English Grammar

Verb Patterns

Subject + verb + to-infinitive (phrase)

In this structure the infinitive is used as equivalent to a clause.

Byron awoke one morning to find himself famous.
The drunken man awoke to find himself in the gutter.
John trusted Peter only to find that he was betrayed.
We have learned our lesson not to trust anybody.

These sentences can be changed into compound sentences by transforming the infinitive phrase into a co-ordinate clause.

Byron awoke one morning and found himself famous.
The drunken man awoke and found himself in the gutter.
John trusted Peter and found that he was betrayed.

For + object + infinitive

It only takes ten minutes for me to walk to the office.
There are no toys for the children to play with.
Is there anything more for me to do?
I am anxious for him to return home.
It is now too late for us to start.
It isn’t easy for me to let him go.

Some of these sentences can be re-written with the for structure as the subject.

For me to walk to the office takes only ten minutes.
For me to let him go isn’t easy.

Some of these sentences can be re-written with so … that…

It is now so late that we cannot start.

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