Chapter LXXXIII: Infinitives as Modifiers of Nouns

=328.= The infinitive phrase is often a modifier of a noun, and may be used either like an adjective or like an appositive.

In the sentence, “Ulf still had a name to win,” what noun does the infinitive modify? How do you know?

In the sentence, “The mayor gave the order to close the skating rink,” the infinitive phrase _to close the skating rink_ modifies the noun _order_ by telling exactly what the order was; hence we must say that it is in apposition with _order_.

=329.= The infinitive in _-ing_ is not used as an adjective modifier of a noun except in some compound words like these: _rolling-pin_, _laughingstock_, _meetinghouse_, _drawing-room_.

=330.= Often the infinitive in _-ing_ is used in apposition, as in the sentence, “Her household tasks, keeping the bedrooms tidy and caring for the canary birds, left her little time for music practice.”

=Summary.=—The infinitive phrase may modify a noun either as an adjective or as an appositive.

=Exercise.=—Select all the infinitive phrases, and explain the use of each. Classify also each infinitive, as in the preceding exercise.

1.

Is this a time to be cloudy and sad
When our Mother Nature laughs around?

2. As the Cloud became larger, this wish to do something for
the people of earth was ever greater in her heart.

3. This is your last chance to see Chicago, Tom.

4. Day after day mother sat at the east window engaged in her
favorite pastime—making something dainty and beautiful with her
needle.

5. Almost all persons who travel in Switzerland have a great
desire to go to the top of at least one of the towering peaks
they see about them.

6. Now bring us something to eat. I have not patience to wait,
for I am ravenously hungry.

7. The first tracks to meet our eyes were the delicate
footprints of the red squirrel.

8. The Colonel’s only form of exercise, riding horseback every
evening, made him a familiar figure throughout the city.

9. Nothing pleased the dog more than an order to go and fetch
the cow.

10. To the deer a mystery means something to be solved.

11. A strange longing to follow the swan took possession of
each of the young birds.

12. A queer freak of my chewink was her determination to get
her feet into her food.

13. Never lose an opportunity to see anything beautiful.

14. This father was the comrade of his son, made so by the
memory of his own boyhood sports,—playing baseball on the
common, swimming in the lake off Miller’s Point, skating out to
Garlic Island, and gathering hickory nuts and hazelnuts in the
autumn woods.

Classify the dependent clauses in sentences, 1, 2, 5, 9. Tell the part of speech and use of _figure_, sentence 8.