The for-to-Infinitive construction
She paused for him to continue. (adverbial modifier of purpose)
I’m so glad for you to have come. (object)
It was difficult for me to do anything else. (subject)
Spring was near and we waited for the river to open.(object)
To be together is for us to be in solitude and in company. (predicative)
The function of the complex object is that of an object, the functions of the for-to-infinitive are different: adverbial modifier of purpose, object, subject, predicative.
Complex Subject:
They were seen to leave the house early in the morning.
He was heard to repeat those words several times.
He was known to be a capable student.
He is said to be very ill.
She was not expected to reply, but she did.
They were allowed to take these books.
She seems to know the subject thoroughly. (It seemed to me that she knew the subject …)
They appeared to be satisfied with the results of the experiment. (It appeared to everybody that they were satisfied with the results… / everybody thought that …)
The Gerund has also some verbal characteristics which are those of voice and correlation and the syntactical functions of the noun.
| Gerund | Active | Passive |
| Simple / Indefinite Perfect | Writing Having written | Being written Having been written |
Examples:
He told me of his traveling abroad.
She is very fond of being read to.
I am surprised at his having done it.
After having been informed of the conference he decided to wait for it to begin.
The syntactical functions:
1. the subject: Deciding is acting.
2. the object: Avoid making mistakes. We insisted on calling the doctor.
3. the predicative, the nominal part of the compound nominal predicate: Deciding is acting.
4. part of the compound verbal phasal predicate: Stop talking! He kept on bothering me.
5. the attribute: There is little hope of reaching home before midnight.
6. the adverbial modifier: I could not speak for laughing.
The Gerund when extended by a noun in the possessive case or a possessive pronoun forms a gerundial predicative construction: I insist on Mary’s coming to our meeting. / I don’t like your being late. There is little hope of our reaching home before midnight.
The Participle ( I and II ) like the previous non-finite forms has the verbal characteristics of voice and correlation. But as for the syntactical functions, it has those of the adjective or adverb. The participle is intermediate between the verb and the adjective.
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| Participle | Active | Passive |
| Simple / Indefinite perfect | Writing Having written | (Being) written Having been written |
As we can see the morphological characteristics of the participle coincide with those of the gerund.
Examples:
When reading The Pickwick Papers, one can’t help laughing.
Having heard a footstep below he rose and went to the top of the stairs.
Being left alone, Pauline and I kept silence for some time.
Having been informed about her illness, I did my best to avoid this topic.
The syntactical functions of the participle:
1. the attribute: We admired the stars twinkling in the sky. / He answered through the locked door.
2. The adverbial modifier: Turning slowly she went into her room.( of time) /As if torn with inner conflict she cried bitterly.(of comparison)
3. the predicative, part of the compound nominal predicate: The effect of her words was terrifying. / The inner gate was locked and the lodge closed.
4. Part of the compound verbal predicate: Presently other footsteps were heard crossing the room upstairs. (in the complex subject structure)
5. a participial phrase as parenthesis: Generally speaking, I don’t like coffee. / -------
Both the participles are used in some predicative constructions.
Complex Object ( both participles):
I saw that young man talking to you on the stairs.
I heard my wife coming.
I had my coat altered.
You can get your clothes made in Europe.
Complex Subject (participle I):
They were heard talking together.
The horse was seen descending the hill.
Absolute participial constructions:
The door of the room being open, we looked in.
The lamp having been lit, Mrs. Maccallan produced her son’s letter.
Weather permitting, we shall start tomorrow.
They were walking again, with Hugh calmly drawing at his pipe.
The daughter sat silent, with her eyes fixed on the ground.
Sometimes the participle can be omitted, such constructions are called nominative absolute construction:
Breakfast over, we went to work.
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There he stood, his face to the south-east, his cap in his hand.
I found him waiting for me,with his stick in his hand.
The gerund and the infinitive compared.
There is a group of verbs in English after which we can use either the infinitive or the gerund: to begin, to start, to continue, to fear, to be afraid of, to forget, to hate, to intend, to like, to dislike, to prefer, to be afraid of, to cease, to stop:
The young man began turning the pages of a book. / At length she began to speak softly.
She continued standing near the piano. / She continued to look at him.
Some of the verbs taking the infinitive differ from those cases when they are used with the gerund. For example, when the verbs to be afraid of, to forget, to hate, to like, to dislike, to prefer are followed by the infinitive, it is clear that we are talking about some concrete event; when they are followed by the gerund, the ideas expressed are more general not concrete:
The child was not afraid of remaining alone, but he was afraid to remain alone on such a stormy night. / I was always afraid of losing his respect. / She spoke in a very careful manner, as if she was afraid to say something wrong.
Don’t forget shutting the windows when you leave home. / Don’t forget to shut the window when you leave home, it is very cold and windy today.
I don’t like interrupting people. / I wouldn’t like to interrupt him, he seems very busy.
As for the verb ‘to remember’, we use the infinitive to speak about the future actions and the gerund to speak about some past events.
I remember seeing the book in many bookshops. / Remember to buy the book.
We are to be careful with the verb ‘to stop’:
They stopped talking when he came in. / I stopped to talk to my neighbour on my way to the shop.
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