1. Infinitives Ed McCorduck English 402--Grammar SUNY Cortland

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. ⇒ *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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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

16. 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