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Файл:Практическая грамматика английского языка неличные формы глагола = Practical English Grammar Non-Finite Verbs. Учебное пособие
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CHAPTER I. THE INFINITIVE
e.g. Once again, Reggie attempted to fold the map.
It also may denote an action preceding or following the action
denoted by the fi nite verb.
The non-perfect infi nitive denotes an action following the action
denoted by the fi nite verb when used as:
1. an adverbial modifi er of purpose
e.g. Sniff turned his head and grunted to the others to follow.
2. part of a compound verbal modal predicate
e.g. As I have explained, I was about to leave London.
3. part of a complex object after the verbs of compulsion
e.g. Well, let me ask you something.
The non-perfect infi nitive denotes an action preceding
the action denoted by the fi nite verb when used as an object after par-
ticiple II, which expresses different emotions such as fear, surprise,
anger etc.
e.g. I was very much shocked to hear of this melancholy accident, and
said I thought I had better have some water.
The perfect infi nitive denotes an action prior to the action ex-
pressed by the fi nite verb.
e.g. You pretend to have bought it for yourself, but you have really done
so to confer a benefi t on him.
After the verbs to mean, to expect, to intend, to hope used in the Past
Indefi nite, the perfect infi nitive shows that an action wasn’t carried
out.
e.g. I meant to have done it.
The active infi nitive points out that the action is directed from
the subject, the passive infi nitive indicates that the action is directed
to the subject.
e.g. In time, of course, Mr. Knightley would be forgotten, that is, supplanted; but this could not be expected to happen very early.
However, there are cases when the active form of an infi nitive
is passive in its meaning. Such an infi nitive is called “retroactive”.
e.g. You’ll fi nd lots to see here.
e.g. There was no reasonable thing to do.
e.g. There was plenty to fear without thinking of muggers.
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ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: НЕЛИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ ГЛАГОЛА
PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR: NON-FINITE VERBS
1.2.Syntactic functions of the Infinitive in the sentence
The infi nitive can be used in different syntactic functions. It can
be used alone (without any words depending on it), as an infi nitive
phrase or as part of an infi nitive predicative construction (acomplex
with the Infi nitive).
1. The infi nitive as a subject
The infi nitive functioning as a subject may either precede the
predicate or follow it. In the latter case it is introduced by the introductory it, which serves as an introductory subject.
e.g. To remember those foods brings the hunger back now, the sudden
rush of it, the pain.
e.g. It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any
two people together.
2. The infi nitive as part of a compound nominal predicate
(apredicative)
e.g. His ambition was some day to build a house on them.
3. The infi nitive as part of a compound modal predicate
e.g. She may have changed since you saw her last.
4. The infi nitive as part of a compound aspect predicate
It is used after verbs denoting the beginning (tobegin, to start etc.),
the duration (tocontinue, to go on, used to, would etc.), or the end
of an action (tocease, to fi nish, to stop etc.).
e.g. Rivera hung up and Dennis continued to hold the receiver to his ear.
The verbs to begin, to start, to continue, to go on, to cease can also
be followed by a gerund. As a rule, the infi nitive followed by such verbs
denotes one-time action while the gerund is preferred for habitual
actions.
e.g. Agents, some in suits and some in jeans, began moving around as
the plane taxied to them.
e.g. People began to murmur there was something strange about that
woman.
Only the infi nitive (not the gerund) is used with the verbs to begin
and to start if:
a) The subject of a sentence is inanimate
e.g. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry,
simultaneously.
12
CHAPTER I. THE INFINITIVE
b) These verbs are used in the Continuous tense forms
e.g. The restaurant was beginning to fi ll.
e.g. She was tired, scared, and beginning to snap at him.
c) They are followed by the verbs to understand, to realize, to know,
to see and to feel (=to understand)
e.g. Elinor began to feel it necessary to pay her a visit.
