Exercises

Ex.1. USE the infinitive as adverbial modifier

1. Of purpose:

1. I called on him yesterday … . 2. In order to … I listened patiently to the old man’s story, not even trying to interrupt him. 3. He had to do his best (in order) … . 4. We stopped…. 5. Has he come … ? 6. … you should practice reading aloud and reciting poems. 7. I read the letter the second time (so as) … . 8. … we must begin preparing for the exam immediately. 9. We’ll need your car in order not … . 10. “I just called … , “ he said on the phone. 11. We must hurry (so as not) … . 12. After classes we went to the university library …

2. Of consequence:

1. The burns were severe enough … . 2. The document was serious enough … . 3. The boy is too clever … . 4. At first I was too shocked … . All of us were. 5. I was too astonished … . 6. In those circumstances his cousin was clever enough not … . 7. The ship was too far out in the sea …. 8. The effect of his story upon us was such as never … . 9. I know him well enough … . 10. The hurricane was so strong as … . 11. The illness was not such as … . 12. You have only to reach out your hand … . 13. He was gentleman enough … .

c) Account for the meaning of one of Oscar Wilde’s paradoxes: “When a man is old enough to do wrong he should be old enough to do right also.”

Ex.2. TRANSLATE into English using infinitives as adverbial modifiers.

1. Вы приехали для участия в конференции? 2. Вопрос был слишком сложный, чтобы решать его так поспешно. 3. Она всегда носила туфли на высоких каблуках, чтобы казаться выше. 4. Ураган был такой сильный, что сорвал крыши с многих домов. 5. Я встал в 6 часов, чтобы не опоздать на утренний поезд. 6. Ребенок выбежал навстречу матери. 7. Он был достаточно мужчиной, чтобы не растеряться в эту трудную минуту. 8. Я написал ему письмо, чтобы напомнить ему о его обещании. 9. Ребенок слишком мал, чтобы понять Вашу шутку. 10. Я знаю его достаточно хорошо, чтобы доверить ему это ответственное дело. 11. Всё было сделано для того, чтобы спасти его. 12. Он был так поражен, что не мог вымолвить ни слова. 13. Это был такой спектакль, что его невозможно забыть. 14. Он был достаточно художником, чтобы оценить картину. 15. Ей было гораздо проще делать вид, что ничего не случилось, чем признать, что она была абсолютно неправа. 16. Послушать, как он рассказывает о Древней Греции, так можно подумать, он сам присутствовал при всех событиях.

Ex.3. THINK of all possible ways to convey in Russian the ideas expressed by the infinitives in bold type.

I. 1. We arrived home from our holidays only to discover that we had been burgled. 2. I climbed out of bed to look at myself in the oval mirror over my dresser. 3. He came out of the house he lived in to run into an old friend of his. 4. She took Mondays off, to spend more time with the kids, but she was not good at managing the routine at home. 5. He thought that he'd better call the office, to warn them he would be late. 6. Just one minor problem was solved only to put forward new, and bigger problematic tasks. 7. He pushed the END button to terminate the call. 8. Then what do you want from me? You come to ask my advice in order not to take it? 9. They fled during the night, never to be heard from again. 10. The deep remembrance of the sense that day by day what I had learned, and thought, and delighted in, and raised my fancy by, would pass away from me, little by little, never to be brought back any more.

II. 1. Miserable and disconsolate, he wandered about among the many tents, only to find that one place was as cold as another. 2. I pinned the rose on my breast just to see how it would look. 3. I left Salem House the following afternoon; I little thought then that I left it never to return. 4. The pain in his stomach has come to stay. 5. Harry Bellamy came down from his Northern city to spend four days at his relatives’. 6. They stopped for a moment to smile to each other. 7. Torpenhow sat down to work out an account of the battle. 8. He lapsed, like Miss Grits, into brief shells of death-like unconsciousness, often awaking to find that a street or desert or factory had come into being about him while he slept. 9. Simon turned to his companions appealingly, and they left the room to find lunch elsewhere. 10. He sat in the darkness, too scared to move.

Ex.4. COMBINE the sentences by using too or enough and the infinitive with to, as in the models (give variants where possible):

Models: a) Mr. Simpsons is very old. He cannot work now.

à Mr. Simpsons is too old to work now.

b) He is rather old. He could be your father

à He is old enough to be your father.

c) Your son behaved as a gentleman. He offered his seat to me.

à Your son was gentleman enough (as) to offer me his seat.

I. 1. Ashley Nicole was twenty-five months old when her father was buried. She was young then and cannot remember him. 2. The divorce settlement provided her with some money. The money allowed her to live on without a job. 3. He was a real man. He did not hesitate to render me his help with the broken box. 4. He was weak and sore and groggy. He couldn’t sit up. 5. You are not foolish. You don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers. 6. She was not very quick. She did not get out of the way of the bus. 7. “You lawyers take care of your own,” he said loudly. Everyone heard him. 8. “Do you speak English so well? Can you talk to an American without help?” 9. He called Parrish and Judge Trussel. They were rather busy and could not talk to him. 10. She treated us very hospitably as became a hostess. The minute we appeared on her yacht, she called the bartender to give us drinks and offered lunch.

