338. The most frequent use of the infinitive in -ing is as the object of a preposition; as, “I am tired of doing nothing,” “He earned a living by sharpening scissors.”

339. The infinitive in -ing, like the noun, may be the object of any preposition, but the infinitive with to is used as the object of very few prepositions, only about, except, but, and save, the last two meaning except.

In the sentence, “He ate nothing but bananas,” the object of the preposition but must be a noun because it must be the name of a food. But in the sentence, “He did nothing but play tennis,” the object of but must be an infinitive because it must be the name of an action.

Note.—We often hear the expression “I was about to say.” In this familiar idiom the prepositional phrase about to say is used as the subjective complement of the verb was. How do we know this? What is the use of the infinitive to say?

340. In the sentence, “The gentleman drew out the chair for the lady to sit down,” if we ask the question for what? we get the answer the lady to sit down, hence the group of words the lady to sit down must be the object of the preposition for. But this group of words consists of two parts, the lady and the infinitive phrase to sit down, which have the logical relation of subject and predicate, hence we conclude that the preposition for may take a double object.

341. The sentences, “Sheep are apt,” “I am sorry,” “The traveler was glad,” are all incomplete. We wish to know in what respect sheep are apt, what I am sorry about, what the traveler was glad of. In other words, the adjectives apt, sorry, and glad need a modifier to make the sentence complete in meaning. This modifier may be an infinitive, “Sheep are apt to get lost,” “I am sorry to leave Warwick,” “The traveler was glad to see his home again.” We learn from these sentences that an infinitive phrase may modify an adjective.

Exercise.—Complete the following sentences by infinitive phrases. What do your phrases modify? How do you know?

1. This child is too young—

2. A man of twenty-five is old enough—

3. The water was so deep as—

4. The general was anxious—

5. Some lessons are not easy—

342. The infinitive may be used independently; as, “To be frank, I do not like it.” “To make a long story short, we were utterly defeated.”

343. A common error is the use of the perfect infinitive for the present. It is proper to say, “I ought to have gone,” when we mean that the time of the going was in the past; as, “I ought to have gone then, or yesterday, or a year ago.” But when we mean that the going is at the present time or is to be in the future, then we should use the present infinitive, and say, “I ought to go.”

What is the difference in the meaning of the following pairs of sentences?

It is evident from the four pairs of sentences above that some verbs in the present tense may be followed by either a present or a perfect infinitive. This is likewise true of some verbs in the past tense. We say, “He seemed to be sleeping,” meaning that he was sleeping at the time we noted his appearance. We also say, “He seemed to have been sleeping,” meaning that he had slept before we noted his appearance.

What is the difference in the meaning of the following pairs of sentences:—

Since the verbs desire, expect, hope, want, and wish refer to something in the present or the future, but never in the past, they cannot be followed by a perfect infinitive. It is absurd to say, “I hoped to have seen you,” “I expected to have gone,” “I wished to have stayed.” We should say:—

I desire to go. I desired to go.

I expect to be there. I expected to be there.

I hope to pass. I hoped to pass.

I want to know. I wanted to know.

I wish to speak. I wished to speak.

Summary.—The infinitive phrase may be used as the object of a preposition. The preposition for may take a double object.

The infinitive phrase may modify an adjective.

The infinitive phrase may be used independently.

Exercise.—Explain the use of each infinitive phrase. Classify each infinitive.

1. The cat was just about to spring upon the window sill where the bird cage sat, when Paul shouted out a warning.

2. I am perfectly willing to dine in the kitchen beside this cool north window.

3. The gay youths spent their time in walking, hunting, fishing, feasting, and dancing.

4. It was so cold at Petoskey in July that the hotel proprietor furnished a large lamp for us to heat our room by.

5. The cherries grew too high to be picked except by the robins.

6. My lot was indeed a hard one; I was too old to play out of doors with my brothers, and too young to go to parties with my sisters.

7. After supper, the boy who has done nothing all day but turn grindstone, and spread hay, and run his little legs off at everybody’s beck and call, is sent on some errand or some household chore lest time may hang heavy on his hands.

8. Bark is only good to sharpen claws.

9. John was hungry enough to have eaten the New England Primer.

10. Franklin was employed in cutting wicks for the candles, filling the molds for cast candles, attending the shop, going of errands, etc.

11. To tell the truth, I prefer to stay at home.

12. The only way to make the world better is for each man to do his best.

13. A dog is good to bite peddlers and small children, and to run out and yelp at wagons that pass by, and to howl all night when the moon shines.

14. To sum up, the infinitive is used chiefly as a noun, but also as an adjective and an adverb.

15. The teacher’s eyes glanced half a dozen different ways at once,—a habit probably acquired from watching the boys.

16.

None knew thee but to love thee,

Nor named thee but to praise.

17. To see the sparks rush like swarms of red bees skyward through the smoke is an experience long to be remembered.

18. To make way for hemp the magnificent forests of Kentucky were felled.

19. The crow and the blackbird seem to love these plants.

20. It takes a hundred days to lift out of the tiny seed these powerful hollow stalks.

21. The seeds fall to the ground, there to be folded in against the time when they shall rise again.

Classify the dependent clauses in sentence 1. What is the object of except in sentence 5?