INFINITIVES.

Read again par. 24, and work again Exercise 24, a.

320. Besides the simple Infinitive, as to make, there are others, some Active and some Passive. The complete list is as follows:

Active Voice:

Present Infinitive, to make (to be making).

Perfect Infinitive, to have made (to have been making). Passive Voice: "

Present Infinitive, to be made.

Perfect Infinitive, to have been made.

321. An Infinitive may be used as Subject, Attribute, or Object in a sentence, or as the object of a Preposition, thus:

Pick out the Infinitives and say how they are used.

The

The traveler promised to return. I mean to write home. girl intends to call. Do you know how to hold a pen? The vessel is

1 The word Present, in grammar, means, "showing action as going on now, at the present time." In the case of Verbals, however, the term Present is, as we shall learn (see page 159, par. 347, Note), not strictly accurate.

2 The word Perfect, in grammar, means, “showing finished or completed (perfected) action."

3 Only Transitive Verbs have Passive Infinitives. An Intransitive Verb, as look, has only to look (to be looking), to have looked (to have been looking).

about to sail. The father hopes to meet his son.

The workman tries to work. To succeed is pleasing. To err is human, to forgive [is] divine. It is sometimes better to remain silent. To move is to stir, and to be valiant is to stand. The dog is to be shot. Harry is beginning to learn Greek. Mrs. Brown is teaching her girls to sew. If you wish to master a language you ought to work hard. The poor mother refused to be comforted. The general tried to take the town. It is good to confess a fault. He is to be shot. To travel is to know the world. You are to be praised for that. He seems to be following us. Nothing could be done for the animal but to kill him.

Read again par. 25, and work again Exercise 24, b.

322. Some Verbs are followed by the Infinitive without to. The most common of these Verbs are

(a) The Auxiliary Verbs: be, have, do, shall, will, may, can, must, might, could, would, should (see pars. 12, 14, 20, and 315);

(b) Other Verbs, of which the following are the most common: bid, dare, help, let, make, need, please, see, watch, feel, hear.

Who saw him die? I heard Mary sing. Let us haste away. The keeper makes the lion obey. You need not fear that the mother will forget her children. The messenger need not wait. You must watch

1 NOTE.-An Auxiliary joined to an Infinitive is regarded as making with it simply one Verb.

me write this. That man dared swim a mile from the shore. Few men dare face a furious bull. Bid the servant come here. I saw the merchant fall on the pavement. We felt the wind blow on our cheeks. Let us go home at once. They bid me fetch aid.

Let the long, long procession go,

And let the sorrowing crowd about it go,

And let the mournful martial music blow.

323. Besides taking the places of Nouns (as Subjects, Objects, etc.) Infinitives are frequently used as Adjectives, limiting Nouns ; or as Adverbs.

Infinitives used as Adjectives:

It is time to go (i.e. “going or leaving time ").

He is a man to honor (i.e. "honorable man, or man worthy of honor").

We have the intention to succeed ("to succeed" tells what kind of intention).

Infinitives used as Adverbs:

(a) Modifying Verbs:

He called to see you (called why ?).

The minister came, only to find you had gone away (came with what result?).

I was going to repeat my remarks (going or moving toward what action, or whither ?).

(6) Modifying Adjectives:

It is late to return.

We were sorry to part.

(c) Modifying Adverbs:

You are not tall enough to reach that (to reach modifies the
Adverb enough-enough for what?).

I am too tired to talk (to talk modifies the Adverb too-too
tired for what?).

(d) Modifying a statement:

He is, to be sure, a skillful oarsman. (To be sure modifies the

324. A Subject of an Infinitive is sometimes expressed; as, They want me to carry the basket.

It is high time for us to be going.

In the first of these sentences me is not the Object of the Verb want (they do not want "me"); what they want is the carrying of the basket by me. So in the second sentence, it is not time for us, but for our going. "To carry" is the Object of "want," and "to be going" is the Object of the Preposition "for."

325. The Subject of an Infinitive is in the Objective Case.

326. An Infinitive may, like a Verb, take an Object or an Attribute after it, or be modified by an Adverb. Examples: It is too warm to read a book (Object).

The boy tries to be good (Adjective Attribute).

The child is pretending to be a horse (Noun Attribute).

You must learn to run more swiftly (Adverb).

327. An Infinitive with its Subject (if expressed), its Adjuncts (if any), and its Object or its Attribute (if any) forms an Infinitive Phrase.

Exercise 151.

Pick out the Infinitives in the following sentences, and tell how each is used.

He is a man to swear by. We are apt to be mistaken. I am going to swim. Charles wants to leave now. Why do you ask me to read? Do you wish to have me with you? When are we to have dinner? I hope to be there. I wonder to see you here. What is to be done about it? They were glad to see us. The Davises are about to leave for the summer. When are you to go? It is time to be dismissed. To go a-fishing is my favorite sport. You are to be congratulated on your speech. That is too good to be true. How soon shall you be old enough to vote? I did not know whether to go or not. I do not understand how to parse that word. Let me show you. That is a strange remark to have been made by such a man.

149

PARTICIPLES.

Read again par. 57, and work again Exercise 54.

328. Every Verb has two chief Participles, the Present and the Perfect.'

329. The Present Participle is always formed by adding -ing to the Verb; as, work, work-ing; play, play-ing; read, read-ing.

The spelling of the Verb is sometimes changed a little before the -ing is added.

(1) When a Verb ends in e after a consonant, the e is dropped; as love, lov-ing; convince, convinc-ing; make, mak-ing.

A Verb ending in e not after a consonant does not change; hie, hieing; hoe, hoe-ing; see, see-ing.

Note, however, die, dy-ing; lie, ly-ing.

(2) When a Verb of one syllable ends in a single consonant with a single vowel before it the consonant is doubled; as, rob, robb-ing; sin, sinn-ing; bud, budd-ing.

This rule also applies to Verbs of more than one syllable when the accent falls on the last syllable; as, rebel, rebell-ing; commit, committ-ing.

Exercise 152.

Write the Present Participles of

a. Beat.

Break. Speak. Steal. Drink. Sing. Swear. Tread. Ring. Shrink. Spring. Blow. Grow. Know. Throw. Slay. Fly. Buy. Saw. Sow. Lay.

b. Weave. Choose. Freeze. Strike. Drive. Give. Rise. Smite. Shake. Stride. Thrive. Write. Take. Bite. Chide. Hide. Slide. Seethe.

c. See. Flee. Shoe. Hoe. Hie. Eye. Agree. Dye.

d. Bid. Spin. Spit. Get. Win. Run. Cut. Hit. Knit. Put. Shed. Shut. Split. Beg. Bet. Blot. Brag. Cram. Swim.

1 See notes to par. 320. The Present Participle is called by some grammarians the Imperfect, and by some the Active; the Perfect Participle is also called the Past and the Passive. Participles can be Active or Passive only when the Verb is Transitive.