📚 Quick Study Guide: Infinitive Phrases
- 📝 An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive (the base form of a verb preceded by 'to') and all its modifiers and complements.
- 🎯 Infinitives can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs within a sentence.
- 💡 As a Noun: The phrase acts as the subject, direct object, subject complement, or object of a preposition. Example: To err is human. (subject)
- 📖 As an Adjective: The phrase modifies a noun or pronoun, usually answering "which one?" Example: She has a strong desire to succeed. (modifies 'desire')
- 🚀 As an Adverb: The phrase modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb, often answering "why?", "how?", or "to what extent?". Example: He studied hard to pass the exam. (modifies 'studied', answers 'why?')
- ⚠️ Be careful not to confuse an infinitive phrase with a prepositional phrase that starts with 'to' (e.g., 'to the store'). If 'to' is followed by a noun or pronoun, it's a prepositional phrase. If followed by a verb, it's an infinitive.
🧠 Practice Quiz: Infinitive Phrases in Literature
1. Which sentence contains an infinitive phrase functioning as a noun (direct object)?
A) "He began to read aloud, slowly, carefully, as though he were learning." (John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath)
B) "It was a pleasure to burn." (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)
C) "The man had no choice but to obey." (Herman Melville, Billy Budd)
D) "She was too young to understand." (Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird)
2. In which quote does the infinitive phrase function as an adjective?
A) "He had a strange desire to see her again, to talk to her." (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby)
B) "To be, or not to be: that is the question." (William Shakespeare, Hamlet)
C) "They struggled to survive the bitter winter." (Jack London, The Call of the Wild)
D) "To write is to think." (Maya Angelou)
3. Identify the sentence where the infinitive phrase functions as an adverb.
A) "To err is human; to forgive, divine." (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism)
B) "He worked tirelessly to achieve his dreams of freedom." (Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life)
C) "Her only wish was to travel the world." (Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days)
D) "The decision to leave was painful." (Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms)
4. What is the function of the infinitive phrase in the following sentence? "To understand all is to forgive all." (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace)
A) Noun (direct object)
B) Adjective
C) Noun (subject)
D) Adverb
5. In the sentence, "His greatest ambition was to become a renowned poet," what is the role of the infinitive phrase "to become a renowned poet"?
A) Adverb
B) Noun (subject complement)
C) Adjective
D) Noun (object of a preposition)
6. Which part of the following sentence from literature is an infinitive phrase? "I wanted to live, I wanted to feel the sun on my face." (Victor Hugo, Les Misérables)
A) "I wanted to live"
B) "to live"
C) "I wanted to feel"
D) "to feel the sun on my face"
7. Consider the line: "He had a story to tell, a burden to share." (Common literary motif) What is the function of the infinitive phrase "to tell"?
A) Noun (subject)
B) Adverb
C) Adjective
D) Noun (direct object)
Click to see Answers
1. A) "He began to read aloud, slowly, carefully, as though he were learning." ('to read aloud' is the direct object of 'began'.)
2. A) "He had a strange desire to see her again, to talk to her." ('to see her again' modifies the noun 'desire'.)
3. B) "He worked tirelessly to achieve his dreams of freedom." ('to achieve his dreams' modifies the verb 'worked', explaining why.)
4. C) Noun (subject) ('To understand all' acts as the subject of the sentence.)
5. B) Noun (subject complement) ('to become a renowned poet' renames or describes the subject's 'ambition' after a linking verb 'was'.)
6. D) "to feel the sun on my face" (An infinitive phrase includes the infinitive and all its modifiers and complements.)
7. C) Adjective ('to tell' modifies the noun 'story', answering "which story?")