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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Linguistics Studies

names and functions of non-finite clauses

0 Hi there!02br
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00I actually have some problems with the following underlined non-finite clauses since I don't know whether they are to-infinitival clauses or past participial clauses:02br
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001.) They arrived home 01u00to find that the house had been burgled.02u02br
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002.) 01u00For her to have said that02u00 was inexcusable.02br
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00I first thought of them as to-infinitivals (especially the first one) but I'm not sure at all because there's a "to" as well as a past participle construction in it.02br
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00I hope anyone knows more than I do and can help me out of my confusion!02br
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00Thanks,02br
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00Kat!0-
  

Top answer

1) They arrived home to find that the house has been burgled. Then, this subordinate clause is a finite clause (actually a noun clause) which will become the object of the infinitive ' to find '. 2) For her to have said that was inexcusable.

— 26TMNTJG2PG

  • 1) They arrived home to find that the house has been burgled.
  • Then, this subordinate clause is a finite clause (actually a noun clause) which will become the object of the infinitive ' to find '.
  • 2) For her to have said that was inexcusable.
  • The underlined is a non-finite clause (a to-infinitival) performing the function of a noun being the subject of the verb ' was '.
  • As the sentence is quite often written as ' It was inexcusable for her to have said that , such to-infinitival is now in apposition with the preparatory pronoun ' it '.
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7 Answers
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1) They arrived home to find that the house has been burgled.

It is more appropriate to treat the main clause as ' They arrived home to find '

and the subordinate clause as ' that the house has been burgled '.Then, this

subordinate clause is a finite clause (actually a noun clause) which will become the

object of the infinitive ' to find '.

2)
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Thanks, that sounds quite logical. But is there any possibility that "to find that the house had been burgled" can also be treated as a non-finite clause or is that impossible? Our lecturer told us to treat that part of the sentence as a non-finite clause and I wonder which funtion it would fulfil then.
For me the way you proposed sounds right, I just ask myself whether it can be possible to
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To answer your question/s, I have to go into a further analysis of the sentence

concerned - They arrived home to find that the house had been burgled.

Invariably, we go home with a purpose: to eat, to sleep, etc., and in the above

case, to find (something). That is a single idea (a unit by itself) and you don't

break it unless you go into parsing (which i
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Actually, "to find / that the house had been burgled," is a non-finite clause. The non-finite verb "to find" (infinitive) takes as its object a finite clause ("that the house has been burgled").

The object slot could have been filled with a noun phrase, or something:
She came home [to find / the dog on the bed].
The non-finite clause in
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Apart from the definition mentioned earlier, changing the tense of the sentence

doesn't change the non-finite clause.

If there is such a change (for a test), your sentence looks awkward: To find that the house

has been burgled couldn't have been pleasant for her.
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AnonymousI first thought of them as to-infinitivals
You were right. That's what they are.
Anonymousthere's a "to" as well as a past participle construction in it.
Yes. That one also contains a past participle, but that doesn't mean that the underlined part as a whole is not a to-infinitival.
CJ
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I would say that the non-finite clause in the first example is an adverbial clause of result rather than of purpose or reason. I think it complements the main verb even though it can be omitted. Clauses of result are usually finite, "He arrived so late all his students had left."

I'm not familiar with the term "to-infinitval". I'm assuming it is comparable to "infinitive". I refer to non-
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