The Infinitive

The infinitive developed from the verbal noun, which in the course of time became verbalized, retaining at the same time some of its nominal properties. Thus in modern English the infinitive, like the participle and the gerund, has double nature, nominal and verbal.

The nominal character of the infinitive is manifested in its syntactic functions. The infinitive can be used as:

the subject: To go on like this was dangerous.

an object: He has never learned to write or read.

a predicative: Her plan was to study till late.

The verbal characteristics of the infinitive are as follows:

1) the infinitive of transitive verbs can take a direct object: He began to feel some curiosity.

2) the infinitive can be modified by an adverb: I cannot write so quickly.

3) the infinitive has tense and aspect distinctions; the infinitive of transitive verbs has also voice distinctions:

Categories of the Infinitive

The Indefinite Infinitive expresses an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb, so it may refer to the present, past or future, e.g.: I’m glad to meet you. She helped me to carry the heavy box. Mr. Forsyte will be very glad to see you.

The Continuous Infinitive also denotes an action simultaneous with that expressed by the finite verb, but it is an action in progress, e.g.: To be staying with them was a real pleasure. I was glad to be waking. The leaves begin to be growing yellowish.

The Perfect Infinitive denotes an action prior to the action expressed by the finite verb, e.g.: I’m glad to have seen you. An intimate friend is said to have dined with him that day.

Note: After such verbs as to mean, to expect, to intend, to hope used in the Past Indefinite the Perfect Infinitive shows that the hope or intention was not carried out, e.g.: I meant to have gone there. – I quite expected you to have been here before six o’clock. He hoped to have come.

The same meaning can be conveyed by the Past Perfect of the finite verb followed by the Indefinite Infinitive, e.g.: I had meant to go there. He had meant to marry me.

The idea, however, is often expressed in the following way: I meant to go there, but never did.

The Perfect Continuous Infinitive denotes an action which lasted a certain time before the action of the finite verb, e.g.: For about ten days we seemed to have been living on nothing but cold meat, cake and bread and jam.

The infinitive of transitive verbs has special forms for the Active and the Passive Voice, e.g.: It is so glorious to love and to be loved.

In sentences with the construction “there is” the infinitive of some verbs can be active or passive without any change in the meaning, e.g.: There’s no time to lose. = There’s no time to be lost. There’s nothing to fear (to be feared).

The Use of the Infinitive Without the Particle “to”

¹ The verb to be after the verb to feel is used with the particle “to”:

I felt this to be true.

² The verb to have in the meaning of “допускать” is chiefly used after the modal verbs “will” and “would” in negative sentences.

I will not have you call him Daniel any more.

I would not have you think that I am selfish.

³ The verb to know in this meaning approaches that of to see, to observe (the verb to know never has this meaning in the Present Indefinite):

I have so often known a change of medicine work wonders.

In this case, however, the particle “to” is sometimes used:

I have never known her to weep before.

⁴ After the verbs to hear, to see, to make, to know, etc. in the Passive Voice the to-Infinitive is used. (The Infinitive is used as part of the Subjective-with-the-Infinitive Construction), e.g.: He was heard to mention your name several times.

They were seen to leave the house early in the morning. The child was made to obey. Sir Pitt Crawley was never known to give away a shilling or to do a good action.

Functions of infinitive

Classification of Predicates

1. The Simple Verbal Predicate

The simple verbal predicate is expressed by a notional verb in one of its finite forms in:

the Tense – Present, Past or Future;

Aspect – Common (Non-Continuous) or Continuous;

Correlation – Non-Perfect or Perfect;

Voice – Active or Passive;

Mood – Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, Conditional or Suppositional.

The infinitive functions as part of a simple verbal predicate in analytical forms:

The day will bebright and sunny.Do you intend to come back? We didn’t find anybody in the house .Will it have been finished by Monday?

2. The Compound Nominal Predicate

The compound nominal predicate consists of a link-verband a nominal element calledpredicative. The predicative expresses a state, property or the class of the thing denoted by the subject, e.g.:

”It’s so lovely here.” Oh! Friendship is a great thing.

