English Reference Book

5. Infinite Verbs. An infinite verb is a verb that has no subject. The 3 main types arethe infinitive, the gerund and the participle.a. Infinitive. The infinitive is the basic part of a verb from which tenses and otherparts are constructed; in English, the simple infinitive is often preceded by to (to fly,to be, to serve). An infinitival phrase is a phrase commencing with an infinitive (‘Toquote a good example, …‘):(1) The Noun Infinitive. The noun infinitive can be used in any way in whichnouns are used:(a) Subject.(b) Object.‘To succeed is satisfying.’‘The novice wanted to learn.’(c) Complement.‘He appears to be fit.’(2) The Qualifying Infinitive. The qualifying infinitive may be used in anyway in which an adjective or adverb is used and sometimes parenthetically or topreface a question:(a) Adverb.‘He came to see the display.’(b) Adjective after Noun.‘They obtained a carpet to match the walls.’(c) Adjective after Adjective.‘The police dog is quick to react.’(d) Parenthesis.‘I am, to tell the truth, ready for a posting.’(e) Question Preface.‘To return to the agenda, what is the next Item?’(3) The Modifying Infinitive. When an infinitive is used to modify, it must belogically related to the word or idea it modifies; otherwise a dangling (unrelated)or misrelated infinitive results. For example, in the construction ‘To avoid resupplyproblems, the expedition fuel should not be used’, the ‘fuel’ appears to bethe agent doing the avoiding. The construction can be improved in 2 ways:(a) Convert the main sentence to the active form with the correct subject(‘To avoid re-supply problems, we should not use the expedition fuel.’).(b) Add the correct subject to the infinitive (‘For us to avoid re-supplyproblems, the expedition fuel should not be used.’).(4) The General Rule. The general rule is that the subject of a qualifyinginfinitive (except where the infinitive is used absolutely) should be expressed if itis different from the subject of the main clause, but omitted if it is the same:(a) Same Subject.pass examinations’).‘To pass examinations, we study hard.’ (‘We wish to4-3