Infinitives with Subjects: getting other people to do things

On this page:
Verb + Obj + Infinitve
Similar but Different Pronouns
Verbs like Persuade List
Verbs like Intend List
Verbs like Ask List
Bare Form Infinitives
Negatives
Common Mistakes
Grammar Notes
Practice 1

Verb + Object + Infinite

Getting people to do things

Who is doing the work?

1) OBJECT PRONOUN BELONGS TO MAIN VERB
Persuade is a verb that takes an object (transitive) and an infinitive or infinitive clause. Ed is persuading Frida. Frida is both the receiver of the persuasion and the doer of the activity in the infinitive clause.
SUBJ: N + V	PRONOUN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Ed persuaded	Frida / her	to paint the portrait. (Frida is understood as the doer.)
Ed persuaded	Frida / her	[for her] to paint the portrait. Omit repetitive"for her".

2) ACCUSATIVE PRONOUN BELONGS TO INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Intend is a verb that does not take an object (intransitive) but does take an infinitive or infinitive clause. The subordinator [for] together with the ¹accusative pronoun function as the subject or doer of the activity.
SUBJ: N + V	PRONOUN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Ed intends	—	to paint the portrait. (Ed is understood as the doer.)
Ed intends	(for) Frida / her	to paint the portrait. (Frida is stated as the doer.)

¹ An accusative pronoun —you, me, him, her, them, us— normally occurs as the object of a verb. He persuaded her. However, above #2, for and an accusative pronoun —for you, for me, for him, for her, for them, for us— function as the subject of the infinitive clause; that is, together they express the 'doer' of the infinitive clause. See Infinitives w/Subject

nominative – a noun form used when it is the subject of the verb (she, he, we, they) / accusative – a noun form used when it is the object of the verb (her, him, us, them)
for – is a subordinator (not a preposition) before the accusative pronoun and infinitive See Grammar Notes.

Verbs Followed by Objects + Infinitives

Similar but Different

Persuade vs. Intend

1. PERSUADE
Persuade takes either an object noun, or an object noun + an infinitive clause as its complement. The person mentioned as the object of the main clause is also understood as the subject "doer" in the infinitive clause. Frida is both an ordinary object of the verb persuade and the understood subject of the infinitive clause to do the portrait.
TAKES AN OBJECT
Ed persuaded Frida. Persuade takes an noun as its object. It is a transitive verb.
TAKES AN OBJECT + AN INFINITIVE
Ed persuaded Frida [to do the portrait.] The under stood "doer" or subject of the infinitive clause is the same as the object of the main clause — Frida.
DOES NOT ACCEPT "FOR" BEFORE THE OBJECT
*Ed persuaded (for) Frida to do the portrait. If we cannot put for before the the object noun, then the object noun does not belong to the infinitive clause. (It belongs to the main clause.
SAME PERSON — OBJECT = INFIN SUBJECT
Ed persuaded Frida (for Frida) to do the portrait. Ed persuaded Frida (for Frida) to do the portrait. ⇒ Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait. The object of the main verb is also the understood subject of the infinitive clause.

2. INTEND
Intend takes only an infinitive as its complement. It does not take a noun as its object. The object (Frida) is actually the understood subject of the infinitive clause [ for + noun]. The subject pronoun of an infinitive clause is an accusative pronoun: Ed intended [her to do the portrait] not [she to do the portrait]
DOES NOT TAKE AN OBJECT
*Ed intended Frida. Intend does not take a noun as object but can take an infinitive clause after it. (Traditionally, this is marked as a transitive verb, though it does not take a noun as its object.)
TAKES AN INFINITIVE
Ed intended [to do the portrait.] The under stood "doer" or subject of the infinitive clause is the same as the subject of the main clause — Ed.
ACCEPTS "FOR" BEFORE THE OBJECT
Ed intended (for) Frida to do the portrait. If we can put for before the object, then Frida is actually the subject of the infinitive clause. See Infinitive with Subject.
ONE PERSON — INFIN SUBJECT
Ed intended (for) Frida to do the portrait. Ed intended (for) Frida to do the portrait. ⇒ Ed intended Frida to do the portrait. The subject of the infinitive clause is "raised" to become the object of the verb in the main clause.

