Adverbial modifier of result

Most often we find the infinitive denoting result in structures with too and enough:

a) too and the infinitive can form the following structures:

• She is too happy to say a word.

• He is too sensible a driver to take risks.

• Joan is too much of a bore to let it pass unnoticed.

• The bag is far/much too heavy for her to lift.

Notes:

1) We can use far or much before too for emphasis.

2) Mind the word order in structures like too sensible a driver.

3) Note that the infinitive is followed by a preposition if the verb requires one:

• The room is too cold to stay in.

b) enough and the infinitive form the following structures:

• He is a careful enough driver not to take risks.

• She was foolish enough to refuse.

• The eggs are not good enough to make an omelette with.

• There is not enough proof yet for us to make such sweeping
conclusions.

Verbals

Note that the subject is never repeated after a preposition. It would be incorrect to say, for example:

* The eggs are not good enough to make an omelette with them.
Note also that there exists a structure like He is enough of an optimist
not to take it seriously, but it is not very common and it is better to
express the same idea with He is too much of an optimist to take it
seriously.

In questions it is normal to use such/so... as + the infinitive to express result:

• Was he such a fool (so foolish) as to refuse? The infinitive denotes result in the common request:

• Would you be so kind as to help me?

There are also some other structures with such... as + the infinitive:

• The case for the prosecution was such as to convince the whole of the jury.

• The system can be changed in such a way as to meet all the above-mentioned requirements.

Adverbial modifier of comparison

The infinitive as an adverbial modifier of comparison is introduced by the conjunctions as if and as though:

• She answered sharply as if to challenge him.

• As though to remind him, the clock began to chime.

Adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances

The infinitive in this function expresses a sequel to the event expressed by the finite verb. There are two types of structures found here:

a) with only — to introduce something which happens immediately
and which you find surprising or unfortunate:

• I finally found my watch, only to discover that it had stopped.

' They came to the shore, only to discover that all their things had been stolen.

b) without only:

• She came to the hospital to be told that her husband was better.

МинченковА. Г.

Verbals

 

Note: In modern English this use is mostly confined to such verbs as find, learn, hear, see, be told, etc., as otherwise there may be a confusion between this function and the infinitive to denote purpose. Consider the following example:

• She went to London to stay there for a year.

There are two possible interpretations here:

• She went to London in order to stay there.

• She went to London and stayed there.

 

PARENTHESIS

Certain infinitive phrases can function as parenthesis. These phrases

include:

to start with to tell you the truth

so to speak to be more exact

not to speak of to say nothing (the least) of

to be (perfectly) frank to put it mildly/simply/briefly

to be honest needless to say

to be fair to cut a long story short

Needless to say, it infuriated him.

Her comments were tactless, to say the least.

THE SPLIT INFINITIVE

If we have an adverb modifying the infinitive, it is usually placed after the infinitive, or after the object, if there is one:

• He tried to leave quietly.

• We will have to do it immediately.

However, it is rather common for some people to put the adverb between the infinitive and its to in informal speech:

• She is too honest to even think of that.

• He promised to really try.

This phenomenon is called the split infinitive. There are linguists who disapprove of this use, saying that it is incorrect. On the whole, it is safer not to split the infinitive, and in many cases we can avoid it:

• He wanted them to quickly make up their minds (=>'He wanted
them to make up their minds quickly').

Yet, there are sentences in which the split infinitive is the only possible variant, for otherwise we would have to change the meaning:

• Perhaps you would tell them to kindly stop it.

THE GERUND

The term gerund is controversial and should be clarified from the beginning. Some grammarians do not distinguish between the gerund and participle I and speak about the -ing form. The Collins Cobuild English Grammar (London 1995) prefers the term -ing noun to gerund. There are grammars which use the term gerund, but the functions of the gerund are not the same from one grammar to another. In this grammar we do not use the term -ing form and distinguish between the gerund and participle I, which, in spite of having the same form, function differently in a sentence. The gerund is close to a noun (pronoun) and has many nominal features, while participle I is close to an adjective and has adjectival features. Therefore, some of the functions of the gerund and participle I do not coincide. Thus, the gerund, unlike participle I, can function as subject and object. As to the functions of attribute and adverbial modifier, the gerund, when used in these functions, is always introduced by a preposition, while participle I is either introduced by a conjunction (adverbial modifier of comparison and concession) or by nothing at all (attribute, adverbial modifier of time, cause, manner). The only functions in which participle I and gerund can be confused are those of the predicative and complex object. Compare:

• His behaviour was annoying (participle).

