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 visit Westminster Abbey?
I must ask you to ring him up tonight.
You've encouraged people to believe that.
We can't force you to stay here.
Why don't you get my wife to explain it to you?
He ordered the door to be thrown open.
Did he urge you to reconsider your 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 to be happy.
I hope you'll find the new method to be of considerable inter-
est.
I never took him to be a Norwegian.
I always believed him to be a brute.
He didn't mean this to be 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 tighten in mine.
I had not heard him speak before, and now I realized that he
was a good speaker.
What makes you think you have any talent?
In the library I noticed Diana talk for a moment with her sis-
ter alone.
She struggled for self-control, and I saw her hands clench
and unclench spasmodically.
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 know it to be impossible.
I knew that to be 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 infinitive of any verb. The in
finitive is used without to in this case.
e.g. She is worried; I've never known her lose her nerve before.
1 had never known Hector 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.
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I was helping him to win as 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 know you 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 seem friendly 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 feel the way he does about things.
I had set myself to tell the absolute truth.
194. The infinitive as objective predicative is also used after
a few 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 help him.
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 remove the block.
They appealed to him to give up the 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.
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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 know the answer.
He had only to open the door to find them anxiously waiting
for him.
Here was romance and it seemed that you had but to stretch
out your hand to touch it.
In this 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 ...,
The use of the infinitive of consequence is infrequent.
198. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of comparison is
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 discuss her own.
I should have known better than to expect to find it.
Damn it, I've got more important things to do than look at
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 hear him talk, you would think he was a celebrity.
"He is a popular singer," Monica said. "You wouldn't believe
it, to look at him," remarked Teddy.
The infinitive in this function is not frequent either.
200. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of exception denotes
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.
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e.g. We care for each other and there is nothing to be done about
it, except tell you the truth.
There was nothing to do but escape.
At nineteen minutes to six I could not help but watch the
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 be her father.
I can't think who'd be stupid enough to side with you.
I hope he's sensible enough to agree to their proposal.
I had known him as a doctor, but was not old enough to have
known him as a friend.
I was young enough for the children not to feel shy 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.
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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 '-
, '.
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
w hich tends to become a set phrase. The number of such phrases is limited, e.g.
w hat-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 do there.
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 enter the dining-room and the last
