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Hans51 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

"Failure to produce proof of identity"

"Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution."

I have learned that there are three usages of to infinitive like

1) It functions as a noun.
My plan is to study English.
I like to study English.

2) it functions as an adverb.
I am here to study English.

3) it functions as an adjective
This is a good way to study English.
I have a book to read.

And then suddenly I was wondering if to produce proof of identity functions as an adjective or a noun. Although I learned that it functions as an adjective and it is interpreted as an adjective, it comes from "fail to do", so it could be interpreted and it functions as a noun and an objective of the word failure.

What do you native English speakers think?

And here is a similar case.

The news that the war broke out is true.

I have learned that the news is equal to that clause and then does it function as a noun or an adjective?

This question is really strange but I really would like to know and hear from you.

Thank you so much as usual in advance!
  

Top answer

Hello Hans. "Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution" - to produce proof of identity tells us what sort of failure we are concerned with. It functions as an adjective modifying failure.

  • Hello Hans.
  • "Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution" - to produce proof of identity tells us what sort of failure we are concerned with.
  • It functions as an adjective modifying failure.
  • "The news that the war broke out is true" - that the war broke out tells us which piece of news we are concerned with.
  • It functions as an adjective modifying news.
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1 Answers
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Hello Hans.

"Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution" - to produce proof of identity tells us what sort of failure we are concerned with. It functions as an adjective modifying failure.

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