II. 1. The barefoot boys playing soccer in the street were involved in their game. They did not look up. 2. As much as she loved Rio, it would be the last place she would be seen. She was extremely smart and didn’t allow herself to go to Rio. 3. “Are you near? Can you see what they are doing?” 4. He said he practically saw the car wreck, and I started asking questions. But it was still painful. So he didn’t talk. 5. I know she doesn't think I am not educated. But I still can’t be your secretary. 6. “Isn’t he a real artist? He cannot mistake rubbish for a masterpiece.” 7. She looks small and fragile. She can be a fairy. 8. He is wise. He knows he must not disobey orders. 9. The king was a very wise man. He quickly confirmed to himself his suspicions. 10. Harry is only ten. These books are quite complicated for him (The book is quite simple for him).

Ex.5. REPLACE the finite verbs in bold type by the infinitive rephrasing the sentences where necessary.

1. Olive heard the side door open, and, looking out of the window, she saw John walking up in the garden. 2. He had toured the world and understood how true the saying was which went, “East or West, home is best”. 3. He tried to persuade her not to do so, but only broke down and had to stop. 4. He opened his eyes and saw clouds and drenched trees and felt drops splashing on his face. 5. On entering the house he saw her son walking up and down in an agony of doubt. 6. When he returned he found his wife already at home busy with some work. 7. He looked towards the door and saw the butler standing in the conventional attitude. 8. He joined the Philharmonic Orchestra, where he very soon became the leading violinist. 9. After a long separation they met at last, and never did they part again. 10. When I came back I found the door locked and the key hanging from a nail in the hall.

Ex.6. TRANSLATE into English using the Infinitive as Adverbial Modifier of Consequence. USE phrases Adj+enough+to-Inf, so+Adj+as+to-Inf, N+enough+to-Inf for possible or probable events, and too+Adj+to-Inf for impossible events.

MIND the use of articles in phrases such as to be too inexperienced a driver to do smth., to be _ man enough to do smth., e.g. He was too inexperienced a driver to feel such slight vibration (=He was too inexperienced as a driver). He was driver enough to feel such slight vibration (=He had enough driving experience).

Examples:

He was man enough to offer help (=he did offer his help).

In the morning, he was too busy to see us in his office

(=he did not receive us in his office).

1. Он был достаточно джентльменом, чтобы и намеком не обидеть свою спутницу. 2. Он достаточно умен, чтобы не вступать в пререкания попусту. 3. Слишком уж ты молод, чтобы судить о таких делах, как долг перед семьей. 4. Мэрион ощущала себя достаточно знакомой с восточными ритуалами, чтобы пригласить домой чету из Японии. 5. Будучи достаточно состоятельным, чтобы иметь прислугу, он не беспокоился о порядке в своем новом доме. 6. Она еще не достаточно подготовлена, чтобы сдавать экзамен. 7. Я слишком устал, чтобы продолжать этот бессмысленный спор. 8. Вам еще нет двадцати, вы слишком молоды и наивны, чтобы обзаводиться семьей. 9. Он был слишком упрям, чтобы согласиться на наши предложения с первого раза. 10. Кажется, я слишком неопытный путешественник, чтобы понять, что изображено на этой карте. 11. Она мне показалась достаточно хозяйкой, чтобы чувствовать желания своих гостей. 12. Я достаточно знаю этот предмет, чтобы утверждать, что Хью был не прав. 13. Сестра его была совершенно независимая особа, и чужого мнения обычно не воспринимала всерьез. 14. Она оказалась вполне знакома с живописью, чтобы отличить современное искусство от классического. 15. Книга не была такой уж доступной, как было обещано, чтобы я справился с ней за пару дней.

Ex.7. PRACTICE written translation. FOCUS ON the Infinitive used as Parenthesis.

1. Night began to fall, and to make matters worse the wind sprang up ahead.

2. This also added to my wretchedness, and, to crown all, I was haunted by the thought of the tragedy that had once been acted on that plateau.

3. Finally I said, “The idea of such an extension of the functions of government is, to say the least, rather overwhelming.”

4. My money, to be sure, would buy me a wife; but would my money make her dear to me? Dear as Mary has once been?

Module 4. Predicative Constructions with the Infinitive: the For-Complex, the Complex Object and the Complex Subject structures

Principal Ideas: The INF complexes are made of a nominal element and a verbal one. The nominal element is expressed by a Noun (a noun-pronoun) or Personal Pronoun, the verbal element is INF.

In the For-Complex and the Complex Object construction the INF denotes an action that refers not to the Subject but to N/Pron. that immediately precedes the INF. The N/Pron. stands in predicative relations to INF although this is not conveyed formally, as the verb is not in the finite form:

I saw them leave; This was for him to decide.

In the Complex Subject the INF characterizes the person/thing named by the Subject of the sentence:

The story was reported to have brought its author the Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

All complexes are grammatically and semantically one unity functioning as a sentence element (although in the Complex Subject there is another sentence part inserted between the elements of the complex).