The Infinitive as Object

§ 186. The infinitive may be used as an object of a verb. It is
lexically dependent in this function. We find it after the following
verbs: to agree, to arrange, to ask (=to request), to attempt, to be-
gin, to care (=to like), to cease, to choose (=to prefer), to claim,
to come (=to begin), to consent, to continue, to decide, to deserve,
to determine, to expect, to fail, to fear, to forget, to go on, to
hate, to help, to hesitate, to hope, to intend, to learn, to like, to
long, to love, to manage, to mean, to need, to neglect, to offer, to
omit, to plan, to prefer, to pretend, to promise, to propose (=to in-
tend), to refuse, to regret, to remember, to start, to swear, to
tend, to threaten, to try, to want, to wish and some others.

e.g. They had arranged to visit the laboratory the next day.
Margaret continued to visit Jack in hospital.
I came to know him well towards the end of the war.
Do you mean to say he actually approves of it?
He did not propose to forgive this time.
He did not want to be left alone.
I pretended not to be listening.
She claims to have read his diary.

In addition to the verbs mentioned above, the infinitive as an
object is used after the modal phrases can afford and can bear in
their negative and interrogative forms,
e.g. Some say we cannot afford to do it. I say, we cannot afford

not to do it.

Can you afford to go on such an expensive trip?
I couldn't bear to damage him.

The infinitive is also used after the set phrases to make up
one's mind, to take care, to take the trouble, to make sure, and
some others.

e.g. I took care to ask Strickland nothing about his own doings.
The next day he made sure to buy a copy of the newspaper.
With all the verbs mentioned above the infinitive is used with
the particle to (see the examples above). The only exception is the
verb to help which may be followed by an infinitive with or with
out to.

e.g. Helen will help to make tea.

I'm sure you will help talk her out of it.

The subject of the infinitive in this function is the same as
that of the predicate verb (see the examples above).

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 214 and 237.)

§ 187. The infinitive may also be used as an object of an adjec-
tive. It is lexically dependent in this case. It is used after various
kinds of adjectives: adjectives proper, predicative adjectives and
adjectivized participles. The most commonly occurring of them
are: (un)able, afraid, aghast, amused, annoyed, anxious, apt,
ashamed, astonished, bound, careful, certain, content, crazy, curi-
ous, delighted, determined, difficult, disposed, distressed, due, ea-
ger, easy, entitled, fit, fortunate, free, frightened, furious, glad,
grateful, good, happy, hard, helpless, horrified, impatient, inclined,
interested, keen, liable, (un)likely, lucky, moved, obliged, pleased,
(im)possible, powerless, prepared, proud, puzzled, quick, ready, re-
lieved, reluctant, resolved, right, safe, scared, set {= determined),
slow, sorry, sufficient, sure, surprised, thankful, touched, useless,
(un)willing, (un)wise, wonderful, worthy, wrong, etc.

e.g. He's still very anxious to see you.
I am curious to know the news.
He would be crazy not to do so.
I felt reluctant to go out.
His next book is sure to be worthless.
Dinner was ready to be served.

The subject is now not likely to be raised during the talks.
I am sorry to have done you harm.

The infinitive is always preceded by to in this function.

Adjectives having infinitives as objects are generally used in
the function of a predicative after the link-verb to be (see the ex-
amples above). Other link-verbs are also possible, though they are

infrequent.

e.g.- He seemed glad to have me there.

I found them getting ready to go out.

In a vast majority of cases the subject of the infinitive is the
person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence (see the ex-

amples above). However, when the infinitive follows the adjec-
tives difficult, easy, good, hard, wonderful, the subject of the sen-
tence becomes the object of the action expressed by the infinitive.

e.g. Their language was not difficult to understand.

She was not easy to discourage.

I was angry because he was so hard to persuade.

The apples were good to eat.

Occasionally a for-phrase is used to indicate the subject of the
infinitive,
e.g. He was impatient for me to meet them.

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

I am prepared for everyone to accuse me of being foolish.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 215, 217 and 238.)

§ 188. The infinitive as object may be part of a phrase intro-
duced by the conjunction whether or one of the following conjunc-
tive pronouns or adverbs: what, who, whom, which, when, where,
how and how long.

e.g. I did not at all know what to say.
I don't know who else to ask.
Neither of us knew when to begin.
He had come away, not knowing where to turn or what to do.

As most of the conjunctive words begin with wh-, this kind of
infinitive group may be called the wh -phrase. The infinitive in the
phrase is always preceded by to.

As is seen from the above examples, the wh-phrase serves as
an object of a verb. It usually occurs after the verb to know (see
the examples above). Yet it may also follow some other verbs and
set phrases, e.g. to advise, to decide, to make up one's mind, to
wonder and some others.

e.g. He could not decide whether to speak or not.

I couldn't make up my mind whether to accept the offer.
I stood wondering how to stop the fight.

I'll ask my travel agent. He advises me what to buy and
where to go.

As is known, infinitives generally do not serve as prepo-
sitional objects. However, the wh-phrase is occasionally found as
a prepositional object of a verb or a set phrase.

e.g. As we talked of where to meet, I noticed something unusual

in his tone.
Whether he had changed his mind about what to say I did

not know.
She gave us orders about how long to stay there.

