Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verb Complements › Infinitives › Infinitive Cls w/ Subject

Infinitive Clauses with Subjects ("agents")

Take action vs. express desire for someone to do an activity

Who is doing the work?

1) TAKE ACTION ON SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING
Persuade expresses that a person takes action to get someone else to do an activity. The verb is transitive (takes an object) and accepts an infinitive or infinitive clause as its complement. Ed persuades Frida means that Frida is the "patient" (receiver) of his persuasion. The infinitive clause that follows does not specify an agent, so it can be understood in two ways.
SUBJ + PRED	VERBAL COMP	VERBAL COMPLEMENT
TYPE 1 VERB	OBJ	INFIN CLAUSE
Ed will persuade	Frida Frida is the receiver of the persuasion.	to paint the portraits. [Frida] to paint the portraits. Often the last person mentioned is understood as the doer of the activity.
Ed will persuade	Frida Frida is the receiver of the persuasion.	to paint the portraits. to let him paint the portraits. However, this can also be understood as Ed wanting permission from Frida to paint the portraits.

2) EXPRESS A DESIRE FOR SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING
Intend expresses a desire to have someone else do something. The verb is intransitive (does not take an object) and accepts an infinitive or infinitive clause as its complement. Ed intends an activity to occur. Ed is understood as the doer of the activity unless a subject for the clause is included with [for + noun/accusative pronoun].
SUBJ + PRED	VERBAL COMPLEMENT
TYPE 2 VERB	SUBJ OF INFIN	INFIN CLAUSE
Ed intends	Ed is understood as the person who will paint the portraits. (understood)	to paint the portraits.
Ed intends	for Frida Frida is specified as the person who will paint the portraits.	to paint the portraits.

accusative pronoun —you, me, him, her, them, us— normally occurs as the object of a verb. He persuaded her. However, above #2, for + accusative pronoun —for you, for me, for him, for her, for them, for us— functions as the subject of the infinitive clause; that is, together [for + pronoun] express the 'doer' of the infinitive clause.

infinitive clause – is a nonfinite clause that rarely includes a subject (agent) and cannot be inflected for tense, person or number. Such information must be guessed from context or clarified by a follow-up question.

verbal complement — an element or elements required by the subject and predicate to complete their meaning. That is, the sentence is unfinished or illogical without the complement. For example, some verbs require an object or an infinitive clause to complete the meaning expressed by the verb.

nominative pronoun– a noun form used when it is the subject of the verb (she, he, we, they) / accusative – a noun form used when it is the object of the verb (her, him, us, them)

for – is a subordinator (not a preposition) before the accusative pronoun and infinitive. See Grammar Notes.

to – is a subordinator (not part of the infinitive) before the bare or plain form verb. See Nonfinite Forms and Connector Terms

Semantic roles: (meanings)

agent—the person or thing that takes action to do something. (He sang a song for them.. The wind blew the leaves.)

patient ("theme")—the person or thing that is affected by the action denoted by the predicate. The thing acted upon. (He sang a song for them..)

beneficiary—the person (or entity) that receives the benefit or enjoyment of the action expressed by the predicate. (He sang them a song. He sang a song for them.)

recipient—the person (or entity) that is the receiver or endpoint of the action expressed by the predicate. (He sang her a song. He sang a song to her. )

Verbs + Object + Infinitive

Similar but Different

Persuade vs. Intend

1. [PERSUADE + OBJ] + INFINITVE
Persuade is transitive (takes an object) and accepts an infinitive or infinitive clause as its complement. The person mentioned as the object of the main clause is also understood as the subject or "agent" in the infinitive clause. Below, Frida is both an ordinary object of the verb persuade and the understood subject of the infinitive clause.
TAKES AN OBJECT
Ed persuades Frida.
TAKES AN OBJECT + AN INFINITIVE
Ed persuades Frida [to do the portraits].
DOES NOT ACCEPT "FOR" BEFORE THE NOUN
*Ed persuades (for) Frida to do the portraits.
PASSIVE CAN BE APPLIED TO MAIN CLAUSE
Frida Is persuaded by Ed [to do the portraits]. (Frida is the recipient of the persuasion, the direct object)
OBJECT IS MERGED WITH SUBJ OF SUBORD CLAUSE
Ed persuades Frida (for Frida) to do the portraits. Ed persuades Frida (for Frida) to do the portraits. → Ed persuades Frida to do the portraits. The object of the main verb is also the understood subject of the infinitive clause.

2. INTEND + [OBJ + INFINITIVE]
Intend is intransitive (does not take an object and cannot be passive) and accepts an infinitive or infinitive clause as its complement. The "agent" of the infinitive clause can be included with [for + noun / accusative pronoun]. Below, Frida is the subject of the infinitive clause, which is raised to become the object/complement of the main clause.
DOES NOT TAKE AN OBJECT
*Ed intends Frida.
TAKES AN INFINITIVE
Ed intends [to do the portraits].
ACCEPTS "FOR" BEFORE THE NOUN
Ed intends (for) Frida to do the portraits.
PASSIVE CANNOT BE APPLIED TO MAIN CLAUSE
*Frida Is intended by Ed [to do the portraits]. (Frida is the not recipient of the persuasion, not the direct object but rather the subject of the infinitive clause) Ed intends the portraits to be done by Frida. (Frida belongs to the infinitive clause, which can be passivized.)
OBJECT IS "RAISED" FROM SUBJ OF SUBORD CLAUSE
Ed intends (for) Frida to do the portraits. Ed intends (for) Frida to do the portraits. → Ed intends Frida to do the portraits. The subject of the infinitive clause is "raised" to become the object of the verb in the main clause.

