D-11.07 Get & Practice Specific Details of Uses of Infinitives

Unit 14 (Infinitives: “Sports”) of the Original Scenario, Volume Three: English Grammar in Context, pages 175-188

14 pages                                

Who It’s For: (Teachers & Helpers of) Intermediate Through Advanced Students of English That Prefer Composed Completeness Over Flashiness 

Why It’s Useful: Are you a methodical acquirer of the logical, ancillary details of grammar? Then you may prefer the linear (one numbered section after another) layouts of “old-fashioned” black-and-white text pages to flashier deliveries.  An “Auxiliary” or “supplemental” grammar topic like Infinitives ([+ Object] + to + Base Verb) rarely fills a whole Unit, but here’s one in which it does: Unit 14: Infinitives (of Scenario, Volume Three).  With sentence and phrase examples related to the subject of “Sports,” this old-time presentation and practice of the “fine points” of infinitive use gets right to it.    

What You’ll Do: 

[1]  Enjoy the many different applications of infinitives in the page 175 tongue-in-cheek Scenario (of a father telling his kids to go out to play because he wants to stretch out on the couch to watch baseball). In Comprehension Sections 1a-1c, note the positions of infinitives in sentences.  On page 177, study Explanation 2, “Infinitives in Verb Phrases,” in which infinitives are to be regarded as “objects” of main verbs.  After practice in these, learn about “2c. Infinitive Verb Phrases with [Pro]Noun Objects,” noting which verbs require them.  Do Exercise 2d before “Talking It Over.”

[2] On page 181, let Explanation 3 help you to use Infinitives After Adjectives & Nouns,” many of which are listed. After 3a-3c, get how to deal with “3d. Infinitives After Too & Enough.” Guided Exercise 3e assists you to “Get It Together” by incorporating infinitives to express your opinions of (still current) issues in sports.  Practice and master “4. Infinitives Used as Nouns” on 185—as well as “5. Infinitive Phrases of Purpose” on 186.  (Use the Exercises in between to reinforce the patterns.)

[3]  A “6. Summary of Infinitives” Section on page 187 will “warm you up” enough to get you to manage infinitives in various functions and patterns. Finally, you’ll be able to explain a recreational pastime you know—and to grasp the procedures or rules of a sport that used to seem impossible to understand.