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Bluejay Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
The infinitive "to be"
1. She wants to be a doctor.
2. She is to be a doctor.
Is this correct: in sentence #1, the infinite phrase functions as the direct object, while in sentence #2 the phrase functions as the predicate nominative?
Also, the following is confusing to me:
3. She wants to be happy.
Is "to be happy" functioning as the direct object of the verb? And, what is the adjective "happy" doing? It appears as a predicate adjective ("to be__happy__"), is it?
Thank you very much. (The infinite "to be" confuses me.)
2. She is to be a doctor.
Is this correct: in sentence #1, the infinite phrase functions as the direct object, while in sentence #2 the phrase functions as the predicate nominative?
Also, the following is confusing to me:
3. She wants to be happy.
Is "to be happy" functioning as the direct object of the verb? And, what is the adjective "happy" doing? It appears as a predicate adjective ("to be__happy__"), is it?
Thank you very much. (The infinite "to be" confuses me.)
Top answer
Your questions reveal the limitations of the traditional technical vocabulary for discussing grammatical structures! You can think of infinitives as a direct objects of the verb want. On the other hand, want takes a clause as its complement.
- Your questions reveal the limitations of the traditional technical vocabulary for discussing grammatical structures!
- You can think of infinitives as a direct objects of the verb want.
- On the other hand, want takes a clause as its complement.
- I want (He helps us).
- But the complement clause is expressed with an infinitive.
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3 Answers
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Your questions reveal the limitations of the traditional technical vocabulary for discussing grammatical structures!
You can think of infinitives as a direct objects of the verb want.
On the other hand, want takes a clause as its complement.
I want (He helps us).
But the complement clause is expressed with an infinitive. He helps us >
You can think of infinitives as a direct objects of the verb want.
On the other hand, want takes a clause as its complement.
I want (He helps us).
But the complement clause is expressed with an infinitive. He helps us >
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Jim, remarkable explanation.
I learned a couple of things from that.
I learned a couple of things from that.
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