All I want to do is to help you.

The Infinitive as Object:

The Infinitive may be used as an object to a verb.

We find it after the verbs: to agree, to ask, to care, to begin, to like, to hate, to swear, to offer, to expect and others.

Mark continued to visit Jack in hospital.

In addition to the verbs mentioned above the infinitive as object is used after the modal verbs can afford and can bear in the negative and interrogative forms.

Some say we cannot afford to do it.

The Infinitive may be used as an object to an adjective. It is used after various kinds of adjectives- able, afraid, certain, anxious ,lucky, eager and others.

He is still very anxious to see her.

Occasionally a for0phrase is used to show the subject of the infinitive.

He was eager for me to start on my new job.

The infinitive as object may be part of a phrase introduced by the conjunction

Whether, what, how ,how long where

I did not at all know what to say.

The infinitive may serve as object in a special sentence pattern with a formal it as subject. The most commonly occurring verbs after which the infinitive is used in this function:

To amaze, to worry, to trouble, to excite, to interest, to shock, to please and others.

It pleased her particularly to see how often the other children asked her son how they should play.

The infinitive as Subjective Predicative.

The infinitive as Subjective Predicative is always preceded by to. It is lexically dependent – it follows a number of transitive verbs used in Passive.

These verbs are: to advise, to believe, to report, to aloe, to leave, to find, to invite, to require and others.

I have been advised to rest.

Infinitive as Adverbial Modifier

The infinitive may serve as adverbial modifier to a verb. In this function it is used to express purpose, comparison, condition.

Purpose-infinitive is used withto

I come in to see if I could help you pack.

The infinitive of purpose may occasionally be preceded by the modifiers

In order and so as which emphasize the idea of purpose/

I was silent for a moment in order to give greater force to my next remark.

The infinitive with to may serve as an adverbial modifier of condition. In this case it expresses a condition under which the action of the predicate verb can be realized. To hear him talk you would think he was a celebrity.

The infinitive as modifier of consequence is used with the to we find a peculiar sentence pattern, the first part of which is, had only, had but to…

I had only to look at Mother to know the answer.

Lesson 6

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
If you drop it , it will break.	\|

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.006 сек.