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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Failure to do so - noun?
Hi. Please help. Is the underlined part a noun? Having what looks like a preposition phrase after a noun (failure) seems unusual as a noun. Or is it? Thank you in advance.
Failure to do so is...
A failure to do so is...
Failure to do so is...
A failure to do so is...
Top answer
'To' is not a preposition here; it is the infinitive particle. 'To do so' is a nonfinite clause post-modifying 'failure' (a noun), so the whole thing ('a failure to do so') is a noun phrase.
- 'To' is not a preposition here; it is the infinitive particle.
- 'To do so' is a nonfinite clause post-modifying 'failure' (a noun), so the whole thing ('a failure to do so') is a noun phrase.
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1 Answers
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'To' is not a preposition here; it is the infinitive particle. 'To do so' is a nonfinite clause post-modifying 'failure' (a noun), so the whole thing ('a failure to do so') is a noun phrase.
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