A Probe into the Infinitive in English 英语毕业学士论文《英语不定式探析》 .doc

英语不定式探析 A Probe into the Infinitive in English Abstract The infinitive which is quite important appears frequently in English, and it is undoubtedly an integral part of English grammar and also, in fact, usually turns up in secondary school entrance examinations. However, it is the obvious fact that the infinitive is a difficult point in teaching and learning. It is quite important for us to master it in English language study. But when the writer of this paper has to turn to some pages of articles that some learners wrote, he gets the information that few works elaborate this grammatical phenomenon. Therefore, the writer of this paper aims to make up for it. So the primary goal of this research is to give a systematic introduction of its definition, forms, grammatical functions, moods, and phrases and sentences concerning infinitives based on illustrations and analyses with the knowledge of English grammar. And after the probe, the writer of this paper gets the fact that there are many aspects that the infinitive refers to and they are not systematic, causing a lot of trouble in understanding of the infinitive in study. So it is necessary for us to get a systematic understanding. The writer hopes that this research can help teaching and learning and make the students use infinitives correctly. Key words: infinitive；forms；grammatical functions；moods 英语不定式探析 内容摘要 不定式在英语中被广泛的应用，是英语语法的重要组成部分，也是中高考 的常考考点之一，在英语中起着举足轻重的作用。但同时也是英语中教与学的 难点。掌握不定式对英语的学习起着关键的作用。然而本人在看过多篇前人的 文献后发现很多都没有对这个语法现象进行全面系统的阐述。所以本人想借此 机会用例证法和分析法来结合语法知识对不定式的定义，形式，语法功能，表 示的语气以及英语中常见涉及不定式的短语和句型进行系统的阐述。经过探析 发现，不定式涉及的方面很多很零碎。让学生在英语学习过程中带来了理解和 掌握的不易。我们需要对不定式有一个系统的认识才能更好的掌握它。希望本 篇文章可以让学生对不定式有更清楚地理解和认识。同时也希望能够对英语的 教与学有所帮助。 关键词：不定式；形式；语法功能；语气 A Probe into the Infinitive in English Thesis Statement The infinitive which plays a significant part in English is a difficult point in teaching and learning. It is quite necessary for us to get a systematic understanding for the sake of mastering it better. Outline . Introduction . The Classification of Infinitive A. The Infinitive Including to B. The Infinitive Without to . The Forms of Infinitive and the Meaning A. The General Form B. The Continuous Form C. The Passive Form D. The Perfect Form E. The Negative Form F. The Interrogative Form . The Function of Infinitive in a Sentence A. As a Subject B. As an Object C. As a Predicative D. As an Attributive E. As an Adverbial F. As a Complement G. As an Independent Structure . The Introduction of be to do Structure A. Expressing Plan and Purpose B. Expressing Order C. Expressing Possibility D. Expressing Destiny E. Expressing Asking for Advice F. Expressing Future and Prediction . Conclusion 1 A Probe into the Infinitive in English . Introduction As we all know, it is the obvious fact that the infinitive is widely used in English. At the same time, they are undoubtedly a significant part of English grammar. It also appears frequently in secondary school entrance examinations and has a crucial to play in English. However, it is, as the case stands, one of the difficult points in English language teaching and learning. It is quite important for us to master it when we are learning English. And it is concerned with quite number of aspects that students must know if they want to get a better understanding or mastering such as the definition, forms, grammatical functions, the moods it expresses, and the phrases and sentences concerning infinitives. However, quite few works put them together in a systematic way but just elaborate some portions of it. So the author tries to make the research into an organic system by illustrations and analyses with the knowledge of English grammar, aiming to make the infinitive easier for students to understand and master, hoping the paper can make a little contribution to English language teaching and learning. Sometimes, as the case stands, many a student may unclearly know what the infinitive is. In fact, the infinitive taking verb infinitive as its full name which comprises infinitive symbol to that sometimes can be omitted and the verbs base form is a kind of infinite verb and has a very important role to play in English . It is also of characteristics of verb, together with noun, adjective and adverb with general form, continuous form, perfect form, passive form, negative form and interrogative form. Object and adverbial can follow it directly owing to its characteristic of verb though it can not be used as predicate because it belongs to non-finite verbs. But the infinitive itself can be subject, object, attributive, adverbial and complement in sentences ascribing to its characteristics of nouns, adjectives and adverbs. Furthermore, there is no direct subject for the infinitive in a sentence although it can express the meaning of a verb. But it is beyond doubt that it has its own performer and 2 that performer is called logical subject. . The Classification of Infinitive Usually, the infinitive, in fact, can be divided into two kinds of forms, according to the infinitive symbols presence or absence. One is the infinitive including to. The other is the infinitive without to. First, let us come to the former. A. The Infinitive Including to The infinitive including the infinitive sign to usually follows some different kinds of verbs. 