to be or just be

Question

Dear teachers,
1. The project to be completed by the end of 2002 will expand the city's telephone network to cover one million users.
2. As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

I would like to know why the first sentence uses to be, but the second sentence just uses be.
How do I know which I should use? And what is the rule please?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousI would like to know why the first sentence uses to be, but the second sentence just uses be.

The motivation for 'to be' in one case is completely different from the motivation for just 'be' in the other. The grammatical environment is not at all the same.

1. Here you have a reduced relative clause, which means "which is" is omitted, and, to complicate matters, it comes together with the idiom "is to" indicating futurity.

the project to be completed ~ the project which is to be completed
~ the project which is [supposed / expected / scheduled] to be completed

2. Here you have a mandative construction (i.e., present subjunctive) after, and triggered by, the verb 'directed'. The verb form used in this kind of construction is the plain form, i.e., the infinitive without 'to'.

AnonymousHow do I know which I should use?

You study every possible grammatical construction in the English language until you master them all. Then you will always know how to use any verb, including be. Until then, as you continue your study of English you will keep finding things that you can't explain. That's why we have this forum for you. Ask your questions here.

CJ

to be or just be

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