Infinitives: Advanced Usage

Infinitives: Other Uses

• Infinitive clauses indicate findings or learnings at the conclusion of a journey or task.
  • "I arrived home to find that the house had been broken into" demonstrates this use.
• Surprise or disappointment is intensified with "only."
  • "At last we got to Amy's place, only to discover that she was away" exemplifies this.
  • "He spent four years studying, only to learn that there were no jobs" is a further case.
• The infinitives of "see" and "hear" explain the basis for a false impression.
• After this infinitive, it is typical to use "you'd think" or a similar phrase.
  • "To see them, you'd think they were married. But they only met yesterday" illustrates this structure.
  • "To see him walk down the street, you'd never know he was blind" is another example.
  • "To hear her talk, you'd think she was made of money" provides a further instance.
• Certain infinitive phrases communicate the speaker's stance or intent.
  • "To be honest, I think you're making a mistake" shows this use.
  • "To tell the truth, I'm not sure what to do now" is another example.
  • "To sum up, I think we all accept John's proposal" demonstrates this function.
  • "To put it another way, we're spending more than we're earning" is a further illustration.

Participle Clauses

• Participles combine with other words in clauses, conveying active or passive meanings.
  • An example of active meaning is: "There's a woman crying her eyes out over there"
  • An example of passive meaning is: "Most of the people invited to the reception were old friends"
  • "Not knowing what to do, I telephoned the police" shows the structure in active meaning.
  • "Served with milk and sugar, it makes a delicious breakfast" shows the structure in the passive meaning.
  • "Who's the old man sitting in the corner?" is another usage example.
  • "Rejected by society, he decided to become a monk" exemplifies passive use.
• Participle clauses can follow after nouns and pronouns.
  • "We can offer you a job cleaning cars"
  • "There's Neville, eating as usual."
  • "In came the first runner, closely followed by the second."
  • "I found him sitting at a table covered with papers" provides an example.
• The "reduced relative clauses" are participle clauses.
  • "Who's the girl dancing with your brother?" is the same as "the girl who is dancing..."
  • "Anyone touching that wire will get a shock" is the same as "Anyone who touches..."
  • "Half of the people invited to the party didn't turn up" is the same as "who were invited..."
• Perfect participles are infrequently used.
  • It is better to say "Do you know anybody who’s lost a cat" instead of "Do you know anybody having lost a cat?"
• Participle clauses function similarly to adverbial clauses, expressing condition, reason, time, result, etc.
  • This is effective when the meaning is clear without needing a conjunction.
  • Adverbial participle clauses tend to be formal.
• "Used economically, one can will last for six weeks" is equal to "If it is used..."
  • "Having failed my medical exams, I took up teaching" is equal to "As I had failed..."
  • "Putting down my newspaper, I walked over to the window" is equal to "After I had put down my newspaper..."
  • "It rained for two weeks on end, completely ruining our trip" is equal to "so that it completely ruined our trip."
• "-ing" clauses use verbs like be, have, wish, and know; typically these are not progressive tenses.
  • Such clauses usually indicate reason or cause.
  • "Being unable to help in any other way, I gave her some money" shows reason or cause.
  • "Not wishing to continue my studies, I decided to become a dress designer" also shows the reason or cause.
  • "Knowing her pretty well, I realised something was wrong" also shows the reason or cause.

Misrelated Participles

• In adverbial clauses, the subject is typically the same as the main clause.
  • "My wife had a talk with Sophie, explaining the problem" implies that "My wife" is the subject of explaining.
• Sentences with misrelated participles, also known as 'dangling participles,' are often considered incorrect when the adverb clause's subject differs from the main clause.
  • "Looking out of the window of our hotel room, the mountains were covered with snow" is an example which could suggest the mountains are looking out the window.
  • "Wrapped in red and gold gift paper, I delivered the parcel to my girlfriend" exemplifies this.
• Sentences with preparatory it or there as a subject, can still sound natural.
  • "Being French, it's surprising that she's such a terrible cook"
  • "Having so little time, there was not much that I could do."
• Some expressions referring to the speaker's attitude are misrelated participles and normal.
  • "Generally speaking, men can run faster than women" provides an example.
  • "Broadly speaking, dogs are more faithful than cats."
  • "Judging from his expression, he's in a bad mood."
  • "Considering everything, it wasn't a bad year."
  • "Supposing there was a war, what would you do?"
  • "Taking everything into consideration, they ought to get another chance."

Participle Clauses With Their Own Subjects

• A participle clause can include its own subject, usually in formal writing.
  • "Nobody having any more to say, the meeting was closed" showcases this.
  • "All the money having been spent, we started looking for work."
  • "A little girl walked past, her doll dragging behind her on the pavement."
  • "Hands held high, the dancers circle to the right."
• The subject is often introduced when the clause expresses accompanying circumstances.
  • "A car roared past with smoke pouring from the exhaust."
  • "With Daniel working in Birmingham, and Lucy travelling most of the week, the house seems pretty empty."

Participle Clauses After Conjunctions and Prepositions

• Clauses with "-ing" are used after after, before, since, when, while, on, without, instead of, in spite of, and as.
  • "After talking to you I always feel better."
  • "After having annoyed everybody he went home."
  • "Switch off printer before replacing roller."
  • "She's been quite different since coming back from America."
  • "When telephoning from abroad, dial 1865, not 01865."
  • "On being introduced, British people often shake hands."
  • "They left without saying goodbye."
  • "She struck me as being a very nervy kind of person."
• Clauses are mainly formal with past participles after if, when, while, once, and until.
  • "If asked to look after luggage for someone else, inform police at once."
  • "When opened, consume within three days."
  • "Once deprived of oxygen, the brain dies."
  • "Leave in oven until cooked to a light brown colour."

Object Complements

• Verbs of sensation (see, hear, feel, watch, notice, smell) and other verbs (find, get, have, make) follow the pattern object + participle (clause).
  • "I saw a small girl standing in the goldfish pond." follows this pattern.
  • "Have you ever heard a nightingale singing?" follows this pattern.
  • "I found her drinking my whisky." follows this pattern.
  • "We’ll have to get the car repaired before Tuesday" follows this pattern.
  • "Do you think you can get the radio working?" follows this pattern.
  • "We’ll soon have you walking again" follows this pattern also.
  • "I can make myself understood pretty well in English" follows this pattern al