimes preceded by only. In this case the combination of the predicate verb and the infinitive usually acquires the following meaning: the action of the predicate verb becomes pointless and its effect is, as it were, brought to naught by the action expressed by the infinitive.

e.g. The motor started again, only to stop again in a moment. He took off the receiver only to replace it.

The infinitive of subsequent action may be preceded by never to show that the action of the infinitive is not destined to take place.

e-g. She knew that he had gone never to return.

Young Hardcastle, when he attained the age of fifteen, had disappeared from his home never to be heard of again.

The infinitive of subsequent action is not in common use in English; it is mainly restricted to literary style. (For comparison with the ing-form see § 213.)