idea named by the noun is intended, or naming the kind of object.

144. The infinitive stands in relation with an adjective to show in what respect the adjective is to apply; as,

1. The lieutenant is competent to command a regiment. 2. We are ready to proceed.

The adjectives competent and ready leave the statement indefinite until the infinitive is added to specify in what respect the lieutenant is competent; viz., to command a regiment; in what respect we are ready, viz., to proceed.

145. The infinitive stands in relation with verbs denoting effort, to name the purpose of the action expressed by the verb; as,

1. The man ran to catch the train.

2. We listened intently to catch every syllable.

146. The infinitive is used with verbs of believing, commanding, perceiving, wishing, and the like, in a clause in indirect discourse (see § 215); as,

1. The people believe him to be honest.

2. The general ordered me to lead the assault.
3. We expect you to be our guest.

In sentence (1) the belief is that "he is honest "; in (2) the order is that "I lead the assault"; in (3) the expectation is that " 'you will be our guest." In each case the direct statement was a complete thought. In each case something is asserted of the pronoun in the objective case. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the infinitive clause can be rendered by a that-clause; as,

1. The people believe that he is honest.

2. The general ordered that I lead the assault.
3. We expect that you will be our guest.

147. The infinitive is used parenthetically without any grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence; as,

1. To put it briefly, he is a rascal.

2. We are, to be sure, exceedingly sorry.

Write ten sentences illustrating the uses of the infinitive described in this chapter.

CHAPTER XVI

THE INFINITIVE (Cont.); THE GERUND

148. In English the infinitive is losing its charac ter as a verb form and is assuming more characteristics of a substantive. It was formerly treated as a mode, that is, as a pure verb. The form of the infinitive is still used in verb phrases with modal and tense auxiliaries to build up the mode and tense forms; as,

I shall go; I may go I should go.

149. A few verbs as bid, can, dare, may, let, make, seem, shall, use the infinitive without the particle to ;

as,

1. The master bids me tell you.

2. He did not dare repeat the offense.

In a few cases the particle may be omitted or not, according to the speaker's choice; as,

3. There was nothing to do but (to) wait.

150. The particle to regularly precedes the infinitive and is inseparably connected with it.

NOTE. Some writers insert an adverb between to and the infinitive for the sake of emphasis; as,

I wish the reader to clearly understand.

This is known as the split infinitive. It will be found tha another position of the adverb will answer much better.

151. The infinitive takes the usual modifiers of the verb, such as object complement, predicate complement, and adverbial modifier; as,

1. I invite you to be my guest.

2. He hopes to win a fortune.

3. The duke refused to ride in the cab.

The Gerund

152. We have seen in Chapter XIV that the par ticiple partakes of the nature of the verb and the adjective. The present participle in -ing is regularly used as a pure, attributive adjective; as, the running water, the guiding star.

This form in -ing is used also as a noun ; as,

1. Walking was his daily recreation.
2. We teach the art of reading.

3. Drinking pure water is wholesome.

The verbals walking, reading, and drinking serve as nouns and are in this respect like the infinitive, while in form they are like the present participle.

When the verbal in -ing is used as a noun it is called a gerund.

The gerund may perform all the functions of a noun. It may be subject, complement, object of prepositions, take adjective modifiers, etc. It may at the same time perform the functions of a verb; for example, it may govern a direct object and be modified by an adverb or adverbial phrase. But it cannot serve as predicate of a sentence; that is, it cannot be connected with a subject by person and number.

153. When the gerund drops its verb functions, serving merely as a noun naming an action, but not expressing action, it becomes a verbal noun. It may be distinguished from the gerund by the fact that its modifiers are adjectives, while the gerund may take an object and may have adverbial modifiers.

Gerunds

(1) Reading good books is instructive.
(2) Forgetting the past is a virtue.

(3) He said this meaning me.

(4) The bishop spoke briefly in blessing the church.

Verbal Nouns

(1) He gave a reading from Browning.
(2) Our birth is a sleep and a forgetting.
(3) You did not get my real meaning.
(4) Let us have your blessings.

EXERCISE 25

Write (1) five sentences containing present participles; (2) five sentences containing gerunds; (3) five sentences containing verbal nouns; (4) five sentences containing infinitives.

EXERCISE 26

Parse the infinitives, gerunds, and participles in the following sentences:

MODEL FOR THE INFINITIVE:

We desire to improve these conditions.

To improve is a present active infinitive, it governs the direct object, conditions. It is used as a noun in the objective case, the object complement of the verb desire.