5. The infi nitive as an object
The infi nitive is used as an object after:
a) some verbs (toagree, to arrange, to attempt, to choose, to claim,
to decide, to deserve, to fail, to fear, to hesitate, to hope, to manage,
to prefer, to swear, etc.) and verbal set-phrases (tomake sure,
to make up one’s mind, to take care, to take the trouble, can afford,
can bear)
e.g. When she left for Rome, they promised to write to her, they made
her promise to write to them.
e.g. Certainly, and I think I may afford to give them fi ve hundred pounds
a-piece.
b) some adjectives and adjectivized participles (anxious, curious,
careful, diffi cult, eager, easy, interested, easy, impatient, ready,
slow, sorry, worthy, etc.)
e.g. I’m sorry to have involved you both.
e.g. He seemed really anxious to accommodate them.
c) some statives (afraid, agog, ashamed)
e.g. He was near panic, and was afraid to leave the city.
e.g. I’m agog as to how you explain this.
6. The infi nitive as an attribute
The infi nitive used as an attribute can modify:
a) Nouns, both abstract and concrete
e.g. Oh, if only I had been given the time to tell her all myself.
e.g. There was still quite a long way to go.
b) Indefi nite or negative pronouns (somebody, something, anybody,
anything, anyone, nobody)
e.g. Christian was also someone to be reckoned with.
e.g. There is nothing to talk about.
c) Substantivized ordinal numerals (especially fi rst), substanti-
vized adjectives (next and last)
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ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: НЕЛИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ ГЛАГОЛА
PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR: NON-FINITE VERBS
e.g. The victim was a senator, the fi rst ever to be murdered, they alleged,
while in offi ce.
d) Pronouns much, many, little, few, (no) more, (no) less, a little
more, enough; the noun-substitute one
e.g. Ord had called Foltrigg twice during the morning, but, uncharacteristically, the great man had little to say.
The infi nitive as an attribute often has a modal meaning (ofpossi-
bility or necessity), except in combinations like “He was the fi rst (last,
only one) to do so”, where it expresses an actual fact (“= He was the fi rst
who did so”).
7. The infi nitive as an adverbial modifi er
The infi nitive can be used as an adverbial modifi er of purpose,
consequence, attendant circumstances, result, comparison, condition,
exception, time and cause.
a) an adverbial modifi er of purpose
In this function the action denoted by the infi nitive is always a hy-
pothetical one following the action denoted by the predicate.
e.g. The others came out to meet them.
The infi nitive as an adverbial modifi er of purpose can be intro-
duced by the conjunctions in order and so as.
e.g. I was at that moment still undecided about whether or not to delay
my departure in order to consolidate my peace with the Baffi ns on Sunday.
b) an adverbial modifi er of result
The infi nitive is used after adjectives modifi ed by the adverbs
enough and too or in so… as to…, such as to … .
e.g. He slid through the grass like a lizard, and opened the gate just
wide enough to slide through.
e.g. My father says I’m too young to know about love and perhaps he
is right.
e.g. The storm was so strong as to pull the biggest trees out with its
roots.
e.g. The storm was such as to pull the biggest trees out with its roots.
c) an adverbial modifi er of comparison
The infi nitive is introduced by the conjunctions as if, as though or
than.
e.g. Ricky raised his head as if to retreat.
14
CHAPTER I. THE INFINITIVE
e.g. He made up his mouth as if to whistle, but he didn’t whistle.
d) an adverbial modifi er of condition
e.g. To judge by it, it would be inadvisable.
e) an adverbial modifi er of exception
The infi nitive is introduced by the conjunctions except, but or
besides.
e.g. I could not but admire him.
e.g. There was nothing he could do at the moment except wait for
the next report.