The subject of the infinitive clause is expressed as [for + noun] (accusative pronoun)
for – subordinator (not a preposition)
persuade is said to have an ordinary object / intend is said to have a raised object.
transitive – in traditional grammar, a verb that takes a direct object and form a passive
See Infinitive with Subject. (CaGEL 1178)
(CaGEL 1201-39)

Verbs like "Persuade"

Verb + Object + Infinitive

1. Verbs Like "persuade" — He persuaded us [to take his place].

VERBS LIKE "PERSUADE" — verbs whose complement is an object + infinitive clause
advise We advised him to take a break.	*ask She asked us to come along.	aid We aided him to take a stay.	appoint We appointed him to lead.
assist We assisted him to finish.	authorize We authorized them to withdraw.	back We backed him to be President.	*beg She begged us to stay up late.
blackmail We blackmailed him not to speak.	bribe We bribed him to advance.	bring up We brought him up to be honest.	caution We cautioned him to slow down.
challenge We challenged him to compete.	choose We chose him to help.	coax We coaxed him to be nicer..	command He commanded us to stop.
commission We commissioned him to paint.	compel He compelled us to leave.	condemn He condemned the prisoner to death.	dare He dared us to jump.
direct They directed us to walk back.	discipline He disciplined them to sit and wait.	drive He drove them to act selfishly.	elect They elected her to serve two years.
enable They enabled him to act.	encourage They encouraged me to speak.	equip They equipped him to climb the mountain.	forbid They forbid him to go alone.
force They forced him to go alone.	*help(optional to) They helped us to win.	hire He hired me to drive.	inspire He inspired us to try.
instruct He instructed me to leave at once.	invite They invited us to eat..	lead His action lead us to strike.	leave He left us to finish the work.
nag She nagged him to stop smoking.	nominate We nominated him to be president.	oblige They obliged us to carry a passport.	order They ordered us to carry a passport.
persuade He persuaded us to drive.	prefer He urged us to work hard.	prepare She prepared us to go home.	pressure He pressured us to help.
prompt He prompted us to respond.	provoke They provoked us to strike back.	push They pushed us to excel.	remind He reminded us to be there.
select We selected him to lead.	sentence The judge sentenced him to a week in jail.	summon The judge summoned him to come.	teach He taught me to read.
tell He told me to rest.	tempt She tempted him to eat the apple.	trust They trusted us to be honest.	urged He urged us to work hard.
warned We warned them to slow down.	will She willed herself not to cry.

*verb can be used in both sentences

Verbs like "Intend"

Infinitive Clause w / Subject

2. Verbs Like "Intend" He intends [for us to take his place] .

VERBS LIKE "INTEND" — verbs whose complement is an infinitive clause with a subject
allow He allowed us to try it out.	can't bear They can't bear us to be gone.	can't stand He can't stand us to be lazy.	cause They caused us to lose the race.
desire He desired us to win.	expect We expected him to be President.	hate We hated them to slow down.	intend He intended us to take his place.
*like She liked us to be creative.	love They love us to be around.	need We need you to think clearly.	permit He permitted us to eat out at lunch.
plan He planned us to go to college.	require He require ed us to dress for business.	want She wanted us to cry.	wish We wished them to succeed.

Also see Infinitive Commands

Verbs like "Ask"

Objects or an Infinitive Clause w / Subject

Verbs Like "Ask" — Who is doing the Action?

1. SUBJECT DOES THE ACTION
(1) Ed, the subject of the main clause, is understood as the subject of the infinitive clause. The verb ask is transitive (takes an object) and dative (takes an indirect object) in this example. Ed asked us (IO) something (DO).
SUBJ: N + V	ACCUS PRN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Edward asked	me (me)	to go home early. (Ed wants to go home early.)
Frida paid	us (us)	to house-sit. (Frida wants to house-sit for us.)

2. SOMEONE ELSE DOES THE ACTION
(2) Ed is the subject of the main clause and "us" is both the object of the main clause and the understood subject of the infinitive clause. Ed asked us ← (for us) to leave. The pronoun is called a "raised object"
SUBJ: N + V	ACCUS PRN	INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Ed asked	me	← [for me] to go home early. (Ed wants me to go home early.)
Frida paid	us	← [for us] to house-sit. (Frida paid us to house-sit for her.)

†The subject of the infinitive clause is expressed as [for + noun] (accusative pronoun) See Infinitive with Subject. (CaGEL 1178-82)
IO – indirect object ; DO – direct object
house-sit – occupy and care for a house while the usual people who live there are away on a trip; sometimes the house-sitter pays a small rental fee; sometimes the homeowner pays the house sitter, and sometimes it is an even trade.

3. Verbs like "ask"

VERBS LIKE "ASK"
ask He asked us to leave.	beg He begged us to stay.	pay He paid us to house-sit.	petition We petitioned them to change the law.
promise We promised them to marry.	pledge We pledged ourselves to do some charity work.	request He requested us to do the cooking.

Other

Bare Infinitives & Negatives

Bare Infinitives

VERB	"TO" OMITTED
make	They made us wash dishes. They forced us. We washed the dishes.
have	They had us clear the table. They employed us. We cleared the table.
let	They let us leave early. They permitted us. We left early.

VERB	OPTIONAL "TO"
help	They helped us (to) cook dinner. They helped us. We all cooked.

Negatives

NEGATIVE MAIN VERB
Use a negative verb if the speaker has no particular intention to do something.
He doesn't want me to waste paper.
* He doesn't want me to waste no paper. (Use any.)

NEGATIVE INFINITIVE
Use a negative infinitive if the speak has a clear intention to avoid something.
He wants me not to waste any paper.
He wants me not to waste any paper.
He wants me to not waste any paper. (awkward word order - place not before to.)

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

ERROR	SOLUTION
*I hope you to have a good trip.	I hope to have a good trip. (Remove the indirect object - you.) I hope (that) you will have a good trip. (Use a that-clause with an indirect object.)
*I promise you to be careful.	I promise to be careful. (I promise that I will be careful.) I promise you (that) I will be careful. (Use a that-clause with an indirect object.)

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.
Related page Command Clauses

Grammar Notes

Traditional and Linguistic Description

Advanced

TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION	LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
Traditional grammar does not focus on this particular functional relationship between the verb and the object pronoun with regard to the "infinitive phrase".	A noun or pronoun in a verb + pronoun + infinitive construction either belongs syntactically to the main verb (as its object), or to the infinitive clause as its subject [for + noun] (accusative pronoun).. 1) Ed intended to do it. → [Ed intended (for Ed) to do it.] (Ed is the understood subject of both clauses.) 2) Ed intended Frida to do it. → [Ed intended (for) Frida to do it. (Frida is the subject of infin. clause.) 3) Ed persuaded Frida to do it. → [Ed persuaded Frida (for Frida) to do it.] (Frida is both the object of the main clause and the understood subject of the infinitive clause.) To-infinitivals with and without a subject (CaGEL 1178); The clause subordinator for (1181); accusative rather than nominative pronoun forms (1182); The infinitival subordinator to (1183); understood subjects (1192)
Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait.	Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait.
This diagram is a guess !
Ed persuaded Frida to do the portrait.	Ed intended Frida to do the portrait.
This diagram is a guess !

Reed-Kellogg (parsing) – Link | Tree Diagram Link

Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective; Subord – Subordinator; Coord – Coordinator; Interj – Interjection

Functions: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv, clause

Clause; Subject / Predicate; Finite / Nonfinite;

Resources

Practice 1

Getting someone else to do something!

Cleaning up after an oil spill

Complete the sentence.

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