求一篇关于英语语法的论文
发布网友
发布时间：2022-05-07 18:43
共1个回答
热心网友
时间：2022-07-01 02:50
Coordination of to-infinitive clauses
In English, the to-infinitive clause is a very important structure, by which a sentence may become compact, orderly, or even metrical. And the use of a coordination of two or more to-infinitive clauses in a sentence does more help to the expressing of the meaning of the sentence, different clauses with the same structure indicating different meanings. Now, I’ m going to talk about its use in the English language.
(A)The position of syntax function of coordinate to-infinitive clauses.
If coordinate to-infinitive clauses of a sentence is regarded as a whole, they can be used as any part of the sentence except predicate verb.
(1) Subject
To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character. [Aristotle]
(2) Object
He loved to run down dry watercourses, and to creep and spy upon the bird life in the woods.
[The Call of the Wild]
He knew how to take advantage of every cover, to crawl on his belly like a snake, and like a snake to leap and strike. [The Call of the Wild]
(3) Subject complement
To fight was to disobey the law, to risk his head, to make at once an enemy of a minister more powerful than the king himself, all the young men perceived, and yet, to hid praise be it said, he did not hesitate a second. [The Three Musketeers]
It is to make the worlds fairer, and to liberate it from the distorting influence of antiquated beliefs---at the very least, by removing them from the public arena, allowing everyone there to be an indivial human being rather than a label, and inviting our respect accordingly.
[ Disaster crushes one man now, afterwards others---Euripides]
(4) Object complement
“His eminence; then orders me---“said the lady, “ To return instantly to England and to inform him immediately should the ke leave Lundon” [The Three Musketeers]
As Francois' whip backed him up, Buck found it to be cheaper to mend his ways than to retaliate. [The Call of the Wild]
(5) Adverbial
To understand, to observe, to draw conclusions, a man must first of all be conscious of himself as living. [War and Peace]
It is better to keep your mouth closed and not to have them than to have them and not to deserve them. [Mark Twain]
(B) The function of coordinate to-infinitive clauses in respect of meaning in a sentence.
To-infinitive clauses can show diverse meanings in sentences. Most of the times, some other structures can also convey the same meanings, such as ing-participles, subordinate clause and so on, but in some special situations, the use of infinitive clauses may favor the sentence immensely better.
(1) Indicating time
The general stood with Major Ekonomov at the bridge, watching the retreating companies go by, a soldier to run up to him and to hold of his stirrup, almost clinging to it. [War and Peace]
In the days, nine suitors to gather up and to kneel round her in a circle, she guarded her nakedness apprehensively, as though trying to express the value of her body in terms of the modesty she accorded it. [The Unbearable Lightness of Being]
(2) Explaining reason
Either he to have stolen wine orgave away the secrets of Zeus，or he to have become so proud as to test the gods by serving up the flesh of his son Pelopsto them，he incurred the wrath of Zeus and was hurled down to the everlasting darkness of Tartarus. [Ancient Greek Stories]
I call him my neighbour, his plantation to lay next to mine and we to have gone on very sociably together. [The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Franders Robinson Crusoe]-
(3) Expressing conditions or qualifications
If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ case; so every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.
[Of Studies Francis Bacon]
(4)Expressing intention or purpose
You will make some desirable acquaintances, and from time to time you can call upon me, just to tell me how you are getting on, and to say whether I can be of any service to you.
[The Three Musketeers]
(5)Denoting or implying result
When Buck earned sixteen hundred dollars in five minutes for John Thornton, he made it possible for his master to pay off certain debts and to journey with his partners into the East after a fabled lost mine, the history of which was as old as the history of the country. Many men had sought it; few had found it; and more than a few there were who had never returned from the quest.
[The Call of the Wild]
To be sure, it was an unwonted performance but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. [The Call of the Wild]
(6)Expressing a kind of concomitance or method
D’ Artagnan and Cahusac sprang forward at the same instant, the one to recover, the other to obtain, the sward; but D’ Artagnan, being the more active, reached it first and placed his foot upon it. [The Three Musketeers]
Did you ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to damned, and no body to be kicked? [Edward Thurlow]
(7) complementary explanation or supplementary information
I came to these words: He is exalted a prince and a saviour, to give repentance, and to give remission. [The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Franders Robinson Crusoe]
I had a great desire to make a mare perfect discovery of the island, and to see what other proctions I might find, which I yet knew nothing of.
[The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Franders Robinson Crusoe]
(C)The relationship on function or meaning between the coordinate to-infinitive clauses themselves.
In many cases, the to-infinitive clauses are often connected with some conjunctions or some conjunctional structures. Maybe sometimes the conjunctions are the same, but the meanings expressed by the to-infinitive clauses are different.
(1)Option
But M.de Tre’ville promised this favour after a novitiate of two years---a novitiate which might, besides, be abridged if an opportunity should present itself for D’ Artagnan to render the king any signal service, or to distinguish himself by some brilliant action. [The Three Musketeers]
And now I was to launch out into the ocean, and either to venture, or not to venture.
[The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Franders Robinson Crusoe]
(2)Order of the preceding and the following
So I resolved to stay at home, and if I could find means for it, to dispose of my plantation.
[The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Franders Robinson Crusoe]
(3)Comparison
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. [Mark Twain]
In short, the things he did were done because it was easier to do them than not to do them.
[The Call of the Wild]
(4)Juxtaposition
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. [Of Studies Francis Bacon]
I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people’s spirits, and to bring them together. [My Life Bill Clinton]
(5)Sequence of going forward one by one
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. [Benjamin Franklin]
These examples show us the great power of to-infinitive clauses, which are rather complicated in some cases and relate to many interesting phenomena.
