We have 6 types of infinitive (non-finite verb form that shows time or voice):
Voice | Aspect | PRESENT | PAST |
Active | Simple | (to) invite | (to) have invited |
Progressive | (to) be inviting | (to) have been inviting | |
Passive | (to) be invited | (to) have been invited | |
You can not find any HAS or HAD forms! It does not change!
1. active inf. - express that the subject of the sentence is the agent of the action
2. passive inf. – express that the subject of the sentence is not the agent of the action denoted by the infinitive
3. present inf. – can have 2 functions:
a) modal + infinitive – they refer to the present or to the future
b) the finite form of a lexical verb + infinitive – show that the action denoted by the finite form of a lexical verb was done at the same time as the action denoted by the infinitive, these two actions ovelap
4. past inf. – have also 2 functions:
a) modal + infinitive – they refer to the past
b) finite verb form of a lexical verb + infinitive – they show that the action denoted by a past infinitive was done earlier than the action denoted by a finite form of a lexical verb, they show anteriority (=predčasnosť)
5. active progressive present inf. – the action denoted by it is at the progress now, at the moment of speaking
6. active progressive past inf. – action denoted by it was in progress at the certain concrete point of time in the past
“He must MAux invite InfPrAct her.”
– whatever will be after a modal verb is the infinitive!!!
- the inf. is active and has two meanings: “Musí ju pozvať.”(obligation, necessity) a “Určite ju pozve.” (certainty) and refers to present of future
“He must MAux have invited InfPaAct her.” refers to the past, expresses certainty ( necessity will be “He had to invite…”)
“She must MAux be invited InfPrPas.”
"She must MAux have been invited InfPaPas.”
“He must MAux be inviting InfPrActProg her.”
- now, at the moment the action is happening
“He must MAux have been inviting InfPaActProg her.”
Causative verbs – MAKE, HAVE, GET – can function with their primary meaning or they can be causative verbs when they lose their primary meaning and get the meaning of persuading or the meaning to do somebody do something:
“I made/had him write a letter for me.” act. MAKE/HAVE + OBJECT + BARE INF.
“He was made to write a letter for me.” pas.
“I got him to carry my bag.” GET + OBJECT + TO INF.
Gerunds
GERUND | ||
Present | Past | |
Active | Writing | Having written |
| Passive | Being written | Having been written |
“I appreciate giving the chance.” – I am giving it
“I appreciate being given the chance.” – I am or will be given
“I appreciate having been given the chance.” – refers to the past
“He seems to have recovered.”
-when we use past infinitive, it expresses that the action happened earlier than the action expressed by the first verb (it does not refer to past)
“Where did he go to school before he came here?”
“I am not sure, but I think he mentioned something about having gone to the USA.”
“Last year I studied abroad. I appreciate having had the opportunity.” – anteriority
Examples to distinguish whether an infinitive or a gerund is used
“Don’t pretend to be what you are not.” (be)
“I persuaded my brother-in-law not to buy that old car.” (buy)- inf. after object
“Anne denied throwing the brick through the window.” (throw)
“Anne denied having thrown the brick through the window.” – past
After the object usually an infinitive follows, but sense verb are an exception as they can be followed by gerund.
“I saw her cross the street.” – I saw whole action
“I saw her crossing the street.” – just as she was crossing the street
“My father expect me to get high marks in the school.” (get)
“According to the signs on the restaurant door, all diners are required to wear shirts and shoes.” (wear)
“We are planning to visit several historical sites in Moscow.” (visit)
“My roommate says I have a terrible voice, so I stopped singing in the shower.” (sing)
! there is a gerund because an infinitive form (to sing) would mean to stop to sing
“I appreciate your paying for my dinner.” (pay) – your needs a noun after itself
“They were fortuned to have been rescued from the fire before the building collapsed.” (rescue) – adjectives (fortuned) are followed by an infinitive
“They were shocked to hear the news of your having been fired.” (fire)
“Marge’s children are used to being picked up after school everyday. They do not have to walk home.” (pick up) – after be used to a gerund follows
“I don’t recall ever having heard you mention his name before.” (hear)
“After a brief interruption, the professor continued lecturing/to lecture.” (lecture)
“I regret not listening to my father’s advice. He was right. (not listen) – present gerund expresses the past after regret, but we can use past gerund as well
“What do you remember to do before you leave the class every day?” (do)
“Ms. Walters complained about having been told about the meeting. In the future, she expects to be informed of any and all meetings.” (not tell, inform) – prepositions are followed by a gerund
“I prefer to drive rather than to take a plane.” (drive, take) – if prefer is used with rather than conjunction, it is used with infinitives; compare: “I prefer driving to walking.”