Classification of Link-verbs

According to their meaning link-verbs are classified into:

a)the link-verb of being: (the “pure” link-verb “be”), e.g.: I’m a student.

b)the link-verbs of perception (feel, look, smell, taste, etc.), e.g.: Shelooks happy. The cake tastes delicious.

c)the link-verbs of becoming (become, turn, grow, get, fall, etc.), e.g.: It’s getting late. Hegrew old.

d)the link-verbs of remaining (remain, stay, keep, continue, etc.), e.g.: Istayed calm. Heremained silent.

e)the link-verbs of seeming or appearing (seem, appear), e.g.: Sheseemed shy. Heappeared agoodlistener.

A particular place is occupied by the link-verbs “prove”and“turn out”, e.g.: The partyturned out a success. … what has happenedwill prove fatal.

The infinitive in the function of a predicative is used after the link-verb to be, e.g.:To decide is to act. His plan was to get in touch with her.

3. The Compound Verbal Predicate

The compound verbal predicate is of two kinds: modal and aspect(ive).

3A) The Compound Verbal Modal Predicate

This kind of predicate consists of a modal component and an infinitive. The modal components can be expressed by:

1.a modal verb, e.g.:I can’t read.”She must go to him”The enemy shall not pass.

2.the verbs“be”and“have”in modal meaning, also“have got” in the meaning of necessity, e.g.:They were to marry in the autumn.Why did he have to leave her? I’ve got to express my likes and dislikes.

3.an equivalent of a modal verb“to be (un)able”,“to be capable”,“to be allowed”,“to be permitted”,“to be obliged”,“to be compelled”,“to be willing”,“to be anxious”,“to be eager”, e. g.:He was only anxious to forget. Every minute or so he was compelled to rest. And children were always willing to play cricket with him.

4.a notional verb with a modal meaning. Here belong the verbs“to hope”,“to want”, “to desire”,“to wish”,“to long”,“to expect”,“to intend”,“to try”,“to endeavour”, etc., e.g.:He almost expected to hear a price. He wanted not to stop ever. I long to see her.

5.the combination“to be going to”denoting intention, e.g.:He’s going to buy her some shoes.

6.the phraseological units“had better (best)”,“had rather”,would rather (sooner), e.g.:Hadn’t we better call him? She said she would rather have a flowered summer frock.

The infinitive in the function of a part of a compound verbal modal predicate is used after a modal component.

3B) The compound verbal aspect(ive) predicate

This kind of predicate consists of two components. The first is a finite verb denoting: a)beginning,b)duration,c)repetition,d)cessation, or end of an action. The second component is an infinitive or gerund. To the verbs of the four mentioned groups belong, in particular:

1. beginning of an action:begin, start, commence, which are followed by both an infinitive and a gerund;come, grow, which are combined only with an infinitive, e.g.:He began to sing. She started to undress.

2. duration of an action: keep (on), go on, which are followed only by a gerund;continue, which is followed by both an infinitive and a gerund, e.g.:His mother continued to sway. Al kept working out.

3.repetition of an action:used toandwouldfollowed by an infinitive only, e.g.:

Where did he use to hang out? Now and then the old man would correcther pronunciation and she would repeat a word.

4.cessation, or end of an action: stop, give up, leave off, finish, which are followed only by a gerund,cease, which combines both with an infinitive and a gerund, e.g.:He ceased, however, to take out and replace the letter. She had given up calling him sir. She hadn’t stopped talking.

The infinitive in the function of a part of a compound verbal aspective predicate is used after an aspective component denoting beginning, duration, repetition or cessation of an action.

The subjective infinitive construction

(traditionally called the Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction) is а construction in which the infinitive is in predicate relation to а noun in the Common case or а pronoun in the Nominative case.

In the sentence

The girl (she) was seen to leave the house

the relation between the girl (she) and the infinitive to leave is that of secondary subject and secondary predicate and the whole construction the girl (she) ... to leave is the complex subject to the predicate of the sentence was seen.

