Infinitives Ed McCorduck English 402--Grammar SUNY Cortland http://mccorduck.cortland.edu

slide 2: definition of the infinitive An infinitive is a phrase consisting of the base form of a verb (see slide 7 of the chapter 2 “Form Classes” lecture) preceded by to. exx to go to bore to sing to procrastinate English 402: Grammar

slide 3: split infinitives Often an adverb or adverbial phrase can occur between the to and the base verb in an infinitive. Such constructions are called split infinitives, and these are normally considered “incorrect” in prescriptive grammar. English 402: Grammar

slide 4: examples of split infinitives to boldly go to never surrender to very carefully disarm to nearly always fail “corrected” split infinitives to go boldly/boldly to go never to surrender/ ?to surrender never to disarm very carefully/ very carefully to disarm to fail nearly always/ nearly always to fail English 402: Grammar

slide 5: infinitives as adverbials and infinitive phrases Infinitives can function as adverbials, often to express reason or purpose (i.e., answering the question “Why?”). When infinitives are used as adverbials, they often appear in larger phrases called infinitive phrases which consist of the infinitive plus any slots and modifiers that appear in the equivalent sentence patterns. English 402: Grammar

They panhandle to survive. infinitive functioning as an adverbial slide 6: examples of infinitives and infinitive phrases used as adverbials exx They panhandle to survive. infinitive functioning as an adverbial (answers the question “Why?”) He bought some pills to sleep better at night. (to sleep – infinitive) infinitive phrase functioning as an adverbial (answers the question “Why?” or “For what purpose?”) English 402: Grammar

slide 7: more examples of infinitive phrases used as adverbials He bought some pills to poison his wife. (to poison – infinitive) infinitive phrase functioning as an adverbial (answers the question “Why?” or “For what purpose?”) She skipped the country to dodge her creditors. (to dodge – infinitive) (answers the question “Why?” or “For what reason?” English 402: Grammar

slide 8: infinitives with in order When an infinitive functions as an adverbial, in order may be inserted before the to. exx They panhandle to survive. ⇒ They panhandle in order to survive. He bought some pills to sleep better at night. ⇒ He bought some pills in order to sleep better at night. She skipped the country to dodge her creditors. ⇒ She skipped the country in order to dodge her creditors. English 402: Grammar

⇒ *Chauncey loves in order to eat. slide 9: example of when you can’t put in order before an infinitive (not adverbiial) but Chauncey loves to eat. ⇒ *Chauncey loves in order to eat. (ungrammatical if the infinitive is not adverbial, i.e., if the meaning is not that Chauncey is a member of “the oldest profession” which provides him his only means of sustenance) English 402: Grammar

slide 10: Reed-Kellogg diagrams of sentences with infinitives In Reed-Kellogg diagrams, adverbial infinitives are diagrammed like other adverbials, i.e., they appear after the vertical subject/predicate dividing line and under the main horizontal line, attached to it by a slanting line on which is written the to of the infinitive and which goes to a parallel horizontal line containing the base verb. English 402: Grammar

Reed-Kellogg diagram of We stopped to smoke: slide 11: example of a Reed-Kellogg diagram of a sentence with an infinitive Reed-Kellogg diagram of We stopped to smoke: English 402: Grammar

slide 12: Reed-Kellogg diagramming of infinitive phrases If the sentence contains not a simple infinitive but an infinitive phrase, the diagram will depend on the sentence pattern of the infinitive phrase. For example, the diagram of the Pattern VI sentence He sleeps better is: English 402: Grammar

slide 13: derivation of infinitive phrases from full sentences When this Pattern VI sentence is “converted” into an infinitive phrase, it is diagrammed in its containing sentence with the same predicate slots (but no overt subject) along with the verb in the base form and a slanted line with the to of the infinitive as described in slides 10 and 11 above. Hence, here is the diagram of the sentence He took pills to sleep better: English 402: Grammar

slide 14: example of a Reed-Kellogg diagram of a sentence with an infinitive phrase English 402: Grammar

slide 15: example of a Pattern VII sentence and Reed-Kellogg diagram of it As another example, consider the diagram of the Pattern VII sentence We relieved ourselves (in which the reflexive pronoun ourselves is the dir obj): English 402: Grammar

slide 16: another example of the derivation of an infinitive phrase from a full sentence Here is the Reed-Kellogg diagram of the sentence We stopped to relieve ourselves in which the Pattern VII sentence illustrated in the previous slide has been converted to an infinitive phrase with this phrase retaining ourselves as the dir obj (indicated as always by the half vertical line), in this case of the infinitive to relieve: English 402: Grammar