- •The Infinitive and the ing-form
- •§ 165. The infinitive and the ing-form have the same lexical meaning as the finite forms of the corresponding verb.
- •§ 166. The infinitive and the ing-iorm, like the finite forms, are always associated with a subject but the way their subject is expressed differs greatly from that of the finite forms.
- •§ 167. With regard to their meaning and function, the infini- tive and the ing-form, like the finite forms, can be classed into two groups:
- •§ 168. The syntactic functions of the verbals and those of the finite forms do not coincide and therein lies the main difference between them.
- •§ 171. In addition to the above described features which the infinitive and the ing-form have in common, each of the two ver- bals possesses peculiarities of its own.
- •§ 172. The ing-form, in its turn, has peculiarities of its own. Unliке the infinitive, it may, in certain functions, be preceded by a preposition.
- •§ 173. Although the participle has the same lexical meaning as the corresponding verb, it differs considerably from the finite forms as well as from the infinitive and the ing-form.
- •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.
- •§ 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 Infinitive as Object
- •§ 189. The infinitive may serve as object in a special sentence pattern with a formal it as subject. It is lexically dependent here as it follows quite definite verbs.
- •§ 196. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of purpose is al- ways used with the particle to.
- •§ 198. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of comparison is
- •§ 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.
- •§ 203. The infinitive in the function of attribute immediately follows its head-noun and is used with the particle to.
- •§ 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
- •§ 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.
- •§ 210. The ing-form as predicative is usually used after the link-verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning.
- •§ 215. The ing-form may also serve as a direct object of an ad- jective. It is lexically dependent in this case and found only after two adjectives — busy and worth.
- •§ 216. As a prepositional object of a verb, the ing-form is also lexically dependent. It is found after verbs that take a preposition- al object. These verbs may be divided into three groups:
- •§ 217. The ing-form as a prepositional object is also found af- ter various kinds of adjectives — adjectives proper, predicative
- •§ 220. The ing-form is sometimes found in a sentence pattern with it as a formal object of the verbs to find, to make and to think. The formal it in this case is followed by an adjective.
- •§224. The ing-form may be preceded by the conjunctions while, when, once, if, as though, as if, though, than, as well as and the correlative conjunctions as...As and not so...As.
- •§ 227. The ing-form in the function of attribute is found in different constructions.
- •§ 233. The ing-form as parenthesis tends to become a set phrase.
- •§ 234. The infinitive and the ing-form sometimes have similar functions in the sentence and it is therefore necessary to define the spheres of their application.
- •§ 235. Neither the infinitive nor the ing-form as subject is common in English, so the distinction between them is not very important for practical purposes.
- •§ 237. As an object of a verb, the infinitive and the ing -form are lexically dependent.
- •§ 239. We usually find the infinitive as an object of a verb or adjective in a sentence pattern with it as a formal subject.
- •§ 244. The use of the infinitive and the ing-form in all the oth- er functions is not parallel and so they need not be compared.
The Infinitive and the ing-form
§ 165. The infinitive and the ing-form have the same lexical meaning as the finite forms of the corresponding verb.
But with regard to their grammatical categories the two ver- bals correspond to the finite forms only partly.
The infinitive and the ing-form lack the forms of person and number characteristic of the finite forms.
Mood can be expressed only by the finite forms.
It should be pointed out, however, that although the infinitive has no special mood forms and cannot represent an action either
as a real fact or as something unreal, it may in some functions express certain modal meanings — necessity, possibility, purpose:
e.g. a) necessity — I've got something dreadful to tell you.
possibility — I had nobody to talk to.
purpose — I'm going upstairs to pack my things.
The Perfect infinitive, in combination with some modal verbs, may sometimes show that its action was not realized in the past.
e.g. They should have told him about it.
3) Like the finite forms, the infinitive and the ing-form have active and passive forms, e.g. to take — to be taken, taking — be ing taken.
Like the finite forms, the infinitive and the ing-form can ex- press time, e.g. to take — to have taken, taking — having taken.
Yet, the two verbals differ considerably from finite verbs in this respect. The finite forms generally express time absolutely. i.e. they refer an action to the present, past or future (e.g. He knows English. He knew English. He will know English). The ver- bals express time relatively, i.e. in relation to the action of the predicate verb in the sentence. The action expressed by the verbals may be simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb (a), may precede (b) or follow it (c).1
e.g. a) He seemed to know all about it.
Roger was at home working on his speech.
b) He seemed to have guessed the truth.
Having looked at his watch he closed the book and put it on the shelf.
c) He was ready to assist them.
One afternoon, about half past five, when Thomas was counting on working for an hour or two more, the tele- phone rang.
Besides, the simple forms of the verbals themselves are capa- ble of expressing all kinds of time relations. The various time re- lations they express depend on the lexical character of the verb and on the context.
1 It is true that the finite forms may also express time relatively, but that occurs only in certain sentence patterns.
The infinitive tends to express an action following that of the predicate verb (a), but it may also denote an action simultaneous with it (b). However, the simple form of the infinitive does not often express an action that precedes the action of the predicate verb (c).
e.g. a) He felt a quick impulse to call the boy back.
b) She was admiring his ability to concentrate on any task.
c) Sylvia was glad to run across her old schoolmate.
The ing-form tends to express actions simultaneous with that of the predicate verb (a). But it is also extensively used to express priority (b) and, sometimes, an action following that of the predi- cate verb (c).
e.g. a) This Saturday afternoon Henry, home from his office, sat at his study table, drawing cats on the blotter, waiting for his wife to come back from a lunch.
b) I remembered hearing my aunt telling me in my childhood
that great men never cared for flattery. 1
c) She insisted on coming with me but I finally managed to
talk her out of it.
The time relations expressed by the passive forms are the same as those of the corresponding active forms.
On the whole it should be noted that it is the simple form of the verbals that is in extensive use in English. The analytical ing- forms are infrequent, but they are commonly used with modal verbs (in some of their meanings), e.g. He must be happy now. He must be sleeping. He must have misunderstood you. He must have been waiting for you. The experiment must be finished already. The experiment must have been carried out by now.
In other cases the continuous infinitive is generally used only to emphasize the idea of duration, of process and to make the statement more vivid and expressive. A simple infinitive is often possible in the same sentence.
1 Here the action of hearing precedes the action of the predicate verb remembered, the use of the perfect Ing-form is an exception.
e.g. It was pleasant to be driving the car again.
I'm not a man to be talking of what does not concern me.
It would be possible to use the simple forms to drive and to talk in the above examples.
The perfect infinitive is more or less frequent after verbs of mental perception, the verbs to seem, to happen, to appear and a few others. It shows that the action took place before the action of the predicate verb.
e.g. Their marriage was supposed to have been a very happy one. A sense of timing is one of the things I seem to have learned from Jimmy.
The Perfect Continuous infinitive is mainly found after the same verbs as the Perfect infinitive. It shows that the action of the infinitive began before the time indicated by the finite verb and is still going on.
e.g. She was believed to have been feeling unwell for some time. They seemed to have been getting on a bit better.
The forms of the two verbals are summed up in the following tables:
The Infinitive
|
Active |
Passive |
Simple |
to take |
to be taken |
Perfect |
to have taken |
to have been taken |
Continuous |
to be taking |
— |
Perfect Continuous |
to have been taking |
— |
The ing-form
|
Active |
Passive |
Simple |
taking |
being taken |
Perfect |
having taken |
having been taken |