A assume, believe, consider, feel, know, suppose, understand

can be followed by object + to be:

I consider him to be the best candidate. But it is much more common to use that + an ordinary tense:

I consider that he is the best candidate.

With think, estimate and presume the object + infinitive construction is extremely rare, a that-clause being normally used instead:

/ think that he is the best player.

It is estimated that this vase is 2,000 years old.

В When, however, these verbs are used in the passive they are more often followed by an infinitive than by the that construction: He is known to be honest = It is known that he is honest. He is thought to be the best player = It is thought that he is... This vase is estimated to be 2,000 years old.

С Note, however, that suppose when used in the passive often conveys an idea of duty:

You are supposed to know the laws of your own country = It is your duty to know/You are expected to know..

.

D The continuous infinitive can also be used:

He is thought to be hiding in the woods. (People think he is hiding.) He is supposed to be washing the car. (He should be washing it.)

E When the thought concerns a previous action we use the perfect infinitive:

They are believed to have landed in America. (It is believed that they landed.)

suppose + perfect infinitive may or may not convey an idea of duty. They are supposed to have discovered America means 'It is thought that they did'. But You are supposed to have read the instructions would normally mean 'You should have read them'.

(For infinitive constructions after passive verbs, see also 306.)

246 The bare infinitive after verbs and expressions

A can, do, may, must, shall, will:

They could do it today. I may as well start at once. He will probably object. В need and dare, except when they are conjugated with do/did or will/would: You needn 't say anything but You don 't/won 't need to say anything.

I dared not wake him but / didn 't/wouldn't dare (to) wake him. In theory the to is required in the last example but in practice it is often omitted. The theory is that if dare and used are treated as auxiliaries, they take the bare infinitive like most auxiliaries. If they are treated as ordinary verbs, with do/did etc., they take the full infinitive like ordinary verbs.

С feel, hear, see and watch:

/ heard him lock the door. I saw/watched him drive off. But see and hear in the passive take the full infinitive:

He was seen to enter the office. He was heard to say that... But feel, hear, see and watch are more often used with present participles:

/ heard them shouting. (See 273.)

D let takes the bare infinitive in both active and passive. But let in the passive is often replaced by another verb: They let me know... would be replaced in the passive by / was told... and They let him see the documents by He was allowed to see them.

The infinitive/infinitive phrase after let is sometimes dropped to avoid repetition:

She wants to go out to work but he won't let her (go out to work). let is used without an object in the expression:

Live and let live. (For let us/let's used for imperatives and suggestions, see 281, 289.)

E make

make in the active takes the bare infinitive:

He made me move my car. But in the passive it takes the full infinitive:

/ was made to move my car.

Sometimes the infinitive after make (active) is dropped to avoid repetition.

Why did you tell him? ~ He made me (tell him)! An infinitive after make (passive) can be represented by its to:

/ was made to (tell him).

F would rather/sooner, rather/sooner than (see 297-8): Shall we go today? -I'd rather wait till tomorrow. Rather/Sooner than risk a bad crossing, he postponed his journey.

G had better (see 120):

'You had better start at once,' he said.

H help may be followed by a full or bare infinitive: He helped us (to) push it.

I If two infinitives are joined by and, the to of the second infinitive is normally dropped:

/ intend to sit in the garden and write letters. I want you to stand beside me and hold the torch.

J but and except take the bare infinitive when they follow do + anything/nothing/everything:

He does nothing but complain. My dog does everything but speak. Can't you do anything but ask silly

questions? There's nothing to do but wait.

K The to is optional in sentences such as:

The only thing to do/we can do is (to) write to him or All we can do is (to) write to him.

247 The infinitive represented by its to

An infinitive can be represented by to alone to avoid repetition. This is chiefly done after such verbs as hate, hope, intend, would like/love, make (passive), mean, plan, try, want, after the auxiliaries have, need, ought, and with used to, be able to and the be going to form:

Would you like to come with me? ~ Yes, I'd love to.

Did you get a ticket? ~ No, I tried to, but there weren't any left. Why did you take a taxi? ~ I had to (take one). I was late.

Do you ride? ~ Not now but I used to. He wanted to go but he wasn't able to.

Have you fed the dog? ~ No, but I'm just going to.

248 Split infinitives

It used to be considered bad style to split an infinitive (i.e. to put a word between the to and the verb), but there is now a more relaxed attitude to this. really is often placed after the to in colloquial English:

It would take ages to really master this subject instead of... really to master, which sounds rather formal. Some other degree adverbs such as completely, entirely, (un)duly can be treated similarly, i.e. we can say:

(a) to completely cover the floor instead of

(b) to cover the floor completely

(a) to unduly alarm people instead of

(b) to alarm people unduly.

