Infinitival Clauses Today we examine the distribution of infinitival clauses, which can be a) the subject of a main clause (1) [to vote for oneself] is objectionable (2) It is objectionable to vote for oneself Note that if the infinitival clause is preverbal you do not need it, but if it is after the main clause, the pronoun it is necessary Note: the distribution of it: it relates to an infinitival subject clause, it is necessary with weather verbs and with impersonal verbs like seem in: it seems that it is going to rain b) the clausal complement of a verb (3) John wants to go c) adverbial modifiers (4) I go to the gym to keep fit d) as a complement to nouns or adjectives (5) It provides an opportunity to broaden your mind He is too anxious to make a good impression We have seen that an infinitival clause can indeed have an overt subject (although this is never marked with nominative, but always with accusative) (6) I want him to do it (7) *I want he to do it These cases have to be distinguished from cases in which an object of the main verb is followed by an infinitival clause, which are possible in Italian as well (ATT: T &M does not distinguish between the two cases): (8) I asked you to do it (9) Ho chiesto a te di farlo (10) I expect you to do it (11) *Mi aspetto tu (di) farlo (12) This extension of the infinitival form coincides in the history of English with the loss of the subjunctive mood. Verbs that usually take an infinitival form with an overt subject often correspond to verbs that take a subjunctive mood in Italian. Notice however, that a subject is always intended, as the following minimal pair of sentences show: 1
(13) John isn't sure whether he should take the exam (14) John isn't sure whether to take the exam Often the intended subject of the infinitival clause is identical to the subject of the main clause, this is however not always the case, as the following example shows: (15) I told John to go home (16) Ho detto a Gianni di andare a casa Notice furthermore that the particle to does not exactly correspond to the Italian particle di (17) John knows where to go (18) *Gianni sa dove di andare (19) John promised not to do it (20) Gianni ha promesso di non farlo (21) He was the first to arrive (22) E stato il primo ad arrivare (23) He rushed home only to find that the door was open (24) Corse a casa solo per scoprire che la porta era aperta A. Verbs that select a bare stem In general modal verbs select a bare stem, while auxiliaries select a participial form. We do not consider here the participle as an independent embedded clause (contrary to several grammars). (25) You may go (26) I can swim (27) He must leave Need and dare can be treated as modal verbs, and as such they do not take to, or as main verbs, and in this case they require to (28) You need not say anything (29) You do not need to say anything Other modal expressions like: would rather, had rather, had better (30) I would rather take a tea (31) I had rather wait (32) You had better think about this Causative verbs like: let and make (33) Let me do this for you (34) He made me finish the letter in two minutes Sensation verbs like feel, hear, see, watch and (optionally) help (35) I heard/saw him lock the door (36) He helped us (to) push the car 2
All these can be considered as semi-auxiliary verbs. Verbs like come and go are used as auxiliaries (and do not take to) only when they are in their infinitival or imperative form (=bare stem), they take a bare infinitive optionally preceded by and (the form without and is colloquial and possibly American English) Come (and) talk to me during my office hours I must go (and) help my mother If there is any inflection, this form is not possible: (37) *He comes talk to me (38) *He is coming talk to me B. Verbs that select an infinitival with to Some verbs only select an infinitival clause and cannot have an overt subject: they are try, attempt, bother, (negative) care (negative), consent, fail, hesitate, manage, neglect, offer, plan, prepare, proceed, tend, trouble (negative) volunteer, do one s best, make an effort, take the trouble (39) I tried to sing (40) *I tried John to sing (41) *I tried that he sings C. Verbs that select an infinitival with to and an overt subject Other verbs require an overt subject in the infinitival clause: (42) I believe John to be a fool (43) I've never known students to like syntax (44) They reported the patients to be in great pain (45) I consider my students to be conscientious Verbs of this type are: believe, suppose, consider, Notice that in the following cases an infinitival form without an overt subject is not possible: (46) *He believes to be a great man (47) *They reported to be in great pain (48) *I consider to be conscientious This is not true for all verbs, there are cases in which both an infinitival form with or without an overt subject are possible: (49) I want to go (50) I hate to arrive late (51) I would like to meet Mary (52) I expect to meet Mary tomorrow 3