“I need to take a break.” (take) – personal object
“My shirt needs ironing.” (iron) – impersonal object
“Did you remember to give Jack my message?” – duty is expressed
“He advised buying a new car.”
“He advised me to buy a new car.”
After avoid we always use present gerund.
Adjectival structure I am very pleased is followed by to infinitive.
Conjunction and connects two same verb clauses (quitting and opening (not quitting and to open)).
The passive voice
Voice is one of the categories of the verb. Sentences in the active voice are those, where subject is the agent of the action, whereas sentences in the passive voice are those, where subject is not the agent of the action and the real agent is introduced by by phrase (“The book is written by Shakespeare.”).
We use the passives when speaking about fact and not about the agent or the agent is unimportant. If an active sentence contains intransitive verb, it can not be transformed to the passive voice, because the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. If a sentence has two objects, both of them can become the subject of the passive.
“She announced a date to me.”
“I was announced a date.”
“A date was announced to me.”
1. sentences without a modal verb
"Mary had kissed John.” “John had been kissed by Mary.”
“Mary had been kissing John.” “John had been being kissed my Mary.”*
“Mary kissed John.” “John was kissed by Mary.”
“Mary was kissing John.” “John was being kissed by Mary.”
“Mary has kissed John.” “John has been kissed by Mary.”
“Mary has been kissing John.” “John has been being kissed by Mary.”*
“Mary kisses John.” “John is kissed by Mary.”
“Mary is kissing John.” “John is being kissed by Mary.”
“Mary will have kissed John.” “John will have been kissed by Mary.”
“Mary will have been kissing John.” “John will have been being kissed by Mary.”*
“Mary will kiss John.” “John will be kissed by Mary.”
“Mary will be kissing John.” “John will be being kissed by Mary.”
*technically possible but not used
2. sentences with modal verbs
“They may interview her tomorrow.” – modals (may) always function as finite verb form and whatever will continue will be an infinitive
!Personal pronouns are subjective (I, You, He, We) or objective (Me, You, Him, Us) and when transforming the sentence to passive, the objective pronoun that is becoming a subject of the passive must be transformed to the subjective pronoun. (her – she)
“She may be interviewed tomorrow.”
Modal verbs have just one form and do not change.
3. to have something done or to get something done (usually stronger)
This form of passive is used in two situations:
a) to express that some service is/was done for somebody:
“I have my car repaired last week.”
b) to express that something unpleasant happened to somebody:
“I have my car stolen last week.”
!TO HAVE SOMETHING DONE – have shows the tense (have had, will have), done is a non-finite form and can not be changed
“We will have a new radiator installed next week.”
“We are going to have a new radiator installed next week.”
“Someone had even pulled her hair.” *even stands before lexical verb or after a modal
“She had even had her hair pulled.”
– had even had shows the past perfect tense
TO HAVE STH. DONE
She had even had her hair pulled.
She had had been -------- insulted. – we have to have an inaminate noun to make the passive of the 3rd group
“Someone should have explained it to her already.”
“She should have been explained already.”
“They made her look pretty foolish.”
“She was made to look pretty foolish.”
“They saw her running out of the room.”
“She was seen running out of the room.”
“They are not likely to give her the job.”
“She is not likely to be given the job.”
“They have cancelled her sabbatical leave.”
“She has had her sabbatical leave cancelled.”
“They are going to make her apologize to the Principal.”
“She is going to be made to apologize to the Principal.”
4. sentence consisting of two clauses
First we divide the sentence into two clauses and then we compare the verb phrases.
“They say she did her work carelessly.”
“She is said to have done her work carelessly.”
A present – past = past inf. (anteriority)
present – present perf. = --||--
past – past perf. = --||--
present – present = present inf. (overlapping)
past – past = --||--
B
we use active infinitive if the 2nd verb did the action
we use passive infinitive if the 2nd verb did not do the action
Sometimes we can transform a sentence containing a transitive verb with a preposition into the passive form:
“We are looking into this allegation.”
“This allegation is being looked into.”
“We are dealing with your complaint.”
“Your complaint is being dealt with.”
