Gerunds, Infinitives and Participles
 
Compounding and Coordination
 
Subordination
 
Subordinate Adverb Clauses
 
Subordinate Noun Clauses
 
Subordinate Adjective Clauses
 
Reduced Subordinate Clauses
 
Focus Structures
 
Logical Connectors

 

Sentence Complexity and Embedding

Gerunds, Infinitives and Participles

Activity 12.5: Answers

Exercise A: Underline the infinitives and analyze their structures.

1. To work until 5:00 is common in the US.
2. I like for Sharon to cook dinner early on Sundays.
3. To cook well means that the food doesn’t come out of cans.
4. It tired the participants to run for a long time.
5. I was content to nap in the sun.
6. The dean is the person to sign your graduation form.
7. To argue constantly really hurt their relationship.
9. For him to say that really made me mad.

Exercise B: Underline the infinitives in these sentences and analyze their structures.

1. I hope not to get a bad grade on the test.
2. I hope not to be driving at sunset.
3. I hope not to be hit by another car.
4. For the world to have eradicated small pox is a great accomplishment.
5. For the world not to have eradicated polio is a disappointment.
6. For the world not to have been destroyed by nuclear weapons is great.

Features of Infinitive Structure:

Infinitives can take verb modifiers (adverbs, prespositional phrases), but not noun modifiers (adjectives, quantifiers, determiners).
Infinitives can have their own complements (direct object, indirect object).
Infinitives can have an agent but it must be identified as the object of he preposition for.
Infinitives can be negative and can take aspect and voice.

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