Past Infinitive She is said to have asked. She will be said to have asked. To have asked after is said, expresses an action com pleted in the present time; completed in the past time; after was said, an action and after will be said, an action completed in the future time. The tense of the infinitive should express the thought accurately in relation to the time of the verb on which it depends. The most frequent error is the use of the past infinitive with some past form of the verb. Your real thought usually requires the present infinitive. For example, I wished to go, not I wished to have gone. I was glad to meet him, not I was glad to have met him. If you are in doubt, ask yourself whether the thought expressed by the infinitive really should occur before or after that of the main verb. Did I wish to go (future) or to have gone at the time of wishing. Write the following sentences correctly? 1. We should be glad (to do, to have done) all we can for the destitute. 2. The firemen worked (to rescue, to have rescued) the children before the roof collapsed. 3. James hoped (to finish, to have finished) his day's work before four o'clock. 4. George wanted (to go, to have gone) to the circus last Saturday. 5. I was so glad (to meet, to have met) you yesterday. 6. I was so glad (to meet, to have met) you before the game began. 7. Mother hopes (to see, to have seen) you tomorrow. 151. USING THE INFINITIVE SUBJECT OF AN INFINITIVE Read the following sentences and see if you can explain the use of the part in italics: 1. It was she. 2. I knew her to be the one. What is the subject of the first sentence? In what case is it? What word means the same as the subject? In what case must she be? Why? In the second sentence the entire clause, her to be the one, is the object of knew. The pronoun her is used as the subject of the infinitive to be, and must, therefore, be in the objective case. Your ear will help you also; you would not say, "I knew she." A noun or pronoun used with an infinitive as the object of a verb is called the subject of an infinitive. The subject of an infinitive is always in the objective case. Read this sentence. I knew it to be her. In what case is it? What word means the same person as it? In what case then is her? You now see that when a noun or a pronoun follows an infinitive with a subject, and means the same person or thing, this noun or pronoun is in the objective case. Study the following sentences and point out the nouns or pronouns used as the subject of infinitives and those meaning the same as the subject of the infinitive. In what case will each be? 1. I wanted her to be the queen. 2. I thought the thief to be him. 3. Americans were anxious for Lieutenant Byrd to be successful. Supply the correct forms of pronouns in the following sentences: 1. When I rang the bell, the family thought it was a visitor, but they found it to be only (I, me). 2. It was (I, me) who brought the news but in the dark the captain supposed it to be (he, him). 3. There were six of us expected, and it was (we, us) for whom the picnic party was waiting; but when our motor drove up, they found its passengers to be only Helen and (I, me). 4. I thought that it was the boys in this class who planned the mischief, and now I know it to have been (they, them). 5. It was (she, her) who was making all the trouble, but for a long time we could not believe it to be (she, her). You may ask each other in turn the following questions. The pupil who answers must turn the verb into the infinitive form; thus: Do you know that it is he? 1. Do you know that the author of the book is he? 4. Boys, is it you who are to blame? 5. Is it they who made the mistake? 6. Did you know that it was she who told them? He and I were present. They and we will come. 20. Common Errors Corrected Many colleges and many schools offer courses in forestry. The graduates in these courses are foresters. Many states employ foresters. What do you think the duties of these foresters are? Do you think a forester's work is important? Why? Does the poem give a practical or poetical reason for trees? 152. STUDY OF A POEM TREES In the Garden of Eden, planted by God, Trees of beauty and height and grace, Apple and hickory, ash and pear, The trembling aspen, the noble pine, Trees for the birds to build and sing, Trees to turn at the frosty call And carpet the ground for their Lord's footfall; Trees for fruitage and fire and shade, Trees for the cunning builder's trade; Wood for the bow, the spear, and the flail, He made them of every grain and girth, Then lest the soul should not lift her eyes On the crown of a hill, for all to see, -Bliss Carman Have you ever imagined what the earth would be like without trees? Can you think of a more desolate scene? No cooling shade for the traveler, no leafy shelter for the birds, no sweet music of the forest. Do you know by sight the trees mentioned in the poem? Do they grow near your home? Name other trees that do grow near your home. Written work. Give a word picture of your favorite tree. If you can draw, illustrate your word picture with a pencil sketch. Assignment for fast workers. Make a list of all the trees you can recognize by sight. Opposite the name of each tree give its uses. To what does John Gould Fletcher compare a tree? Can you see the resemblance. Which idea do you like better? The trees, like great jade elephants, Chained, stamp and shake 'neath the gadflies of the breeze; The trees lunge and plunge, unruly elephants: The clouds are their crimson howdah-canopies, The sunlight glints like the golden robe of a Shah, Would I were tossed on the wrinkled back of those trees. -John Gould Fletcher |