2. The Adverbial Modifier

1. of purpose (the infinitive can also be introduced by the conjunctions ‘in order’ or ‘so as’):

• Nobody came to help me.

• I gave English lessons in order to earn some extra money.

• I keep the window open, so as to let fresh air in.

The Infinitive of purpose or intention may follow some adverbs of place (there, here, around, etc.) and prepositions (up, off, over, down, etc.) often preceded by the notional verb ‘be’:

• Our staff are here to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

• He was hurrying over here to see what needed to be done.

• She felt suddenly, in her exhaustion and anxiety, that they were not hotel staff but medical, there to nurse her back to health and strength.

In some types of sentences, the perfect infinitive is occasionally possible:

• Ben must have been more than a little interested in the possibility to have pursued it so far.

• Cecily could have taken the opportunity, Cassia thought, to have questioned her about her own shaky marriage; but she didn’t.

1. of attending circumstances (the infinitive is generally used to indicate that one action immediately follows or leads to another or an unexpected action):

• Denis woke up next morning to find the sun shining, the sky serene.

• I read enough of the article to get the main idea.

Sometimes, the infinitive as adverbial of attending circumstances follows the expressions ‘in time, the next moment, etc.’ and the adverbs ‘only, never’:

• We got to the airport just in time to check in.

• She waited until the last possible moment to cancel her flight.

• My mother’s dreams were tucked away, only to be shared with me as I grew older. But I already knew she longed to leave the rural life.

• Oh, he won’t discuss it with anybody, we won’t be allowed to mention it, it will be made never to have happened.

The infinitive as adverbial of attending circumstances is common in literary

style and news, particularly in sports reports.

3. of result (the infinitive is used after adjectives and adverbs mostly modified by ‘too’, ‘enough’, ‘sufficiently’):

• I could see well enough to know we were loosing.

• For a few minutes we were too stunned and too frightened to say much.

• He was quite well enough to be left.

The simple (active or passive) infinitive is common in this function. It

usually expresses an action following that of the predicate verb:

• Three days later Thorpe was well enough to leave hospital.

• He said just loud enough to be heard but to no one in particular.

The Perfect Infinitive is occasionally used and shows that the action expressed by the infinitive was not realized:

• Anyway, if Seraphim were still alive, she would be only nineteen now, too young to have graduated from Academy of Art College.

Sometimes an adjective or adverb is modified by ‘as/so’ while the infinitive is

used after ‘as’. In such sentences there is a link between a cause and a result:

• The House went so far as to hold formal hearings.

• He even went as far as to accuse me of betraying him.

• None of the society reporters Imogene had invited chose to so much as mention the event in their papers.

Sometimes the infinitive in this function is used after ‘such as’:

• The countess’s treatment of her servants was such as to cause great resentment.

1. of comparison or manner (the infinitive is introduced by ‘as if’ and ‘than’):

• The number ended. She pulled away from him, said thank you, made as if to leave the dance floor. The music began again.

• But Remus looked ill, as if he wanted nothing more than to stop this.

The Infinitive after ‘than’ is used with or without the particle ‘to’ in this function:

• ‘I do have slightly more important things to do than fill my allotted position in your table plans.’ He stood up, sighed, walked towards the door.

• What comfort could He (Christ) bring, what good could He do? What greater torment than to see that light, and then to see it eternally withdrawn?

7.6. of condition (the infinitive is, as a rule, used in sentences with the Conditional Mood):

• I smiled. To hear him, one would think he was always short of cash.

7.7. of exception (the infinitive is often used after ‘except’ and ‘but’ in negative and interrogative sentences. The infinitive is used to indicate the only possible action that can be performed under the circumstances):

• There was nothing more now that she could do except pray.

The infinitive is used with or without the particle ‘to’ in this function:

• Laura said little, now, except to respond to something Imogene said.

• There was little to do at home except eat lunch, take a nap, and get ready for another week of picking cotton.

• I daydreamed of a lazy afternoon on the porch, no cotton to be picked, nothing to do but maybe fish in the St. Francis and catch pop flies in the front yard.

• I had no alternative but to sign the contract.

2. Parenthesis (the infinitive is used in a few word combinations such as ‘to

tell the truth, to say the least, to make a long story short, to put it mildly/briefly/simply, to begin/start with, suffice it to say, to say nothing of, so to speak, etc.’):

• To tell you the truth, I don’t care.

• Well, to begin, he was convinced there was a conspiracy against him.

The Infinitive as parenthesis is usually translated into Russian by

«если + неопределенная форма глагола» or «деепричастие»:

• Your work isn’t very good, to say the least (Вы не очень хорошо выполнили работу, мягко выражаясь)

• I was afraid to look at him, to be honest (если честно, я боялась на него смотреть)