Advanced English Grammar: The Infinitive Clause & The Infinitive Phrase

Hi. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. In today's video, I want to talk to you

about something called an "infinitive clause" and "infinitive phrase". Okay?

Now, just to review our... before we get into it, I want to review. What is a

"clause"? A "clause" is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. A

"phrase" is something that doesn't have a subject or a verb, or one of the

others. Now, for those of you who have seen my other videos about clauses,

especially dependent clauses — this will be a lot easier to understand. It is

very important to know how to use a noun clause, and: What is the function of a

noun clause? If you haven't seen that video, the link is in the description

box. Please watch that video, so you understand noun clauses; and then come

back so you can more easily understand: What is an "infinitive clause"? Now, the

first thing that you have to understand about infinitive clauses — they're kind

of not really clauses, because we don't have a conjunction to begin the clause.

We begin the clause with an infinitive verb, and then we follow that with a

noun clause. Okay? So, some people will not call this a "clause"; they will just

call it an "infinitive phrase with a noun clause object". But it's much

easier just to think of it as a "noun clause", because the complete thing;

the... the infinitive plus the noun clause have a function together; you

can't really split them up. Okay? And you'll understand what I mean when we

look at the examples. Okay? So, the clause begins with an infinitive verb;

followed by a noun clause, the phrase. Infinitive verb followed by a noun; not

a clause. Okay? Or a noun phrase. So, that's why it's a phrase. There's no

subject and verb involved. So, let's look at the examples.

So, remember: What did we...? For those of you who have seen the noun clause

lesson, what do we use noun clauses for? Subject, objects, or complements. So,

with the infinitive, we're going to use them... we're going to use the

infinitive clauses as complements or as objects. Okay? We can use them as

subjects, but we'll look at that separately. "The principal was happy to

learn that his budget would increase next year." So, first thing you want to

identify is the independent clause; like: What is the actual sentence? So,

"The principal was happy". Okay? That... that is your actual independent clause.

But would this be... sentence be complete: "The principal was happy"?

Well, it can be, but it doesn't really give the listener or the reader the

information they need to understand the full context. Okay? Was he happy because

he got a birthday cake? Was he happy because his child finally started to

walk? Was he happy because he won the lottery? I don't know. So, I need to

complete this idea of happy by adding a complement. Okay? A "complement" is

something that completes the idea. So, he was happy. Why? To learn. Now, "to

learn" is also not enough, because this is a transitive verb. This must have an

object. To learn what? "that his budget would increase next year". "that his

budget" — subject, verb — "would increase next year". "that" I put in

bracket because I can take it out. It is not the subject; I can remove it. I can

leave it in; take it out — both okay. So, now, the whole thing: "to learn that

his budget would increase next year". The whole clause works as a complement

to "happy"; explains why he was happy. Okay?

Let's look at another example. "The manager gave his staff an extended

vacation to test whether they would actually take it; not because he was

generous." So, again: What's the independent clause? "The manager gave

his staff an extended vacation". Complete sentence; complete idea. I can

put a period, and that's your whole sentence. But, again, I want to have

more information. I want to have a more complete idea with context, so I'm going

to add in an infinitive clause. But, again, remember: I'm not adding... it's

not really an infinitive clause. I'm just adding the infinitive, but the

infinitive must be complete because we're using a transitive verb that needs

an object. So, "The manager gave us... gave them an extended vacation". Why?

"to test". To test what? "whether they would actually take it; not because he

was generous". He didn't give it to them because he was generous; he gave it to

them to test whether they would take it. So, here's your infinitive clause. I'm

going to sort of break it up, like this. That works, again, as a complement to

why he gave them this. So, that... you can have the complement to the entire

independent clause; you can have a complement to one specific word. Why was

he happy? And why did he give them an extended vacation? And, again, we can

also use it as an object. "Ask him to find out what she wanted". "Ask him" —

so, this is who. So, this is your... also a direct object, but you can have

two. Ask what? What should you ask him? "to find out". To find out what? "what

she wanted". And, again, noun clause — "what she wanted" as an object "to find

out". "to find out what she wanted" as an object to the verb: "ask". And,

again, the subject: "you" because it's a command..., command verb. Okay? So, I'm

using these infinite... infinitive clauses as one complete unit. This is

why I call them: "clauses". I don't call it a "noun clause", because the noun

clause by itself doesn't do anything. The noun clause is part of the

infinitive; to complete the infinitive. And the infinitive, complete with the

clause... with a noun clause, works as a complement or an object. Again, "to find

out what she wanted, ask her". I can use it as a... again, I can ask her... I can

use it as a subject, but not very commonly used. That's why I didn't give

you an example. Try to avoid beginning sentences with infinitive clauses as

subjects; they're not very common. Okay? So, now, we're going to look at phrases

so... to make sure you understand the difference.

Okay. So, now, we're going to look at infinitive phrases. Okay? And I have to

make a little correction about what I said before, but I'll get to that. So,

here: "I'm happy". This is a... this is an independent clause. This is a

complete sentence. "I'm happy". I'm happy that it's sunny outside. I'm happy

that it's warm outside and not cold. I'm happy that the ice cream truck is

waiting for me to buy... I could be happy about anything, right? So, it's

not a complete idea until I complete it. And I complete it... I can complete it

with an infinitive phrase. Why am I happy? To see you. And, again, "to see",

and then I still have an object "to see" to complete the whole infinitive phrase,

and I'm using a noun. But before I said: You're going to use a noun. You don't

have to use a noun; you can use another infinitive phrase, although it's not as

common. "Be sure". Again, be sure about what? You have to be sure about

something. "Be sure to remember to turn off the oven." So, "be sure"... So, "to

remember" is a complement to be sure about what? Remember what? "to turn off

the oven". So, infinitive phrases can also act as objects. So, when your

verb... when you have a transitive verb in the infinitive, you can use another

infinitive as the object. Although, I highly... I don't recommend it. I

recommend you somehow stick to a noun because they're much easier, especially

in reading and writing to use a noun. Just: "Be sure to turn off the oven".

Just go straight to the actual point. This is just a little bit extra. "to to"

can be a little bit confusing, but correct. Okay? So, make sure you use it

as a complement. You can use it as a... as an object as well. Okay? Infinitive

Now, I told you about the infinitive phrase as a subject. I just wanted to

give you a quick example. "To feel that you're special". So, "that you are

phrase as an object.

special" — this is the noun clause as object to "feel". The entire infinitive

clause is the subject of "is crucial". And then "crucial" needs a complement,

because you want it crucial in what sense? "to develop a sense of security".

And then you have a noun phrase as an object to "develop". So, here, you have

a little bit of everything. Okay? But, generally speaking, people don't like to

begin sentences with infinitives. They might say: "It is crucial to develop a

sense of security to feel that you're special." And we use a dummy subject:

"it", and we put the subject at the end of the clause. Or the end of the

sentence, I should say. But, again, just so you see it — there it is. And then

you can use it with a dummy subject as well. So, I hope this was a little bit

clear. I know clauses are a little bit confusing. Remember: It's not

technically a clause in terms of having a conjunction — a subordinating

conjunction — but it's an infinitive with a noun clause that works as one

piece, as a complement object or sometimes subject. Okay? If you have any

questions about this, please ask me in the comment section at www.engvid.com.

There's also a quiz you can take to make sure you understand how this all works.

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Bye.