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Post by Kendall on Nov 30, 2004 13:33:41 GMT -5
Harvey's Revised page 168 #228
What does it mean by "depends upon the word it limits in the sentence"
"An infinitive not used as a noun, depends upon the word it limits in the sentence."
Does this mean that if it modifies an adjective it is an adjective?
This came up because I'm having trouble with the infinitive "to dominate" in the following sentence from "The American War of Indepence."
"The third quarter of the eighteenth century thus saw the remarkable and unstable spectacle of a Europe divided against itself, and no longer with any unifying political or religious idea, yet through the immense stimulation of men’s imaginations by the printed book, the printed map, and the opportunity of the new ocean-going shipping, able in a disorganized and contentious manner to dominate all the coasts of the world. "
Is to dominate an adverb modifying the adjective able? Is it an adjective modifying Europe?
Thanks, Kendall
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Post by Lene in CO on Dec 1, 2004 16:21:26 GMT -5
On that page in Harvey's
Flee from the wrath *to come*
the infinitive * to come* describes the wrath, tells us what kind of wrath it is.
Yes, you're right. This section is talking about infinitives which act as modifiers or descriptors in the passage.
As for your passage.....
_SUBJECT_ was able in a disorganized and contentious manner to dominate all the coasts of the world. "
I agree that "to dominate" modifies "able", the adjective.
Lene
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Post by Kendall on Dec 1, 2004 21:23:26 GMT -5
Thanks Lene,
So when you parse "to dominate" is it functioning as an adverb answering how it is able or an adjective telling what kind of ability?
Kendall
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Post by Lene Mahler Jaqua on Dec 3, 2004 16:36:28 GMT -5
Kendall,
I asked Tracy too to get this right. I think it is a very tricky sentence and use of infinitive...
Simplify your long sentence to....
"The third quarter (of the eighteenth century) saw the spectacle of a Europe - divided against itself, and - no longer with any unifying idea, yet - able to dominate the coasts. "
"Europe" is not the subject of the sentence. It is "almost" a DO of "saw", but formally takes the position of an OP.
"Europe" is described in three ways: "divided" is a participle; "with" is a prepositional phrase ("no longer" actually modifies the preposition); and "able" is a participle. So "able" is both a verb (verbal) and an adjective.
Now, about the infinitive. Harvey's divides infinitives into those that are used as nouns and those that aren't. Infinitives can play a whole bunch of other roles in the sentence, as Harvey's list indicates. In all cases they "depend" on some other word. All other roles are "limiting" roles. Usually we think of "limiting" as being modification, i.e. playing an adverbial or adjectival role. An infinitive playing an adverb role would modify a verb (answering adverb questions), an adjective, or another adverb just like any other adverbial element. An infinitive playing an adjective role would modify a noun just like any other adjective element.
There are two other tricky cases:
1) The first is called a "complementary" infinitive. It is used with verbs like "ought" and "able" that require another verb to go with them to complete the meaning. This is not exactly adverbial. Neither is it a noun use of an infinitive as a DO, answering "what" for the verb. (Compare: He wants to go. You could just as easily have: He wants a dog. After "want" the infinitive is probably a noun/DO use.)
With verbs like "ought" and "able" it is truly another kind of limiting function unique to infinitives. These verbs must be accompanied by another *verb*'s infinitive. Ought to do what? Able to do what?
I think what you have here with "to dominate" is a complementary infinitive that goes with "able" (which is a verb that requires another verb to complete its meaning in this way).
2) (FYI) The second tricky use of the infinitive is illustrated by Harvey's #2. It is where there is a pronoun or noun to act as a *subject* of the verb action expressed by the infinitive. These are effectively infinitive *clauses*. This is the one case where we can actually have a verbal *clause* (not phrase). They are usually found in sentences of the type: "We asked HIM to do something." Note the case of the subject of the infinitive clause. It's generally not nominative! It takes its case from where it fits in the rest of the sentence, usually as a DO of the main verb.
Here is the usual truly adverbial use of infinitive. Usually it answers the WHY question and has the meaning "in order to":
He went to seek his sister. WHY did he go? To seek his sister.
I don't think infinitives answer when, where, or how questions. At least I can't think of any examples.
So you have to distinguish infinitives ....
used as DO/noun: I want to go. Want what? used as adverb: I went to seek my sister. Went why? used as complementary infinitive: I am able to seek my sister. Able to do what? Ought to do what? Dare to do what? used in infinitive clause: I told him to seek my sister. Told him to do what?
The rest of infinitive uses are pretty straightforwardly either noun uses (stands in for a noun) or adjective or adverbial (modifying another modifier) uses.
Lene
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