But it is safer to keep to the conventional order, as in (b) above.

249 The infinitive used as a connective link

A The infinitive is used after only to express a disappointing sequel: He hurried to the house only to find that it was empty = He hurried to the house and was disappointed when he found that it was empty.

He survived the crash only to die in the desert = He survived the crash but died in the desert.

В The infinitive can also be used as a connective link without only, and without any idea of misfortune:

He returned home to learn that his daughter had just become engaged.

But this use is mainly confined to such verbs as find, hear, learn, see, be told etc., as otherwise there might be confusion between an infinitive used connectively and an infinitive of purpose.

250 The infinitive used to replace a relative clause

A The infinitive can be used after the first, the second etc., the last, the only and sometimes after superlatives (see 77):

He loves parties; he is always the first to come and the last to leave.

(the first who comes and the last who leaves)

She was the only one to survive the crash, (the only one who survived)

Infinitives used in this way replace subject pronoun + verb. Compare with infinitive used to replace object pronoun + verb, as in В below.

Note that the infinitive here has an active meaning. When a passive sense is required a passive infinitive is used:

He is the second man to be killed in this way. (the second man who was killed)

the best play to be performed that year (the best play that was performed that year) Compare this with:

the best play to perform (the best play for you to perform/the play you should perform)

В 1 The infinitive can be placed after nouns/pronouns to show how they can be used or what is to be done with them, or sometimes to express the subject's wishes (see 77):

/ have letters to write, (that I must write) Does he get enough to eat? Have you anything to say? (that you want to say) AT THE CUSTOMS: / have nothing to declare, (that I need to declare) a house to let (a house that the owner wants to let) Similarly with infinitives + prepositions:

someone to talk to a case to keep my records in cushions to sit on a glass to drink out of

a tool to open it with a table to write on

2 Use of passive infinitive

There is plenty to do =

(a) plenty of things we can do, i.e. amusements, or

(b) plenty of work we must do.

In the there + be + noun/pronoun + infinitive construction, when there is an idea of duty, as in (b) above, a passive infinitive is possible:

There is a lot to be done. But the active infinitive is more usual.

251 The infinitive after certain nouns

A number of nouns can be followed directly by the infinitive. Some of the most useful are:

His ability to get on with people is his chief asset. He made an attempt/effort to stand up.

Failure to obey the regulations may result in disqualification.

Their offer/plan/promise to rebuild the town was not taken seriously. She was annoyed by his unwillingness to do his share of the work.

252 The infinitive after too, enough and so... as

A too + adjective/adverb + infinitive

1 too + adjective + infinitive

(a) The infinitive can refer to the subject of the sentence. It then has an active meaning:

You are too young to understand. (You are so young that you cannot understand.)

He was too drunk to drive home. (He was so drunk that he couldn't drive home.)

(b) The infinitive can also refer to the object of a verb. It then has a passive meaning:

The plate was so hot that we couldn 't touch it could be expressed:

The plate was too hot to touch, (too hot to be touched) Note that it, the object of touch in the first sentence, disappears in the infinitive construction, because the infinitive, though active in form, is passive in meaning. Sometimes either an active or a passive infinitive may be used:

This parcel is too heavy to send/to be sent by post. But this is not always possible, so students are advised to stick to the active infinitive.

for + noun/pronoun can be placed before the infinitive in this construction:

The case was too heavy (for a child) to carry = The case was too heavy to be carried by a child.

(c) The infinitive can refer similarly to the object of a preposition:

The grass was so wet that we couldn 't sit on it. The grass was too wet (for us) to sit on. The light is so weak that we can't read by it. The light is too weak to read by.

2 too + adjective + a + noun + infinitive

He was too shrewd a businessman to accept the first offer = As a businessman he was too shrewd to accept the first offer. He is too experienced a conductor to mind what the critics say = As a conductor he is too experienced to mind what the critics say.

The infinitive here always refers to the subject of the sentence as in 1 above. A passive infinitive is also possible:

He was too experienced a conductor to be worried by what the critics said.

3 too + adverb + infinitive

It is too soon (for me) to say whether the scheme will succeed or not. He spoke too quickly for me to understand, (for me is necessary here.) She works too slowly to be much use to me.

В Adjective/adverb + enough + infinitive

1 Adjective + enough + infinitive

(a) As with the too construction, the infinitive can refer to the subject of the verb:

She is old enough to travel by herself.

He was tall enough to see over the heads of the other people.

(b) Or it can refer to the object of a verb: The case is light enough for me to carry = The case is so light that I can carry it.