In most cases the subject of the infinitive in this function is
the same as that of the predicate verb; occasionally it is expressed
by some secondary part of the sentence (see the examples above).

Although the wh-phrase is not in frequent use, it is not re-
stricted stylistically.

Note. The wh-phrase may, in theory, have all the functions of the infinitive in
the sentence. But actually it mainly occurs as an object to the verb to know. Here,
however, are some examples of the wh-phrase in other functions:

e.g. a) as an object to an adjective: No one seemed sure how to act.

b) as a predicative: The main problem is, of course, where to go.

c) as an attribute: I don't remember that I ever received any instruction on

how to put sentences together.

§ 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.

The most commonly occurring verbs after which the infinitive
is used in this function are: to amaze, to annoy, to cause, to com-
fort, to delight, to distress, to enrage, to excite, to frighten, to
hurt, to interest, to irritate, to mean, to occur, to please, to puz-
zle, to shock, to soothe, to startle, to stir, to surprise, to trouble,
to upset, to worry and some others.

The verbs in this sentence pattern are usually followed by
some other objects (direct, indirect or prepositional) which pre-
cede the infinitive.

e-g. In those days my experience of life at first hand was small,
and it excited me to come upon an incident.

It did not annoy him to live always in the same shabby room.

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

It never occurred to him to pretend that he had no influence

on events.

Besides, there are a number of set phrases which are in com
mon use and are treated as verb equivalents. They are all differ-
ent in structure and in meaning. But since they have the function
of the predicate in the sentence they are best to be classed as verb
equivalents and treated here.

e.g. It does me good to watch her playing with the other children.
It couldn't do any harm to take her out of town.
It will take a long time to talk over the whole of it with you.
It took several days for her to fully realize it.
A porter's voice informed them that it was time to board the

train.

One morning it was his turn to cook breakfast.
Mr Brooke said it was up to the girl to decide whether or not

to accept the invitation.

The infinitive is always preceded by to in this function.
The subject of the infinitive in most cases is the person denot-
ed by the noun (or pronoun) object following the verb.

e.g. It would interest him to hear about it.
It didn't occur to me to ask him about it.
(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 218 and 239.)

§ 190. In a sentence pattern with it as a formal subject, the in-
finitive (with the particle to) as object is also found after a con-
siderable number of adjectives, adjectivized participles and ing-
forms. The most commonly occurring of them are: absurd, advisable.
amazing, astonishing, awful, awkward, bad, careless, characteristic,
charming, complicated, convenient, correct, cruel, curious, custom-
ary, dangerous, decent, delightful, desirable, difficult, dull, easy,
embarrassing, enough, essential, fair, fine, foolish, funny, futile
good, hard, helpful, (dis)honourable, horrid, important, insulting
interesting, intolerable, jolly, (un)just, kind, late, marvellous-
monstrous, naive, (un)natural, (un)necessary, nice, normal, odd-
pleasant, (im)possible, preposterous, proper, queer, (un)reasonable
remarkable, ridiculous, right, sad, safe, satisfying, sensible, shock

ing, silly, splendid, strange, stupid, sufficient, suitable, surprising,
sweet, terrible, typical, unbearable, useful, useless, vital, wicked,
(un)wise, wonderful, wrong, etc.

e.g. It's a little late to admit it, I know.

It was surprising to hear how strong his voice sounded.

It's stupid to fall asleep like this, it gives you a headache.

It's wrong to hurt people.

It was unwise to be rude to David.

It's unusual to meet a shy girl nowadays.

It's important to remember the figures.

Note. It should be mentioned that it is worth while is normally followed by an
infinitive object whereas it is worth is modified by an ing-form object (see "Verbs",
§219).

e.g. It might be worth while to mention that there is a train soon after 5.

Do you think it would be worth while to open a shop somewhere else in the
neighbourhood?

The subject of the infinitive in this sentence pattern is usually
associated with every or any person or an indefinite number of
unidentified persons (see the examples above). Yet it is not un-
usual for the infinitive object in this sentence pattern to have a
subject of its own. In this case the infinitive far-phrase is used.

e.g. It was rare for him to go out to dinner.

It's very good for them to have an older man with plenty of
experience to come to for advice.

"Of course," said Mont, "it's natural for young men to be in-
terested in politics."

It was necessary for her to earn her living as quickly as she
could.

The peculiar feature of this sentence pattern is that the infini-
tive and its subject can be introduced by the preposition of.

e.g. "It's kind of you to come," she said.
It was inconsiderate of her to ask that.

He thought it was wrong of him to go off forever and leave
his mother all on her own.

(For comparison with the ing-form see §§ 219 and 239.)

§ 191. The infinitive as object of an adjective is sometimes
found in a sentence pattern with it as a formal object of some
verbs. They are commonly the verbs to feel, to find, to make and to
think.

e.g. I find it difficult to believe that anyone can be that lazy.

Yet I found it necessary to tell him that I had been in touch

with Mont.

I had thought it impolite to smoke a cigar in her presence.
He felt it natural to accept hospitality.
His anger made it impossible for us to continue the conversation.

For the means of expressing the subject of the action denoted
by the infinitive see "Verbs", § 166. (For comparison with the ing
form see §§219 and 220.)

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