When
in nitive phrases appear as objects of verbs, the
subjects of those
phrases are in the
objective case: We asked the cabdriver to move Although the case of cabdriver in the example
is not apparent since most nouns do not change form in
English objective
case, putting a
pronoun into the
sentence reveals what has happened We asked her to move.”
Another peculiarity of in nitives is their cohesiveness their need to stand together
with their supporting to for clarity. This has led to a rule that bars
“splitting” the in nitive with words falling between the to and the main verb. But the
rule cannot be slavishly followed, as many unsplit in nitives sound awkward or pretentious I want quickly to reach our goal The example is correct (as would be:
“I want to reach our goal quickly though slightly di erent in meaning and slightly less awkward. I want to quickly reach our goal is acceptable
inmost circumstances, although it probably shouldn’t appear in school papers. If your sentence simply won’t work without splitting an in nitive and you are worried that breaking the rule will bother your
audience, you might revise your statement to avoid the infinitive altogether I want our goal reached quickly See
split infinitive.When in nitive phrases begin a sentence and are not its subject, they are usually followed by a
comma: To reach our goal quickly, we need to work hard As with all such phrases
(prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, and
interjections), usage varies,
allowing some shorter phrases that “ ta sentence more closely to stand without a comma. However, the
inversion that occurs when in nitive phrases lead a sentence rarely allows the comma to be dropped.
When using in nitives in
titles or other emphasized
material that is capitalized, do not capitalize the to unless it is the rst word The article was called Working to
Reach Goals ” See
capitalization and
emphasis.Inflection. In ection is the change in word forms tore ect changed grammatical roles—for
case, number, tense, comparison, or for any other reason. Her and “him”
a rein ected forms of
“she” and
“he”—the
objective case—just as
“were” is an inflected form of to be”—the
past tense plural or subjunctive.Share with your friends: 