The subject of the infinitive clause is expressed as [for + noun] (accusative pronoun)

for – subordinator (not a preposition)

persuade is said to have an ordinary object / intend is said to have a raised object.

transitive verb – a verb that takes a direct object and forms a passive See Transitive Verbs–DO.

See Infinitive with Subject. (Huddleston 1178)

(Azar 14-6) (Biber 9.4) (Huddleston 1201-39) (Swan 258)

Verbs like "Persuade"

Take action to get someone else to do an activity

1. Verbs Like "persuade" — He persuaded us [to take his place].

VERBS LIKE "PERSUADE"
advise – We advised him to take a break.	*ask – She asked us to come along.
assist – We assisted him to finish.	authorize – We authorized them to withdraw.
blackmail – They blackmailed him to lie.	bribe – We bribed him to advance.
challenge – We challenged him to compete.	choose – We chose him to help.
commission We commissioned him to paint.	compel He compelled us to leave.
direct – They directed us to walk back.	discipline – He disciplined them to sit and wait.
enable – They enabled him to act.	encourage – They encouraged me to speak.
force – They forced him to go alone.	*help – (optional to) They helped us to win.
instruct – He instructed me to leave at once.	invite – They invited us to eat..
nag – She nagged him to stop smoking.	nominate – We nominated him to be president.
persuade – He persuaded us to drive.	prefer – He urged us to work hard.
prompt – He prompted us to respond.	provoke They provoked us to strike back.
select – We selected him to lead.	sentence – The judge sentenced him to a week in jail.
tell – He told me to rest.	tempt – She tempted him to eat the apple.
warned – We warned them to slow down.	will – She willed herself not to cry.

MORE VERBS LIKE "PERSUADE"
aid – We aided him to take a stay.	appoint – We appointed him to lead.
back – We backed him to be President.	*beg – She begged us to stay up late.
bring up – We brought him up to be honest.	caution – We cautioned him to slow down.
coax – We coaxed him to be nicer..	command – He commanded us to stop.
condemn The king condemned him to death.	dare – He dared us to jump.
drive – He drove them to act selfishly.	elect – They elected her to serve two years.
equip – They equipped him to climb the mountain.	forbid – They forbid him to go alone.
hire – He hired me to drive.	inspire – He inspired us to try.
lead – He lead us to strike.	move – He moved us to try harder. "inspired"
oblige – They obliged us to carry a passport.	order – They ordered us to carry a passport.
prepare – She prepared us to go home.	pressure – He pressured us to help.
push – They pushed us to excel.	remind – He reminded us to be there.
summon – The judge summoned him to come.	teach – He taught me to read.
trust – They trusted us to be honest.	urged – He urged us to work hard.

*verb can be used in both sentences

Verbs like "Intend"

Express desire (dislike) for someone else to do an activity

2. Verbs Like "Intend" He intends [for us to take his place] .

VERBS LIKE "INTEND"
allow – He will allow us to try it out.	can't bear – He can't bear (for) us to be away from him. (negative 'desire')
desire – He desires (for) us to win.	expect – We expected him to be President.
leave¹ – He left us to finish the work.	like – She likes (for) us to be creative.
permit – He permits us to eat lunch early.	plan – He plans for us to go to college.
wish – He wishes (for) us to succeed.

MORE VERBS LIKE "INTEND"
can't stand – He can't stand (for) us to smoke around him..	cause – They caused us to lose the race.
hate – We hates (for) them to win. (negative 'desire')	intend – He intends (for) us to take his place.
love – They love us to be around.	need – We need (for) you to think clearly.
require – He required us to dress for business.	want – She wants us to visit.

Also see Infinitive Commands.

¹ leave with meaning of allowed; let responsibility fall on us ; Verbs such as let, leave and allow do not express a meaning of taking action on someone to do something. See Huddleson 1234.

Verbs like "Ask"

Object or an Infinitive Clause w / Subject?

Verbs Like "Ask" — Who is doing the Action?

1. SUBJECT DOES THE ACTION
(1) Ed, the subject of the main clause, is understood as the subject of the infinitive clause. The verb ask is transitive (takes an object) and ditransitive (takes an indirect object) in this example. Ed asked us (IO) something (DO).
SUBJ: N + V	ACCUS PRN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Edward asked	me (me)	to go home early. (Ed wants himself to go home early.)
Frida paid	us (us)	to house-sit. (Frida wants herself to house-sit for us.)