What was seen was the girl in the action of leaving the house.

The use of the subjective infinitive construction

I. It is used with the following groups of verbs in the Passive Voice:

1.With verbs denoting sense perception: to see, to hear, to feel, to watch, to notice, to observe. (Only Non-Perfect, Non-Continuous Infinitive Active Voice is used. It denotes a completed action).

He was heard to repeat those words several times. (Було чути, що...)

The boat was seen to disappear in the waves. (Було видно, що...)

If a process is expressed, Participle I Indefinite Active is used:

The girl’s father was heard approaching at that moment.

2.With verbs denoting mental activity: to think, to consider, to know, to find, to expect, to believe, to suppose, to mean, to regard, to understand.

(Any form of the Infinitive is used), e.g.:He was thought to be honest and kindly.

The manuscript is believed to have been written in the XVth century.

3. With verbs denoting order/ request/ permission: to order, to bid, to tell, to command, to ask, to beg, to beseech, to request, to allow, to permit, to let, to forbid. (Only Non-Perfect Infinitive is used), e.g.: They were requested to be ready by 7 o’clock.He was ordered/ asked/ allowed to go there right away.

4.With verbs denoting compulsion: to make, to induce, to force, to cause, to compel. (Only Non-Perfect Infinitive is used), e.g.: He was made to keep silence.

5. With verbs of saying/ reporting/ declaring: to say, to report, to declare, to pronounce, to announce, to state. (Any form of the Infinitive is used).

It is said to have been raining in the valley for a week.The pilot is reported to have started on his flight early in the morning.

From these examples we can see that in translating sentences containing the Subjective Infinitive Construction after verbs in the Passive Voice a complex sentence is mostly used. II. The Subjective Infinitive Construction is used with the following verbs in the Active Voice:

6. to seem / to appear (any form of the infinitive)

to happen / to chance (only Non-Perfect Infinitive)

to prove / to turn out (any form of the Infinitive)

They seemed to have quite forgotten him already.Only yesterday we happened to see him.The experiment proved to be a failure.

7. It is used with the word-groups: to be (un)likely, to be sure, to be (un)certain (Only Non-Perfect Infinitive is used. Its action refers to the future).

He is sure to marry her. It is unlikely to rain soon.You are certain to like him.

Sentences of this kind are rendered in Russian by a simple sentence with a modal word.

NOTE 1: Mind the difference between:

He is sure to come. — Він обов’язково прийде.

He is sure of coming. — Він впевнений, що прийде.

NOTE 2: The infinitive in sentences with the Subjective Infinitive Construction cannot refer to a future action except with verbs and word-groups whose meaning allows of it: to expect, to be sure (certain), likely: We are sure to come to the heart of the matter.He is expected to give us an answer tomorrow.

NOTE 3: With some verbs such as to see, to hear, to order, to allow, to permit, to know, etc. a sentence with the Subjective Infinitive Construction has a corresponding active construction in which the Objective Infinitive Construction is used: He was heard to repeat it several times. They heard him repeat it several times. She was allowed to take the books.They allowed her to take the books.

THE OBJECTIVE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION

(traditionally called the Accusative-with-the-Infinitive Construction) is the construction in which the infinitive is in predicate relation to a noun in the Common case or a pronoun in the Objective case. In the sentence this construction has the function of a complex object.

The objective infinitive construction is used:

1.After verbs denotingsense perceptionsuch asto hear, to see, to watch, toobserve, to notice, to feel, to smell+bare inf., e.g.:I haven’t heard anyone call me. I saw Brian enter the room. I felt the blood rush into my cheeks, and then leave them again.

After verbs of sense perception only the Indefinite Infinitive Active is used. If the meaning is passive we find Participle II.

I saw the fire slowly conquered.

If a process is expressed Participle I Indefinite Active is used.

He saw Fleur coming.

Note 1: The verb to see is followed by a clause and not by the Objective Infinitive Construction when it is not really a verb of sense perception, i.e. when it means to understand, to realize. I saw that he didn’t realize the danger. I saw he knew everything.

