To report a promise, hope or intention we use an appropriate reporting verb followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive. He said, "I will pay you the money tomorrow." He promised to pay me the money the next day. He promised that he would pay me the money the next day. Other verbs used to … Продължете с четенето на Direct and indirect speech: Reporting hopes, promises and intentions
Tag: infinitives
To report orders, requests and suggestions, we normally use a reporting verb like tell with (object) + to infinitive. "Be careful," I told him. I told him to be careful. "Go away," he said. He told me to go away. "Call the first witness," said the judge. The judge ordered them to call the first … Продължете с четенето на Direct and indirect speech: Reporting orders, requests and advice
Infinitives are generally used with the marker to. But we use the infinitive without to in some cases. After modal auxiliary verbs After the modal auxiliary verbs will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might and must, we use the infinitive without to. I shall write to him. (NOT I shall to write...) We can … Продължете с четенето на Infinitives without to
Besides simple infinitives like (to) write, there are also progressive, perfect and passive infinitives. Progressive Infinitive Form: (to) + be + present participle Examples are: (to) be writing, (to) be reading, (to) be walking etc. The progressive infinitive is used to suggest that actions and events are/were/will be continuing around the time we are talking … Продължете с четенето на Infinitive forms
Functions of the to-infinitive The to-infinitive as the subject of the sentence. This is a formal usage and is far more common in written English than spoken: Examples: To err is human, to forgive divine. To find fault with others is easy. To visit the Grand Canyon is my life-long dream. And … Продължете с четенето на Functions of the to-infinitive