2. SOMEONE ELSE DOES THE ACTION
(2) Ed is the subject of the main clause and "us" is both the object of the main clause and the understood subject of the infinitive clause. Ed asked us ← (for us) to leave. The pronoun is called a "raised object"
SUBJ: N + V	ACCUS PRN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Ed asked	me	← [for me] to go home early. (Ed wants me to go home early.)
Frida paid	us	← [for us] to house-sit. (Frida paid us to house-sit for her.)

†The subject of the infinitive clause is expressed as [for + noun] (accusative pronoun) See Infinitive with Subject. (Huddleston 1178-82)

IO – indirect object ; DO – direct object

house-sit – occupy and care for a house while the usual people who live there are away on a trip; sometimes the house-sitter pays a small rental fee; sometimes the homeowner pays the house sitter, and sometimes it is an even trade.

3. Verbs like "ask"

VERBS LIKE "ASK"
ask – He asked us to leave.	beg – He begged us to stay.
promise – We promised them to marry.	pledge – We pledged ourselves to do some charity work.

MORE VERBS LIKE "ASK"
pay – He paid us to house-sit.	petition – We petitioned them to change the law.
request – He requested us to do the cooking.

Other Verbs

Bare Infinitives & Negatives

Bare Infinitives

VERB	"TO" OMITTED
make	They made us wash dishes. They forced us. We washed the dishes.
have	They had us clear the table. They employed us. We cleared the table.
let	They let us leave early. They permitted us. We left early.

VERB	OPTIONAL "TO"
help	They helped us (to) cook dinner. They helped us. We all cooked.

Negatives

NEGATIVE MAIN VERB
Use a negative verb if the speaker has no particular intention to do something.
He doesn't want me to waste paper.
* He doesn't want me to waste no paper. (Use any.)

NEGATIVE INFINITIVE
Use a negative infinitive if the speak has a clear intention to avoid something.
He wants me not to waste any paper.
He wants me not to waste any paper.
He wants me to not waste any paper. (awkward word order - place not before to.)

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
*I hope you to have a good trip.
*I promise you to be careful.
He asked her to drive the car. It is ambiguous (can be understood in more than one way).

ERROR

*I hope you to have a good trip.

*I promise you to be careful.

He asked her to drive the car.

It is ambiguous (can be understood in more than one way).

SOLUTION
I hope to have a good trip. (Remove the indirect object - you.) I hope (that) you will have a good trip. (Use that + a clause with an indirect object.)
I promise to be careful. (I promise that I will be careful.) I promise you (that) I will be careful. (Use that + a clause with an indirect object.)
He asked¹ her to drive the car. (want, persuade) He asked for the car to be driven by her. He asked² her to drive the car. (seek permission) He asked for the car to be driven by him.

SOLUTION

I hope to have a good trip. (Remove the indirect object - you.)

I hope (that) you will have a good trip. (Use that + a clause with an indirect object.)

I promise to be careful. (I promise that I will be careful.)

I promise you (that) I will be careful. (Use that + a clause with an indirect object.)

He asked¹ her to drive the car. (want, persuade)
He asked for the car to be driven by her.

He asked² her to drive the car. (seek permission)
He asked for the car to be driven by him.

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.

Related page Command Clauses

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Traditional and Linguistic Description

Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION	LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
Traditional grammar does not focus on this particular functional relationship between the verb and the object pronoun with regard to the "infinitive phrase".	A noun or pronoun in a verb + pronoun + infinitive construction either belongs syntactically to the main verb (as its object), or to the infinitive clause as its subject [for + noun] (accusative pronoun).. 1) Ed intended to do it. → [Ed intended (for Ed) to do it.] (Ed is the understood subject of both clauses.) 2) Ed intended Frida to do it. → [Ed intended (for) Frida to do it. (Frida is the subject of infin. clause.) 3) Ed persuaded Frida to do it. → [Ed persuaded Frida (for Frida) to do it.] (Frida is both the object of the main clause and the understood subject of the infinitive clause.) (1201) To-infinitivals with and without a subject (Huddleston 1178); The clause subordinator for (Huddleston 1181); accusative rather than nominative pronoun forms (1182); The infinitival subordinator to (1183); understood subjects (1192)
SENTENCE PARSING—REED KELLOGG SYSTEM	TREE DIAGRAM
Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait. This diagram is a guess !	Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait.
SENTENCE PARSING—REED-KELLOGG SYSTEM	TREE DIAGRAM
Edward persuaded Frida to do the portrait.	Edward intended Frida to do the portrait.

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning (DO – direct object; IO – indirect object); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

Works Cited

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. "Common Verbs Followed by Infinitives." Understanding and Using English Grammar, 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. "Infinitive Clauses." Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English, Pearson Education, 1999.
Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum."The structure of infinitivals." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge UP, 2002.
Pullum, Geoffrey. "Non-finite Clauses." Linguistics and English Language, University of Edinburgh. 1 Nov 2012, www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/grammar/nonfiniteclauses.html.
"Sentence diagram: The Reed Kellogg System." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Apr. 2016, wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed.E2.80.93Kellogg_system.
Swan, Michael. "283 Infinitives (5): I want you to listen." Practical English Usage, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.