1. The verbs has the same meaning when they are followed infinitive or gerund They are usually like, love, hate, prefer, begin, start, continue, cant bear, bother, intend, attempt, cease etc. There are some examples listed as follows: (1) He likes to travel alone. (2) He began to do this job last year. (3) Dont bother to get dinner for me. 2. The verbs has the different meanings when they are followed infinitive or gerund They are usually forget, remember, regret, mean, try, cant help, stop etc. There are some examples listed as follows: (1) I forgot to tell you about it. (2) I forgot telling you about it. (3) I remembered to give the book to Li Lei. (4) I remembered giving the book to Li Lei, but he said I didnt. (5) I regretted having broken the rules of our class. (6) I didnt mean to bother you. (7) What he said means going there by air? (8) Ill try to catch up with my friends. (9) I tried reading the text without consulting my dictionary. 3 (10) Im very busy now, so I cant help (to) clean the room. (11) The girl couldnt help crying when she saw her mother again. 3. The verbs has the different voices when they are followed infinitive or gerund They are usually need, require, want, deserve etc. Two examples are given to you: (1) The flowers need to be watered every day. = The flowers need watering every day. (2) The car wants to be repaired. = The car wants repairing. B. The Infinitive Without to Sometimes in English the infinitive symbol to is often left out. Typically, the infinitive symbol to should be omitted in the occasions listed as follows. 1. After the phrase had better When the infinitive follows the phrase had better, the infinitive symbol to must be absence. For example, in the sentence “You had better go home now”, “go” in fact is the infinitive omitted the sign to. 2. After why not When the infinitive is put after why not, the infinitive sign to should also be omitted. For example, in the sentence “Why not study with us?”, “study” is, in fact, the infinitive and the symbol to is left out. 3. After the perception verbs and causative verbs As the case stands, if the infinitive plays a role as the complement of object after perception verbs like see, feel watch, hear and observe etc. or causative verbs like make, let and have etc. We must omit the infinitive symbol to as well. Take perception verb see for example. In the sentence “I saw you come in”, in fact, “come” is an infinitive and the infinitive sign is left out. Besides, in this occasion, the infinitive means the whole process of an action. It emphasizes the process. If we just want to express the temporary action, “come” should be changed into “coming”. Another example is about the infinitive follows the causative verb make. Look 4 at the sentence “I made them give me the money.” In fact, “give” is an infinitive omitted to because the verb “made” is a causative verb. However, we must keep it in mind that in the two occasions above the infinitive symbol to must keep if the active voice is changed into passive voice. That is to say, the two sentences should be changed into “You were seen to come in.” and “They were made to give the money back.” 4. After prepositions but, except and besides As we all know, the verb do has several forms: do, doing, does, did and done. And once anyone of them appears before those prepositions, the infinitive after them must be omitted the infinitive sign to and if not, the situation is just the opposite. An example is listed as follows: What do you like to do besides swim? 5. After some conjunctions to avoid duplication Sometimes in order to avoid duplication, the infinitive symbol to often can be omitted. Typically, when the two infinitives are connected by the conjunctions: and, or and than, the symbol to of the second infinitive can often be omitted. Let us look at the following sentences: (1) Im really puzzled what to think or say. (2) He is going to have a picnic and climb the mountain. (3) I would rather to study than play. 6. After the verb help As for the verb help, we often see the structure help sb. (to) to do sth. in English. When the infinitive plays a role of object complement, the sigh to can be left out or kept. Some examples are given as follows: (1) I can help you (to) help yourself. (2) She helped me (to) write the composition. (3) I helped him (to) lift the bag. . The Forms of Infinitive and the Meaning 5 The various tenses of the infinitive are reflected by its different forms. Typically, the infinitive has some following forms. A. The General Form According to the infinitive signs omission or not, the general form can be written as to do or do. And for one hand, its general form means the action of the infinitive and the predicate verb happens at the same time. For another, it means the action of the infinitive happens after that of the predicate verb. For example, in the sentences “He seems to know that”, we can see that the action of the predicate verb “seems” and the action of the infinitive “to know” happens at the same time. Another example, in the sentence “I hope to see you again”, we can clearly see that the action of the infinitive “to see” happens after the action of the predicate verb “hope”. B. The Continuous Forms The infinitive has two sorts of continuous forms: the present continuous form and the perfect continuous form and they are written as to be doing and to have been doing accordingly. The former is often used for expressing the meaning that the action of the infinitive and the predicate verb happens at the very same while, for example, from the sentence “He seems to be eating something”, we can get the information that the action the infinitive expresses and the action the predicate verb indicates happens at the same time. But the perfect continuous form is usually used to express the meaning that the action of the infinitive happens before the action of the predicate verb and that action continues all the time, for example, “He is said to have been working in that factory for two years”. C. The Passive Forms The passive forms are usually known to us as to be done and to have been done. It is the common sense in English that if the subject is the bearer of the predicate verb, we should use the passive voice. And that is also true of the infinitive. The infinitive should be used as passive form when its logical subject, the performer, is the bearer of the action of the infinitive. The former one often is used to express the action of the infinitive happens after the action of the predicate verb. It means the future action. 6 And sometimes it follows the verbs like need, want and require etc. and its logical subjects are usually objects. The latter one is often applied to indicating the action of the infinitive happens before the predicate verb. It means the past action. There are several sentences as follows for you to understand it better: (1) The car needs to be repaired. (2) The flower wants to be watered. (3) The money requires to be given out. (4) The project is said to be finished next month. (5) The project is said to have been finished a month ago. D. The Perfect Form The perfect form of the infinitive which is used to express the meaning that the action of the infinitive happens before the action of the predicate verb is often written as to have done. It means the past action happened. There are two examples listed as follows: (1) Im sorry to have given you so much trouble. (2) They are said to have discussed the problem. E. The Negative Form The negative form of the infinitive which should be added not directly before the infinitive gives us the negative meaning. Take verb do for example. (1) The negative form of its general form: not to do or not do (2) The negative form of its passive form: not to be done and not to have been done (3) The negative form of its continuous form: not to be doing and not to have been doing (4) The negative form of its perfect form: not to have done F. The Interrogative Form The interrogative forms of the infinitive usually indicate the wh-infs and h-infs. In fact, the infinitive can follow relative pronouns and relative adverbs and those structures often express the future (张克礼 282). They are often known to us as what to do, who to do, which to do, how to do, when to do, where to do and why to do. 7 There are some examples listed as follows: (1) Where to go is still a question. (2) I know where to find the boy. (3) We must first solve the problem of whom to serve. (4) The question is how to learn English well. (5) I asked her how to learn English. (6) Ill show you how to do it. (7) Youd better find out where to put it. (8) I dont know what to do next. (9) The doctor told him when to take the medicine. (10) Li Ping doesnt know why to learn English. . The Functions of Infinitive in a Sentence The each part which is used to make up of the sentence is called member of sentence. They are usually known to us as subject, predicate, object, attributive, adverbial, complement and appositive. And in all these parts, the subject and the predicate are the main parts of a sentence and the rest parts are usually called secondary parts. The infinitive in a sentence also has its own position. It can play various roles in a sentence ascribing to its characteristics of verb, noun, adjective and adverb. It can play the roles of all the members of sentences except predicate and appositive, for it belongs to non-finite verbs and it is a kind of form of verb. A. As a Subject The subject is often called a head of a sentence and it is usually put at the beginning of a sentence, but sometimes it should be put at other position