• What she liked most was listening to the music (gerund).

• We saw him leaving by the back door (participle I in a con­struction).

• We saw his leaving by the back door as something strange (gerund in a construction).

The difference between participle I and gerund in these examples is clear. It should be noted that the present participle, unlike the gerund, can never be preceded by a possessive (compare him and his in the constructions).

 

МинченковА. Г.

Verbals

 

The gerund is so close to the noun that it can be easily confused with it.

Compare:

• The counting of votes will take a lot of time [verbal noun].

• Counting votes will take a lot of time [gerund].

Note the use of the definite article and the preposition of with the verbal noun.

FORMS

In modern English the gerund has the following forms

INDEFINITE ACTIVE GERUND: reading

• I like reading.

PERFECT ACTIVE GERUND: having read

• He admitted having stolen the ring.

INDEFINITE PASSIVE GERUND: being read

• She insisted on being treated with respect.

PERFECT PASSIVE GERUND: having been read

т.

• He recalled having been taken for a foreigner once.

The use of the perfect gerund, both active and passive, is very often unnecessary, for the time relationship of gerunds is normally clear from the context:

• They reported seeing the murderer (= They reported having
seen the murderer).

However, with a number of verbs we often find a perfect gerund, although an indefinite gerund would be sufficient. These verbs include: admit, celebrate, deny, mention, recall. Thus, Mary denied having seen him is often preferred to Mary denied seeing him.

Sometimes the use of a perfect gerund becomes necessary, it happens when we specially want to emphasize that the action expressed by the gerund precedes the one expressed by the finite verb. Compare:

• He admitted having had the intention to assassinate the prime-minister (= 'He admitted that once he had had this intention').

• He admitted having the intention to assassinate the prime-minister (= 'He admitted he still had this intention').

2. STRUCTURES WITH THE GERUND

The Gerund can be used:

a) singly: • He was intent on winning.

b) in a phrase: • She left without saying good-bye.

c) in a construction: • Mr. Smith was against the girls

Getting married.

In a gerundial construction the gerund is in predicate relation to a noun or a pronoun. The construction is used to indicate a change of reference from the subject of the finite verb to smb/smth else, that is the subject of the sentence is not identical with the subject performing the action denoted by the gerund. The nominal elements of the construction can be expressed:

1) by a noun in the common case. The possessive of nouns is used
mostly in formal style when the noun phrase has personal reference.
The possessive is avoided in informal style and when the noun
phrase is lengthy:

• Do you remember people of different social classes protesting
against the new bill?

2) by a pronoun in the objective case or by a possessive pronoun,
which are more or less interchangeable, the object pronoun being
more informal:

• I dislike him/his coming here every day.

3) by various other pronouns: all, that, this, both, each, something,
etc.:

• She insisted on both of them being wrong.

 

МинченковА. Г. 3. FUNCTIONS

SUBJECT

We begin the sentence with a gerund when we want to focus on what it expresses. On the whole, the gerund is more often used at the beginning of a sentence than the infinitive and not only in formal English:

• Working with him was fun.

Still, it is more common to introduce the gerund with the help of it.

• It was great fun skiing.

• It was difficult persuading him.

Structures like the last one are rather common in informal English, more common than similar structures with the infinitive.

There are a few fixed phrases which begin with the introductory it and are followed by the gerund as the real subject:

it is fun

it is no/little use

it is no good

it is (not) worth

• It is no use your worrying about me.

• I don't think it is worth working so hard.

• It is worth paying attention to what he says.

•

A single gerund as subject can also be introduced by there to form the following structures:

• There is no knowing what he is up to. • There is no denying his talent.

• There is no telling which of them will finish first.

3.2. PREDICATIVE

• Her only fun was reading books.

Verbals