(53) I'd like/want John to go now (54) I would love/prefer/expect John to go now Verbs of this class also accept infinitival clauses with for when an adverb intervenes between the main verb and the subject (55) I would like very much for John to go (56) Mary wishes very sincerely for Bill to pass his exam Verbs of this class are: desire, need, wish, (would) prefer/like/loathe/hate C. Verbs that select an inflected clause D. Verbs that select both These verbs can select an inflected or an infinitival clause. They are: appear, agree, claim, decide, demand, determine, be determined, forget, guarantee, happen, learn, pretend, promise, prove, resolve, swear threaten, undertake, turn out, be sure (57) John decided to leave (58) John decided that we should leave at eight (59) John persuaded Mary to resign (60) John persuaded Mary that she should resign Notice that with be sure there is a difference: (61) John is sure to win =it is sure that John will win (62) John is sure that he will win =John is convinced that he will win Similar cases are represented by verbs like seem, result, estimate: (63) John seems to be intelligent = it seems that John is intelligent (64) The vase is estimated to be quite old= it is estimated that the vase is quite old Notice that with these verbs it is impossible to have an infinitival form with an embedded subject (while this is possible with verbs of the believe type): (65) *It seems John to be intelligent (66) I believe John to be intelligent Some of these verbs are used with this construction mainly in their passive form: (67) He is thought to be a liar =it is thought that he is a liar (68) He is known to be honest =it is known that he is honest (69) You are not supposed to cheat at exams (70) John is easy to please =it is easy to please John (71) This car is hard to park =it is hard to park such a big car 4
E. Nouns and adjectives taking an infinitival form Infinitival forms are generally found after nouns and adjectives: (in general these cases correspond to the preposition da) (72) I have something to do tonight (73) I have a flat to let (74) I need someone to talk to (75) Everybody wants something to talk about Notice that in these cases the preposition looks similar to the preposition stranding cases we found in relative clauses (a man who I can talk to) Distinction: I have books to read (deontic or possibility reading) I have sheets to be mended (only deontic meaning) Adjectives like the following can take an infinitival form when followed by the PP by+pronoun It is nice of you not to talk during my class It is clever of you to listen to me when I am talking It is lovely to see how he has changed over the last months It is easy for you to talk like that He found it easy to talk like that Wise, kind, good, nice, honest, generous, cowardly, selfish, silly, stupid, wicked etc. Note that ALL of these are evaluative adjectives Evaluative adjectives can also be used with a copula and followed by an noun: (76) It is a horrible night to be out with this weather (77) This is a strange thing to say in front of him Adjectives expressing emotions also take an infinitival clause: (78) Nice to meet you (79) He is glad to see me Other adjectives can be turned into evaluative by adding enough: (80) You are old enough to understand (81) The ice was thick enough to walk on Notice the following (once again evaluative) expressions: (82) He was so foolish as to come by car to Treviso on Monday morning 5
(83) She was wise enough to leave her car at home (84) Would you be so kind as to print this for me? Tense of the infinitival forms A continuous form can be used with the same value of continuous inflected forms: after modals (85) He must be coming by bus this morning (86) He might be waiting for you after verbs like: appear, seem, pretend, happen, NB pretend does not mean pretendere, but far finta! He pretended to be taking notes He appeared to be living in the area He happened to be eating when he arrived After verbs like: hope, promise, agree, decide, determine, plan undertake I hope to be lying in the sun next week He planned to be standing at the door to let them in A perfect infinitive (and a perfect continuous) form is used: after modal verbs (87) You should have helped her (=but you did not) (88) You might have thought about this (=but you did not) (89) I could have climbed that mountain when I was young, now it is too late (90) You needn t have prepared all this (but you did) (91) He might have come while we were out (it is possible) (92) He can t have been so horrible to you (93) He must have been in the States recently after pretend, happen, appear, seem (94) He appears to have done a big mistake in firing you (95) I happen to have been here before After the passive form of believe, acknowledge, consider, find, know, report, say, suppose, think, understand (96) He is understood to have left the country (97) He is known to have been a gambler 6