NOMINATIVE WITH THE INFINITIVE (COMPLEX SUBJECT)

The girl was seen to leave the house

The girl to leave is said to be Complex Subject to the predicate “ was seen”

It is used:

a) with verbs expressing permission, request, order:

"to allow", “o permit", "to suffer", "to order", "to command"
"to compel", "to force", "to make", "to request".

They were requested to be ready by 7 o'clock.

b) with verbs expressing perception of the senses:

"to hear", "to see", "to feel".
He was heard to repeat those words several times

c) with verbs of mental perceptions:
to declare, to deny, to prove, to know, to meen, to believe, to expect.

He was known to be a capable student.

d) with verbs of saying and reporting:

"to say", "to report".

She is said to be a very good student.

e) with verbs:

"to seem", "to appear", "to prove", “to happen", "to chance'
Note: the predicate is in the active voice.

She seems to know the subject thoroughly.

The same information can be conveyed by sentences with the anticipatory

It is said that he is a good student.

Translation

"The Nominative-with-the-Infinitive" is usually rendered by a subordinate
object clause depending on the principal clause, whose subject is an indefinite-
personal sentence.

He is said to be very ill.
Говорят, что он очень болен

Exercises
1. Translate the sentences into Russian.
She didn't seem to notice his unfriendly tone.
The number to which I had been directed turned out to be a house standing

a little by itself, with its back to the river.
"He appears to be asleep, my lady,"-said the butler.
Lady Franklin seemed to expect an answer.
The boy was made to repeat his story twice.
He is said to have been a sailor in his youth.
You're not likely to keep us company, Jim, are you?
1 happen to know that he was supposed to come to the wedding (Salinger)

He appeared to be a man of considerable wealth, and was reputed to be a
bachelor (Doyle).

1 happen to be pretty comfortably placed (Snow).

He's thought to be lucky to have gone as far as this (Snow).

The delay didn't seem to affect him (Salinger).

2. Translate into English.

Кажется, вы расстроены. Что-нибудь случилось?

Оказывается, он ничего об этом не слышал.

Его заставили обратиться к врачу.

Ожидается, что зима в этом году будет суровая.

Они наверняка поженятся.

Маловероятно, что он выздоровеет к понедельнику.

Детям не позволяли играть со спичками.

Оказалось, что мы уже знакомы.

Полагают, что поэма «Беовульф» была написана в VIII веке.

Вальтер Скотт считается создателем исторического романа.

Он, по-видимому, хорошо знает английский язык; наверное, он изу-
чал его в детстве.

Я случайно знаю номер его телефона.

Он оказался хорошим спортсменом.
Шум, казалось, все приближался.

Он, кажется, пишет новую статью; кажется, он работает над ней уже
две недели.

Его статья, несомненно, будет напечатана.

Я случайно встретил его в Москве.
Говорят, что это здание было построено в XVII веке.

INFINITIVE AS COMPLEMENT

1. Is used to such verbs as; to want, to wish, to cars, to line, to prefer, to
chose, to agree, to consent, to promise, to undertake, to mean, to intend, to
expect, to decide, to determine, to hope, to try, to attempt, to ask, to beg, to
manage, to begin, to forget, to learn, to pretend. Also after: can't bear, can't
afford.

She intends to start immediately.

I wanted to call you up, but my telephone was out of order

2. To such adjectives and adjectivized participles, as able, unable, certain,
sure, lively, willing, unwilling, inclined, disinclined, worthy, eager, anxious,
sorry, glad, content, delighted, afraid, impatient, fix, pleasant, unpleasant, ect.

I am sorry to have disturbed you.

She is ready to help us.

He is quite willing to do that work.

He is unfit to do that work.

I am eager to hear your story.

I am delighted to see you well again.

We are anxious to know the result of your experiment

I feel half inclined to do that.

3. Special attention should be drawn to instances like:

The question is hard to solve.
Jemma was pleasant to look at

Remember some of the combinations of A + V (to) used after the link-
verb BE: easy to deal with, difficult to understand, pleasant to look at, hard to
please, useful to remember, amusing to watch, easy to answer, uncomfortable to
sit on, easy to follow, difficult to avoid, pleasant to talk to, not far to seen, not
easy to find.

2. Paraphrase the following sentences, making the object of the
infinitive the subject of the sentence.

Model: It is hard to please him. - He is hard to please.

It is pleasant to look at her. - She is pleasant to look at

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