Syntactical Functions of the Infinitive

The infinitive performs almost all syntactical functions characteristic of the noun, although in each of them it has certain peculiarities of its own. In all syntactical functions the infinitive may be used:

1) alone, that is, without any words depending on it:

She would like to dance.

2) as the headword of an infinitive phrase, that is, with one or more words depending on it:

She would like to dance with him tonight.

3) as part of an infinitive predicative construction, that is, a logical predicate to some nominal element denoting the logical subject of the infinitive:

She would like him to dance with her.

She waited for him to dance first.

As to the functioning of single infinitives and infinitive phrases, they are identical and will therefore be used without distinction in illustrations of the syntactical functions of the infinitive. However it should be noted that in fact the infinitive phrase is much more common than the single infinitive.

The Infinitive as Subject

The infinitive functioning as subject may either precede the predicate or follow it. In the latter case it is introduced by the so-called introductory it, which is placed at the beginning of the sentence:

To be good is to be in harmony with oneself.

It's so silly to be fussy and jealous.

The second of these structural patterns is more common than the first . It differs from the first one semantically in that the subject is slightly more accentuated (compare for example: It's impossible to do it and To do it is impossible) and structurally in that it can be both declarative and interrogative, while the first one can only be declarative:

It's nice to see you again. Is it bad to love one so dearly?

It was not a good idea to bring her here. Wasn't it a waste of time to sit there?

but: To find him still at home was a relief. ----

To see her again did not give him the usual pleasure. ----

As can be seen from the examples above, the infinitive subject in both structural patterns is used with the particle to. If there are two or more homogeneous infinitive subjects in a sentence, all of them keep the particle to:

To be alone, to be free from the daily interests and cruelty would be happiness to Asako.

It was awfully difficult to do or even to say nothing at all.

The function of the subject can be performed by the infinitive of any voice, aspect and correlation form, although the common aspect non-perfect active forms are naturally far more frequent than the other forms; the continuous aspect perfect active forms hardly ever occur. Here are some examples of the infinitive subject in various forms:

To expect too much is a dangerous thing.

To be walking through the fields all alone seemed an almost impossible pleasure.

To have seen her was even a more painful experience.

To be recognized, to be greeted by some local personage afforded her a joy which was very great.

To have been interrogated in such a way was a real shock to him.

The predicate of the subject expressed by an infinitive always takes the form of the 3rd person singular. As to its type, it is usually a compound nominal predicate with the link verb to be, although other link verbs may also occur. Simple or compound verbal predicates are not so common.

In sentences with a compound nominal predicate the predicative is commonly expressed by an adjective, a noun or less frequently by an infini­tive:

Not to go back was awful.

To acquire knowledge and to acquire it unceasingly is the first duty of the artist.

To understand is to forgive.

If the predicate of the infinitive subject is a verbal one it is usually expressed by a causative verb:

To talk to him bored me.

To see the struggle frightened him terribly.

It infuriated him to hear them.

There are some other verbs used as predicates in such sentences:

To write a really good book requires more time than I have.

To complete the task took him half of the day.

If in sentences with an infinitive subject the predicate takes the form of the subjunctive mood, the sentence acquires a conditional meaning, the condition being denoted by the infinitive and its consequence by the predicate:

It would be inhuman not to answer this letter (if one did not answer, ... it would be inhuman).

To have said that in the eighties, or even the nineties would have given his father a fit (if he had said, ... it would have given ...).