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Infinitives in constructions after formal subject IT
The infinitive may be used as the subject of the sentence. For example:
To find him was difficult.
To ask him for help was a mistake.
However, it is more common to use the construction in which the pronoun IT is
the formal subject, and the infinitive is placed after the predicative adjective or noun.
It was difficult to find him.
It is necessary to know the rules.
The infinitive in this construction is often used after the following adjectives
and participles: advisable, amazing, awful, bad, convenient, careless, correct, cruel,
dangerous, desirable, difficult, easy, foolish, funny, good, great, hard, helpful,
important, impossible, interesting, intolerable, natural, necessary, nice, pleasant,
possible, reasonable, ridiculous, silly, strange, surprising, terrible, unbearable,
undesirable, unnecessary, unpleasant, unreasonable, useful, useless, wise, wonderful,
wrong.
It is nice to meet you.
It was dangerous to stay there.
The infinitive in this construction is used after various nouns, for example,
after "duty, fun, idea, mistake, pleasure, surprise, thing, time".
It is time to leave.
It was a terrible thing to say.
FOR + noun / pronoun + infinitive
The action indicated by the infinitive usually refers to the subject or to the
object. Compare: I'm planning to visit her. – I asked him to visit her.
If it is necessary in such sentences to indicate the person to whom the action of
the infinitive refers, add "for + noun / pronoun" before the infinitive. For example: It
is pleasant for me to walk in the park. The tea was too hot for the children to drink.
Examples:
It was important for Victor to be present at the meeting.
It is difficult for him to live alone.
In some cases, "of + noun / pronoun" is used before the infinitive to indicate
the person to whom the action of the infinitive refers. For example: It was very nice
of you to bring her flowers. It was inconsiderate of him to ask her such questions.
Infinitive of purpose
The infinitive is often used as an adverbial modifier of purpose. In this function
the infinitive may be preceded by "in order" or "so as".
He went to London in order to study English.
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Infinitive of consequence
The infinitive is also used as an adverbial modifier of consequence, with the
adverbs "too" and "enough".
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