8. The infi nitive as a parenthesis
to begin with, to be frank (honest), to be sure, to put it mildly, to say
the least, to start with, to tell the truth, needless to say, strange to say,
so to speak, to make a long story short, to crown all, to be more precise,
to say nothing of … , etc.
e.g. To be sure it will. Indeed, to tell the truth, I’m convinced within
myself…
1.3.Predicative Constructions with the Infinitive
In English there are three predicative constructions with
the Infi nitive:
1. the For-to-Infi nitive Construction
2. the Complex Object or the Objective Infi nitive Construction
3. the Complex Subject or the Subjective Infi nitive Construction
1.3.1.The For-to-Infi nitive Construction
In the For-to-Infi nitive construction the Infi nitive is in predicate
relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective
case introduced by the preposition for. It can have different functions
in the sentence. It can be used as:
1. a subject (often with the introductory it)
e.g. It was impossible for Elinor to feel easy on the subject.
2. a predicative
e.g. In the end they decided that the best thing would be for Herbert
to talk to her very seriously.
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ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: НЕЛИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ ГЛАГОЛА
PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR: NON-FINITE VERBS
3. an object
e.g. He’d waited at the warehouse for the body to be delivered to him.
4. an attribute
e.g. It was almost fi ve-thirty, time for their mother to arrive home after
nine long hours at the lamp factory.
5. an adverbial modifi er of purpose
e.g. She ignored this, and pointed at a piece of paper for Nassar to sing.
6. an adverbial modifi er of result
e.g. Marriage is turning out to be too big a responsibility for him
to handle.
1.3.2.The Complex Object
In the complex object the infi nitive is in predicate relation to a noun
in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case. The whole
construction forms a complex object after some verbs. It is rendered
in Russian by a subordinate clause.
The complex object is used in the following cases:
1. After verbs of sense perception, such as: to feel, to hear, to notice,
to observe, to perceive, to see, to watch, to know (= to see). Only
the Indefi nite Active infi nitive without the particle to is used.
e.g. Dianne puffed her cigarette, and watched the cars crawl along
the streets below.
e.g. I’m glad to know that my mother cried too, and that I felt her heart
beat against mine.
e.g. He heard her declare that she had never loved him.
But when the verbs to hear, to see, to feel are used in the meaning
“to learn, to be told” the complex object can’t be used, instead of it
a subordinate clause is used:
e.g. I felt it was a time for conversation and confi dence.
e.g. I hear you like cigarette smoke.
2. After verbs of mental activity, such as to believe, to consider,
to expect, to feel, to guess, to judge, to know, to suppose, to take,
to think, to understand, to imagine, to fi nd, etc. The infi nitive is used
with the particle to.
e.g. I expect him to come around tomorrow.
16
CHAPTER I. THE INFINITIVE
3. After verbs denoting wish and intention, such as to desire, to intend,
to mean, to prefer, to want, to wish. The infi nitive is used with
the particle to.
e.g. I want you to send the money I asked for at once.
4. After verbs of declaring: to pronounce, to declare, to report,
to announce. The infi nitive is used with the particle to.
e.g. I declare you to be a traitor.
5. After verbs of emotion: to like, to dislike, to love, to hate and some
others. The infi nitive is used with the particle to.
e.g. Would you like me to talk about it?
6. After verbs denoting order, permission or compulsion: to advise,
to allow, to ask, to cause, to command, to compel, to encourage,
to forbid, to force, to get, to induce, to invite, to order, to persuade,
to recommend, to request, to signal, to tell (= to force), to urge.
The infi nitive is used with the particle to, but with the verbs to have,
to let, to make, the Infi nitive is used without the particle to.
e.g. I understand, Mark, but the law does not allow private citizens
to withhold information that might be crucial to a criminal investigation.
e.g. I’ m ordering you to answer these questions.
e.g. She made her sit down at the table.
e.g. But as to my letting her marry Robert Martin, it is impossible; she
has refused him, …
7. After some verbs requiring a prepositional object: to appeal
to, to bear for, to call upon, to count on, to listen to, to long for, to look
for, to look at, to rely on/upon, to wait for, to watch for
e.g. You may rely on me to do it.
1.3.3.The Complex Subject
In the complex subject the infi nitive is in predicate relation
to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative case.