Note 2: After the verbs to see and to notice the Objective Infinitive Construction is not used with the verb to be; a subordinate clause is used in such cases. I saw that he was pale. He saw that I was excited. He only had time to notice that the girl was unusually pretty.

Note 3: When the verb to hear is not a verb of sense perception, i. e. when it means “to learn”, “to be told” a clause or a gerundial construction is used (not the Objective Infinitive Construction).

I hear that he left for the South

of his having left for the South

Note 4: If the verb to know means to experience, to see, to observe, it is used in the Present Perfect with the bare Infinitive in the construction. I have never known him lose his temper before.

2. After verbs denoting mental activity such as to think, to know, to consider, to believe, to suppose, to expect, to imagine, to find, to feel, to trust, to prefer, etc.

Here the infinitive is used in any form though the non-perfect forms are the most frequent. I know him to be an honest man. She believed him to have left for San Francisco. I believed her to be knitting in the next room. I should expect my devoted friend to be devoted to me. The doctor found his heart to have stopped two hours before.

Note 1: With the verbs to think, to consider, to find the same idea can be expressed without an infinitive, e.g.: Boldwood thought her beautiful. She found the subject rather interesting.

Note 2: If the doer of the action denoted by the infinitive is expressed in the subject of the sentence, the corresponding reflexive pronoun is used: He considered himself to be right. I believed myself to be a fool. You consider yourself an impressive person, eh? He declared himself to be their leader. She knew herself to be the cause of the trouble. He knew himself to be old, yet he felt young.

3. After the verbs of declaring: to pronounce, to declare, to report: I declare you to be out of your mind. The surgeon pronounced the wound to be a slight one.(сказав) He reported the boat to have been seen not far away.

4. After verbs denoting wish and intention: to want, to wish, to desire, to mean, to intend, to choose (хотеть). Only non-perfect common aspect Infinitive with “to” is used: I want you to come and dine with me. He only wished you to be near him. She desired me to follow her upstairs. I didn’t mean you to learn the poem by heart. He intended me to go with him to India. I don’t choose you to go by yourself to a hotel. (не хочу)

5. After verbs and expressions denoting feeling and emotion: to like, to dislike, to love, to hate, cannot bear, etc. I dislike you to talk like that. I hate him to be flogged. (коли його б’ють) I cannot bear you to speak of that.

6. After verbs denoting order and permission: to order, to allow, to suffer, to have, to permit, to let, to forbid, to bid, to tell, to require, to ask.

The For – to – Infinitive Construction

In the for – to – infinitive construction the infinitive (usually an infinitival phrase) is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case introduced by the preposition “for”.

The construction is used where the doer of the action (or the hearer of the state), expressed by the infinitive, is different from that of the finite verb (the predicate).

Exceptions:

The for-to-infinitive construction cannot be used after:

nice

kind

silly

stupid

It’s nice of you to help him.

2. Complex predicative. In this function the construction is usually used with the link-verb “to be”: That was for him to find out. What we want is for you to understand the matter clearly.

3. Complex object. The construction functions as object of both verbs and adjectives:

a) She watched for the door to open. He asked for the papers to be brought.

b) His family were anxious for him to do something. I’m so glad for you to have come at last.

Complex object may also be introduced by the formal “it”: I think it necessary for you to take a taxi. I believe it best for you to stay here. Your attitude made it difficult for him to tell the truth.

4. Complex attribute: There was no need for him to be economical. There’s nobody here for me to play with. Where is there for me to go?

5. Complex adverbial modifier of purpose: She paused for him to continue. He stepped aside for me to pass.

6. Complex adverbial modifier of result/consequence:

easy

too old for somebody to do something

young

easy

old enough for somebody to do something

young

He spoke loud enough for her to hear.

The wall was too high for anything to be visible.

На основе учебного пособия The Verb: The Category of Mood. Non-finite Forms. Навчально-методичний посібник з граматики англійської мови для студентів ІІ курсу / Уклад. Т. І. Шавлюк. – Горлівка, 2012. – 96 с.