§ 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 Infinitive as 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, it began 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

The ing-form as Subject

§ 209. The ing-form in the function of subject usually express- es permanent or recurrent actions simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb, e.g. Looking after one man is really enough, but two is rather an

undertaking. Passing a law about equal rights doesn't necessarily mean

that women get them.

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

Sentences with the ing-form as subject have certain structural peculiarities:

1. We find the ing-form as subject only in declarative sentenc- es. It is never used in interrogative sentences.

2. The ing-form as subject is always placed at the head of the sentence. It is never preceded by any secondary parts.

3. The ing-form as subject is occasionally found in sentences beginning with there is, but its use is restricted to negative sen- tences where it is usually preceded by no. This pattern is common in spoken English.

e.g. There was no arguing with her about it when she had made

up her mind.

Well, there is no avoiding him now. Of course, I am scared to hell. There's no denying that.

On the whole, however, the use of the ing-form as subject is mainly found in literary English but even here it is not of fre- quent occurrence.

(For comparison with the infinitive see §§ 181 and 235.)

The ing-form as Predicative