The whole construction forms a complex subject. It is rendered into
Russian by a complex sentence with an “indefi nite-personal” princi-
pal clause.
The complex subject is used with the following groups of verbs
in the Passive Voice:
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ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: НЕЛИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ ГЛАГОЛА
PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR: NON-FINITE VERBS
1. With verbs of mental activity, such as: to believe, to consider,
to expect, to know, to mean, to suppose, to presume, to understand.
e.g. How the hell am I supposed to know?
e.g. Johnny was known to have ice water in his veins, and took great
pride in staying cool.
2. With verbs of sense perception, such as: to feel, to hear, to notice,
to see, to watch.
e.g. He was heard to sing something.
3. With verbs denoting order, permission or compulsion: to advise,
to allow, to ask, to cause, to forbid, to invite, to make, to order, etc.
e.g. She was made to do it.
4. With verbs of declaring: to pronounce, to declare, to report,
to announce.
e.g. The house was ordered to be watched.
The complex subject is used with the word-groups to be likely,
to be unlikely, to be sure, to be certain. Sentences of this kind are ren-
dered into Russian by a simple sentence with a modal word. Any form
of the Infi nitive can be used here.
e.g. They were likely to be wearing identical clothing.
The complex subject is also used with the verbs to seem, to appear,
to prove, to turn out, to happen, to chance.
e.g. The oracle seemed to be saying yes.
e.g. He appeared to be crying, but Mark couldn’t tell.
e.g. … and afterwards it turned out to be no such thing.
18
CHAPTER I. THE INFINITIVE
1.3.4.The Complex Subject and the Complex Object compared
THE COMLPEX OBJECT THE COMPLEX SUBJECT
IS USED
1. With verbs of sense perception: to see, to hear, to feel, to watch,
to notice
I saw him enter the room.
The infi nitive is used without “to”
He was seen to enter the room.
2. With verbs of mental activity: to think, to believe, to consider,
to suppose, to fi nd, to feel (toconsider), to expect, to understand
I think we can expect them to ask
us about it.
I consider him to be right.
He is expected to be leaving
tonight.
He is considered to be right.
3. With verbs of wish and emotion: to want, to wish, to desire, to like,
to dislike, to hate, would like
I want you to translate this text.
I want this text to be translated.
_________
4. With verbs of declaring, order or permission: to announce, to order,
to allow, to permit
The doctor permitted the room to
be aired.
He ordered the letter to be sent at
once.
All books were ordered to be
returned within 5 days.
He is said to have come back at
once.
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ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: НЕЛИЧНЫЕ ФОРМЫ ГЛАГОЛА
PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR: NON-FINITE VERBS
5. With verbs of compulsion: to make, to have, to let
No one can make you talk.
The infi nitive is used without “to”
He was made to keep silent.
The verb “to let” is not used
inthe Passive Voice
6. With the following pairs of synonymous verbs in the Active
Voice: a) to seem; to appear; b) to happen; to chance; c) to prove,
to turn out
He seems to have left yesterday.
_________
We happened to see him.
The night turned out to be cold.
7. With the phrases: to be sure; to be (un)likely, to be certain (with
future reference)
_________
She is likely to be late.
He is sure to become a doctor.
EXERCISES TO CHAPTER I
The Infinitive
EXERCISE 1.Comment on the forms of the Infi nitive.
1.To be treated nastily for no reason at all was very dispiriting.
2.Everyone wants to love and to be loved. 3. Destiny is not a thing
to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved. 4.Let the people think
they govern and they will be governed. 5.Robert is proud to have been
introduced to Mr. Smith. 6.A great mistake you can make in life is to be
continually thinking you are always right. 7.It is better to have loved
and lost than not to have loved at all. 8.The girl turned pale. She must
have been frightened. 9.Granny seems to have been cooking since early
morning. 10.You may have misunderstood him. He didn’t really mean
that. 11. Teachers like to ask students and students hate to be asked.
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