Infinitives Ed McCorduck English 402--Grammar SUNY Cortland

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 singto procrastinate slide 2: definition of the infinitive English 402: Grammar

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. slide 3: split infinitives English 402: Grammar

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

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. slide 5: infinitives as adverbials and infinitive phrases English 402: Grammar

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?”) slide 6: examples of infinitives and infinitive phrases used as adverbials English 402: Grammar

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) infinitive phrase functioning as an adverbial (answers the question “Why?” or “For what reason?” slide 7: more examples of infinitive phrases used as adverbials English 402: Grammar

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. slide 8: infinitives with in order English 402: Grammar

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) slide 9: example of when you can’t put in order before an infinitive (not adverbiial) English 402: Grammar

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. slide 10: Reed-Kellogg diagrams of sentences with infinitives English 402: Grammar

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

slide 12: Reed-Kellogg diagramming of infinitive phrases English 402: Grammar 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:

slide 13: derivation of infinitive phrases from full sentences English 402: Grammar 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:

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 English 402: Grammar As another example, consider the diagram of the Pattern VII sentence We relieved ourselves (in which the reflexive pronoun ourselves is the dir obj):

slide 16: another example of the derivation of an infinitive phrase from a full sentence English 402: Grammar 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: