0
Deepcosmos Posted 5 years ago
Grammar

Adjectival infinitive or infinitive of purpose

Hell, everyone,

About the function of infinitive phrases, I would classify them as follows;

1) “I will buy a new coat to wear in winter.”; without ‘it’, “to wear” is an adjectival infinitive to modify “a new coat“.
2) “I will buy a new coat to wear <it> in winter.”; with ‘it’, “to wear” is an infinitive of purpose.
3) “He's saving money to buy a flat.”; this case is ambiguous, so “to buy“ can be either an adjectival infinitive or the one of purpose.
4) “He bought some flowers to give to his wife.”; this case is also ambiguous, so “to give” can be either an adjectival infinitive or the one of purpose (to answer “why?”).

However, above 3), 4) both have been classified as ‘infinitives of purpose’ only to answer “why?” in ‘Perfect-English-Grammar’ and ‘BBC, Learn English Council’ as follows;

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/infinitives-of-purpose.html
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/to-infinitives

Thus, my question is,

1. about above 1), 2), adding ‘it, them’ (which relates back the preceding noun) or not can be a critical factor which can decide the function of infinitive phrases, while in 4) there is no ‘them’(= some flowers) in “to give to his wife”?

2. Do you agree with my classification for above four examples?

Would hope to hear,

  

Top answer

deepcosmos infinitive phrases All your examples are infinitives of purpose as far as I can determine, and I don't see how the presence or absence of referring pronouns in the infinitive clause could have anything to do with it. deepcosmos adjectival infinitive (modifying infinitive clause) The most typical examples of these are after indefinite pronouns like everything, something, and nothing . When was the last time you had something to eat ?

  • deepcosmos infinitive phrases All your examples are infinitives of purpose as far as I can determine, and I don't see how the presence or absence of referring pronouns in the infinitive clause could have anything to do with it.
  • deepcosmos adjectival infinitive (modifying infinitive clause) The most typical examples of these are after indefinite pronouns like everything, something, and nothing .
  • When was the last time you had something to eat ?
  • This is something to talk about at your next book club meeting.
  • Companies will have nothing to lose and everything to gain by seeking a ranking.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

1 Answers
0
deepcosmosinfinitive phrases

All your examples are infinitives of purpose as far as I can determine, and I don't see how the presence or absence of referring pronouns in the infinitive clause could have anything to do with it.

deepcosmosadjectival infinitive (modifying infinitive clause)

Related Questions