A usage of infinitive clause which doesn't refer to “a noun” and doesn't specify “a purpose”. What is that?

Question

Today, I saw a different usage of infinitive clauses at the university and would like to ask you it in order to be familiar with that usage.(Examples from my professor)

There should be more than 100 people at the party to have fun.(1)

The intended meaning: "What is needed to have fun is more than 100 people at the party. So, a party including less than 100 people is not good to have fun."

A few good opportunities exist to go to Europe.(2)

The intended meaning: "A few good opportunities exist if you want to go to Europe"

(My professor said that we don't need to say:"A few good opportunities to go to Europe exist". This also works)

To be able to study at that university, you have many problems. First of all, you have to solve them and then you can go.(3)

The intended meaning: "You have more problems than you can have at that university while studying there."

So, as you can see, those infinitive clauses don't specify any "purpose", don't define any nouns and are not subjects, however, they function as adverbials.

So these usages are very different for me because I always see a purpose when an infinitive clause is an adverbial but here, there is no purpose/reason even if it is adverbial.

Could you please tell me what its function is exactly? and do you find those usages natural/correct?

Thanks.

BillJ · Accepted Answer

[1] There should be more than 100 people at the party (in order) to have fun.

[2] A few good opportunities exist (in order) to go to Europe.

[3] (In order) to be able to study at that university, you have many problems. (sufficient evidence of such interpretation. ungrammatical - see below)

They are all purpose adjuncts. In each case "in order" could be inserted as shown, providing

In [1] the adjunct expresses the purpose of having more than 100 people at the party.

In [2], it expresses the purpose of the opportunities that exist. They can be used for the purpose of going to Europe.

Note that If we reverse the order thus: A few good opportunities to go to Europe exist, the infinitival is not a purpose adjunct, but complement of "opportunities", though there's little change in meaning.

[3] makes little sense -- we would more naturally say (In order) to be able to study at that university, you have to overcome many problems. The adjunct expresses the purpose of overcoming the many problems.

CalifJim · Answer

JawelThere should be more than 100 people at the party to have fun.(1)
The intended meaning: "What is needed to have fun is more than 100 people at the party. So, a! party including less than 100 people is not good to have fun."

Be careful of the logic here when paraphrasing the intended meaning. It's not a matter of a (any) party including less than 100 people not being good for having fun. It's a matter of the (this party) not being good for having fun if it includes fewer than 100 people.

You say there is no infinitive of purpose in your examples, but this one is clearly an infinitive of purpose.

JawelA few good opportunities exist to go to Europe.(2)
The intended meaning: "A few good opportunities exist if you want to go to Europe"(My professor said that we don't need to say:"A few good opportunities to go to Europe exist". This also works)

Your paraphrase is good, but you say there are no instances among your sentences where infinitives "define" nouns, by which I assume you mean "serve as complements of nouns". And yet "to go to Europe" clearly goes with "opportunities". (Don't ask me how two parts of the same noun phrase can be separated by a verb, though, because I don't know the answer to that. ... opportunities exist to go to Europe. NP underlined.)

JawelTo be able to study at that university, you have many problems. First of all, you have to solve them and then you can go.(3)
The intended meaning: "You have more problems than you can have at that university while studying there."

I'm not so sure about this one. Are you sure you heard it right when the professor said it? It could have been more like this:

To be able to study at that university you must first solve a lot of problems.

Again, it's an infinitive of purpose.

CJ

A usage of infinitive clause which doesn't refer to “a noun” and doesn't specify “a purpose”. What is that?

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