A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

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12/8/2017
Unit: 11: Infinitive usages
3. Infinitive Phrases
Modal verbs, as you have already learned, are accompanied by a dependent
infinitive without zu (to) because the “to” is inherent in the modal: Er muß gehen
(He has to go). However, both English and German employ common verbs such as
“to begin,” that we use with a dependent infinitive (“It begins to rain.”). Likewise,
adding a bit more complexity, both English and German use dependent infinitives
that have their own predicates (“It is his plan to develop a new engine.”).
a. Verbs with infinitives and zu
Heute beginnt es zu schneien.
Today it (begins / is beginning) to snow.
Wir haben beschlossen, unsere Ferien in Deutschland zu verbringen.
We have decided to spend our holiday in Germany.
Der Ingenieur versucht, einen neuen Plan zu entwickeln.
The engineer is trying to develop a new plan.
The dependent infinitive stands, as usual, in final position in the sentence, but
it is preceded by a zu. If the dependent infinitive involves an entire phrase, as
in our second and third examples, this phrase is separated from the main
clause by a comma. Note that the structure of longer infinitive phrases appears
to an English speaker to be in reverse order.
When the dependent infinitive is a separable-prefix verb, the zu appears
between the prefix and the stem of the verb, as in:
Er vergaß, das Fenster aufzumachen.
He forgot to open the window.
Modal verbs can also appear in these constructions:
Ich hoffe, eines Tages deutsche Zeitungen ohne Wörterbuch lesen zu
können.
I hope to be able to read German newspapers without a dictionary
someday.