【语法忽悠】Verbs and Verbals (7) / 四六文摘

语法忽悠

我们对英文语法的感情很复杂。有人爱有人恨，有人爱恨交加，有人爱始恨终，有人恨始爱终。望大家都能是后一种，因为学好英语离不了语法。记得有人问过，学英文可否不学语法? 答案是: 不能(如果要学好英文)!

今天再贴出一帖枯燥的语法，以继续我们的Verbs and Verbals讨论。今天我们要(小结性地)结束不定式和-ing的比较，以便我们在下一节可以开始一个新的topic.

A: Of course, gerund and infinitive verbals can have their respective passive forms:

Gerund passive form: Everyone likes being congratulated when he/she works hard.

Infinitive passive form: She expects to be promoted soon. So passive forms of gerund and infinitive are relatively easy.

B: Next, “verb + object + infinitive” is a general syntax pattern.

Many verbs fit this pattern, we can also list a few below:

advise allow ask enable encourage

invite order persuade remind tell

warn

Let’s look at examples first:

1. The lawyer advised her to read the contract carefully.

2. The negotiators persuaded the union leaders to accept the pay deal.

3. The court ordered the company to pay the compensation.

4. They invited her to speak at the conference.

5. Training in this rigorous program enabled me to accomplish the mission.

6. She asked me to come back later, but I forgot all about it.

7. He warned her not to put all of her money in one company[1].

8. He reminded her not to lose any more games[2].

9. He simply told me to back off.

So this syntax is easy, too.

C: Verbs of Perception:

See, watch, hear, listen to, feel, notice, smell, etc., are a set of verbs we call verbs of perception. They may be followed by an object, then an infinitive, or a gerund. There is a subtle difference in meaning depending upon whether an infinitive or a gerund is used. In addition, if an infinitive follows, a special feature needs our attention: the little infinitive article “to” is omitted; i.e., a bare infinitive is needed here.

I watched my boss (to) smoke a cigar.

I watched my boss smoking a cigar.

I heard Mary (to) play a song on the guitar.

I heard Mary playing a song on the guitar.

She saw him (to) sign the cheque.

She saw him signing the cheque.

He patiently listened her (to) complain for two hours.

He patiently listened her complaining for two hours.

I watched them (to) play tennis on that clay court.

I watched them playing tennis on that clay court.

He noticed her (to) change attitudes.

He noticed her changing attitudes.

We feel her (to) suffer from the pain.

We feel her suffering the pain.

An explanation seems to be needed on the difference between the infinitive sentence and gerund sentence: use the infinitive indicates that a complete action is (was) witnessed, while use of gerund indicates that only part of the action was witness (the action is still under process).

Three more verbs, make, have, let, although they are not so much of verbs of perception, have the feature of “being followed by an object, then a bare infinitive:

I have my secretary (to) call you this afternoon.

I’ll let you (to) know when I’ll be ready.

I’ll make players (to) practice more seriously.

Note. “have” takes this feature only when it means “to make”. Otherwise “to” is not omitted: Hurry, we have work to do!

Another special verb that requires either a bare infinitive or an infinitive with “to” is “help”:

He helped (to) alleviate the situation.

He helped to alleviate the situation.

She helped him (to) do homework.

She helped him to do homework.

The four sentences are all corrected and acceptable. Some argue that the American English tends not to use the infinitive article “to”, while the British English tends to use that little article.

D: Model verbs.

Infinitive without “to” is also used after the following verbs (including their negatives):

can/could had better may/might must

need/needn’t shall/should will/would make

This is a group of easy ones and we skip examples of each of them.

E: To: an infinitive article or a preposition?

The word “to” can be the little article of an infinitive verbal; or it can be a preposition. When it is used as a preposition, it must be followed by the gerund form. The following list includes phrasal verbs or prepositional phrases in which “to” is a preposition:

look forward to object to be used to get used to

react to respond to in addition to

Example sentences:

He always looks forward to seeing her (a common mistake committed by many Chinese is: …look forward to see her).

She objects to taking his opinions.

We are used to eating lots of junk food.

He’ll get used to not having her around.

She quickly reacted to exploding in the hotel.

They responded in time to calling upon him for help.

In addition to cocking a dinner for her, he’s also prepared some excellent wines.

F: Some recent development:

Verbs: to be, to come, and to go. Under some conditions, infinitive verbs follow these three verbs will omit the infinitive article to. See note on the section of “come and go”.

[1] In “He warned her of putting all of her money in one company”, “putting all of her money in one company has already happened and she is warned of a bad consequence that is likely to come to her. In “He warned her not to put all of her money in one company”, “to put all of her money in one company” has not yet happened and she is warned not to do that.

[2] In this sentence, “to lose any more games” has not happened yet and she is reminded not to let that happen. In “He reminded her of losing those games”, “losing games” has already happened and she is reminded of the painful experience of losing games.