Finite Verb or Verbal? The "To" Test (Ex # 3):
1. I beg you to forgive my men [#1]. | 2. The Bishop's men did not attempt to fight [#2]. | 3. {As for me}, I intend to try [#3] {for this prize}. | 4. She meant not to cure him, but to kill him [#4]. | 5. Christabel's father would have liked to cry out and stop the wedding [#5], | but he could not. | Notes 2. The infinitive "to fight" is the direct object of "did attempt." 3. The infinitive "to try" is the direct object of "intend." 4. Both infinitives function as direct objects of "meant," and in both cases "him" is the direct object of the infinitive. 5. "Wedding" is the direct object of the infinitive "*to* stop." Both infinitives function as direct objects of "would have liked." |