College English Grammar 9 Phrases Infinitive Phrases

CollegeEnglishGrammar:GrammarandWritingUnit9Phrases:InfinitivePhrasesGrammar:InfinitivePhrasesWriting:Correcting:DoubleNegativesRewriting:ImportantideasofasentenceInfinitivePhrasesAninfinitiveisusedasanoun,anadjective,oranadverb.Unlikearealverbwhichfunctionsasapredicateinasentence,aninfinitiveisusedasasubject,object,attributive,adverbialorcomplement.(not)to+Verb=infinitiveToshopishergreatestlove.(asanounfunctioningasasubject)Soonthereleftnowatertodrink.(asanadjectivemodifyinganoun“water〞)Thethieves’carwasbadlydamagedandeasytorecognize.(asanadverbmodifyinganadjective“easy〞)Tokeephealthy,Idomorningexercise.(asanadverbmodifyingaverb“do〞)1.Infinitiveforms:InfinitiveformsSimple:todoProgressive:tobedoingPassive:tobedonePerfect:tohavedonePassive+progressive:tobebeingdonePassive+perfect:tohavebeendoneProgressiveforms=anactionistakingplacenow.Passiveforms=thesubjectofthesentenceisbeingactedupon.Perfectinfinitiveforms=completioninboththepastandthefuture.1.Myfriendhappenedtobeinthenextroom.Shewassingingthere.Myfriendhappenedtobesinginginthenextroom.2.Hisbicyclewasfound.Heneverexpectedso.Heneverexpectedthebicycletobefound.3.Sailorshaveseenmonsters.Themonsterslivedinthesea.Sailorssometimesclaimso.Sailorssometimesclaimtohaveseenmonstersinthesea.2.Functions2.1.AsadjectivesAninfinitivephraseactsasanadjectivethatdescribes,limits,ormodifiesanounorpronoun.Anadjectiveinfinitivephraseusuallycomesafterthenounorpronounitmodified.Arthurwaslookingforaway.Bythewayhecanearnmoney.Arthurwaslookingforawaytoearnmoney.Thepriesthasnevergottenenoughmoney.Withthemoneyhecanmakepeoplerepairedthechurchclock.Thepriesthasnevergottenenoughmoneytohavethechurchclockrepaired.2.2.AsadverbsAninfinitivephraseactsasanadverbthatmodifiesaverb,adjectiveoranotheradverb.Itwashalfanhourlater.Hewentoutside.Hewasastonished.Hefoundthelittleblacklambwasalmostwhite.Whenhewentoutsidehalfanhourlater,hewasastonishedtofindthelittleblacklambwasalmostwhite.Idroppedmysuit.Idasheddownstairs.IwantedtotellGeorge.Droppingmysuit,IdasheddownstairstotellGeorge.2.3.AsnounsAninfinitivephrasecanbeusedasanoun,servingasthesubject,thesubjectcomplement,theobjectortheobjectcomplementofasentence.Ieatproperly.Iexercisefrequently.Thishabitkeepsmyhealthy.Toeatproperlyandtoexercisefrequentlykeepsmyhealthy.Theyprotectprivateproperty.Thatistheirjob.Theirjobistoprotectprivateproperty.3.PositionAsanadjective,aninfinitiveisusuallyplacedaftertheworditmodifies.Thefirstmandidnothavetheopportunitytowritetheirideasonpaper.[asanadjectivemodifyinganoun“opportunity〞]Histeacherwasunabletofindoutwhyhewassotroubled.[asanadverbmodifyinganadjective“unable〞]Asanadverbtomodifyaverb,itspositioninasentenceisflexible.Itmayappearatthebeginning,attheendorinthemiddleofasentence.Totellyouthetruth,Ihavenoideawhatthisreallymeans.Ihavenoidea,totellyouthetruth,whatthisreallymeans.Ihavenoideawhatthisreallymeans,totellyouthetruth.4.Punctuation4.1.AtthebeginningWhenaninfinitivephraseintroducesasentence,wesetitofffromtherestofthesentencewithacomma.Thepatternlookslikethis:infinitivephrase,+mainclause.Youwanttoarrivethereontime.Youmustleavenow.Toarrivethereontime,youmustleavenow.Chinesedepartmentwantedtoattractnewmajors.Itmadecurriculumchanges.Thesecurriculumchangesareimaginative.Toattractnewmajors,Chinesedepartmentmadeimaginativecurriculumchanges.4.2.InthemiddleWhenaninfinitivephraseoccursinthemiddleofthesentence,weusetwocommasaroundittosetitofffromtherestofthesentence,tocreatingtheeffectofanimportantafterthoughtoraddspecialemphasistothefollowingwordsbyforcingthereadertopausebeforethem.startofmainclause+,infinitivephrase,+endofmainclause.Wewantedtosaveourlives.Wewouldgiveeverythingwepossess.Wewouldbewillingtodoso.We,tosaveourlives,wouldwillinglygiveeverythingwepossess.Themanwantedtoprovethatthediamondswerereal.Hewenttogreatlengths.Theman,toprovethatthediamondswerereal,wenttogreatlengths.4.3.AttheendWhenaninfinitivephraseconcludesamainclause,youneednopunctuationtoconnectthetwosentenceparts.mainclause+Ø+infinitivephrase.Heinvitedanumberofcritics.Theywereimportant.Hewantedthemtoseehiscollectionofpaintings.Thecollectionwashisprivate.Thepaintingsweremodern.Heinvitedanumberofimportantcriticstoseehisprivatecollectionofmodernpaintings.Formostofthem,fiftypenceisasmallprice.Theypaythepriceforabarofchocolate.Thebarofchocolateisbig.Thebarofchocolateisnice.Formostofthem,fiftypenceisasmallpricetopayforanicebigbarofchocolate.DoubleNegativesAdoublenegativeoccurswhentwotermsofnegationareusedinthesameclause.Itisusuallyproducedbycombiningthenegativeformofverb(cannot,didn’t,haven’t)withanegativepronoun,anegativeadverboranegativeconjunction.Thefollowinglistcontainswordsthatareregardedasnegative.Ifyouusetheminyoursentencesonce,yourstatementswillbenegative.Negativepronoun:no,not,none,nothing,nobody,noone,nowhere;Negativeadverb:never,hardly,scarcely,barely;Negativeconjunction:neither,nor.Onsomeoccasions,mostlywhenspeaking,theuseofdoublenegativesisaccepted.Forinstance:Icannotdisagreewithyouonthesepoints.(=Iagreewithyouonthesepoints.)Iwon'taskyounottodothat.(=Iwillaskyoutodothat.)I'mnotsurethathedidn'tsaythat.(Iamsurethathesaidthat.)However,doublenegativesaregenerallynotusedinformalspeechorwrittenvarietiesofstandardEnglish.Exercises:Correctthefollowingdoublenegatives.Thedeserthadscarcelynorainlastsummer.Ithinkthenewpoliticalreformwillnotlastbarelyamonth.Shecannotfindnowheretoparkhercar.Donotcointermsthatareunintelligibletonobody.Nobodyknowswhyhedidn’tshoutforsolong.Aproverbcomesnotfromnothing.Neitherofthemdidnotremembertheirinstructions.Hedoesn’thaveneithertalentnorthedesiretolearn.Theoldladywassoweakshecouldnothardlyclimbstairs.Afterbeingreplaced,thepipesdidnotrunnowaterasexpected.Correcting:1.scarcelyno2.notlastbarely3.notfindnowhere4.unintelligible→intelligible5.didn’tshout→shouted6.notfromnothing7.didnotremember→remembered8.doesn’thave→has9.couldnothardly10.didnotrunnowaterTheexerciseinthissectionistocreateeffectivepassagesbycombiningtheshortsentenceswhichyouthinkisrelatedintolonger,morecomplexones.Iftherearesomemistakes,correctthem.Passage1(AdaptedfromLesson96,NewConceptEnglishIIby.Alexander)InJapan,peopleholdafestivalfortheDead.Theyhaveitonetimeeachyear.Itisacheerfuloccasion.Onthisday,peoplesaythedeadwillreturnbacktohishome.Thelivingwelcomesthem.Theytakealongjourney,peopleexpecttheyarehungry.Theylieoutfoodforthem.Peoplemakespeciallanterns.Peoplehangtheselanternsoutsideeachhouse,theydothishelpthedeadfindtheirway.Peopledanceandsingawholenight.Ontheearlymorning,peoplethrowthefoodintotheriverandintothesea,thesefoodistheylaidoutforthedead.Peoplethinkthesefoodisunluckforanylivingoneeat.Inthoseneartheseatowns,afterthefestiveisover,peopleplacethetinylanternsintothewater,theselanternsaretheyhangedinthestreetsthebeforenight.Thousandslanternsslowdriftouttosea,theyguidethedeadontheirreturnjourneytotheotherworld.Thisisamovingspectacle.Crowdsofpeoplestandontheshore,theywatchthelanternsdriftaway,atlasttheycanbeseennomore.