After a few minutes the coffee was cool enough (for us) to drink.

(c) It can refer to the object of a preposition:

The ice was thick enough to walk on. The light was strong enough to read by.

2 enough may be used as pronoun or adjective:

He doesn't earn enough (money) to live on. We haven't enough time to do it properly. She had enough sense to turn off the gas.

have + enough + abstract noun here is sometimes replaceable by have + the + noun:

She had the sense to turn off the gas.

He had the courage to admit his mistake.

I hadn 't the patience to listen to any more. But the is optional before time here:

We haven't (the) time to do it properly.

3 Adverb + enough + infinitive:

He didn 't jump high enough to win a prize.

He spoke slowly enough for everyone to understand.

С so + adjective + as + infinitive:

He was so foolish as to leave his car unlocked.

This is an alternative to the enough construction in Bl above, but note that He was foolish enough to leave his car unlocked can mean either that he did it or that he was capable of doing it, but He was so foolish as to leave etc. implies that he actually did so.

The so... as construction is not very often used as shown above, but it is quite common as a request form:

Would you be so good as to forward my letters? =

Would you be good enough to forward my letters? There is no difference in meaning here between the two forms. It is important not to forget the as. (For other adjective + infinitive constructions, see 26-7.)

253 Introductory or final infinitive phrases

Certain infinitive phrases can be placed at the beginning or sometimes at the end of a sentence and are then similar to sentence adverbs (see 40):

To be perfectly frank, you're a bad driver. To be honest, 1 just don't like him.

To be fair (to him), he wasn't entirely to blame. To cut a long story short, we said 'No!'

To tell you the truth, I've never met him or

I've never met him, to tell you the truth.

254 The continuous infinitive A Form

to be + present participle: He seems to be following us.

В Use

The continuous infinitive can be used:

1 After the auxiliary verbs:

They'll be wondering where you are.

He may/might be watching TV. ~ He can 't/couldn 't be watching TV. There are no programmes today because of the strike.

(negative deduction)

He must be coming by bus. (deduction)

You shouldn't be reading a novel. You should be reading a textbook.

2 After appear, happen, pretend, seem: He appears/seems to be living in the area = It appears/seems that he is living in the area.

He appeared/seemed to be living in the area =

It appeared/seemed that he was living in the area.

I happened to be standing next to him when he collapsed =

It happened that I was standing next to him when he collapsed. He pretended to be looking for a book =

He pretended that he was looking for a book.

3 After hope and promise and, but less usually, after agree, arrange, decide, determine/be determined, plan, undertake:

/ hope/hoped to be earning my living in a year's time = / hope I will/I hoped I would be earning etc.

determine/be determined, plan could replace hope above with slight changes of meaning:

/ promised to be waiting at the door when he came out. agree, arrange, decide, determine/be determined, plan, undertake could be used instead of promise above with slight changes of meaning.

4 After believe, consider, suppose, think etc. in the passive: He is believed to be living in Mexico. (See 306.)

255 The perfect infinitive A Form

to have + past participle: to have worked, to have spoken

В Use with auxiliary verbs

1 With was/were to express an unfulfilled plan or arrangement (see 114):

The house was to have been ready today, (but it isn't)

2 With should, would, might and could to form the perfect conditional (see 223):

If 1 had seen her I should have invited her.

3 With should or ought to express unfulfilled obligation; or, in the negative, a wrong or foolish action (see 143):

He should have helped her. (but he didn't)

I shouldn't/oughtn't to have lied to him. (but I did)

4 With should/would like to express an unfulfilled wish (see 296 D):

He would like to have seen it. (but it wasn't possible) or

He would have liked to see it.

i.e. we can put either verb into the perfect infinitive without changing the meaning.

5 With could to express past unused ability or past possibility:

/ could have made a lot of money, (but I didn't) He could/might have phoned her. (Perhaps he (has) phoned.) (See also 134, 138.)

6 With might/could to indicate that the speaker feels upset or indignant at the non-performance of an action:

He might/could have told me! =

I am annoyed that he didn 't tell me. (See 285 D.)

7 With may/might in speculations about past actions:

He may/might have left =

It is possible that he (has) left. (See 133.)

You might/could have been killed!

8 With can't/couldn't to express negative deduction (see 159):

He can 't/couldn 't have moved the piano himself.

We knew he couldn't have paid for it, because he had no money.

9 With must to express affirmative deduction (see 156): He must have come this way; here are his footprints.

10 With needn't to express an unnecessary past action (see also 152-3): You needn 't have hurried. Now we are too early. You needn't have cooked it. We could have eaten it raw.

С With certain other verbs

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