by Max Wheeler
20.2 INFINITIVE PHRASES AS VERBAL CONSTRUCTIONS
In the majority of uses an infinitive phrase is predominantly verbal: the infinitive may retain the verb’s usual complements, and may be modified by an adverb or adverbial adjunct:
[Dir aquestes coses d’aquesta manera] no t’ajudarà.
Saying those things this way will not help you.
No vull [repetir-te tantes vegades la mateixa història].
I don’t want to tell you the same story over and over again.
It is important to notice that in this function the Catalan infinitive sometimes corresponds to an English gerund and sometimes to an English infinitive, depending on the kind of relation between the infinitive and the main verb. It is equally important to observe that in Catalan it is the infinitive, not the gerund (see Chapter 22, especially 22.3.2), that functions as a verbal noun.
Infinitive phrases may display explicit marking of the passive voice, e.g Tots aquests arbres hauran de ser tallats ‘All these trees must be cut down’, though this is not always the case (any more than it is in English): El seu comportament és dificil d’entendre ‘Their behaviour is difficult to understand’. Tense in infinitive phrases is restricted to the marking of relative anteriority by means of the compound infinitive as in Els sabrà greu d’haver comprat el pis ‘They will regret having bought the fiat’; imperfective aspect can be marked only through the progressive periphrasis with estar + gerund: Després d’estar mirant-les una llarga estona, finalment va decidir comprar-ne una ‘After looking at them for a long while, he finally decided to buy one’.
A certain number of infinitives have become fully nominal (taking determiners, adjective modification, and so on, such as un dinar lleuger ‘a light lunch’, un deure moral ‘a moral duty’). These are discussed in 20.5.
20.2.1 DE INTRODUCING THE INFINITIVE
As can be seen in the examples already given, in some cases, but not in all, an infinitive is introduced by de. In fact, there are cases (i) where de is obligatory, (ii) where de is optional, its presence on the whole connoting a more formal (some would say ‘more authentic’) style, and (iii) where de is ungrammatical.
(i) Obligatory de before infinitive
Certain verbs are constructed with a prepositional object phrase. When the preposition is de this is also retained before an infinitive object. The following verbs, for example, take objects with de: abstenir-se de ‘refrain from’, oblidar-se de ‘forget’, parlar de ‘talk about’, ‘discuss’, recordar-se de ‘remember’, saber de ‘be good at’ (distinct from saber ‘know how to’). Haver de ‘have to’, which does not take nominal objects, has de as a fixed element.
M’he oblidat d’escriure-li la carta que li vaig prometre.
I forgot to write her the letter I promised.
Tots saben de cantar.
They are all good at singing, (cf. Tots saben cantar ‘They all know how to sing’)
Hem de comprar pa.We have to buy some bread. *Hem comprar pa.
The following verbs of requesting or commanding are constructed either with an indirect object followed by de (obligatory) and an infinitive, or with a complement clause with que (+ subjunctive). The construction with de + infinitive is more formal. The verbs are: aconsellar ‘advise’, demanar ‘request’, ‘ask’, dir ‘tell’, ordenar ‘order’, pregar ‘ask’, proposar ‘suggest’, suplicar ‘beg’.
Els vaig aconsellar d’enviar les sol·licituds de seguida. (= Els vaig aconsellar que enviessin les sol·licituds de seguida.)
I advised them to send their applications straightaway.
Els proposàrem d’encarregar-se’n ells mateixos. (= Els proposàrem que se n’encarreguessin ells mateixos.)
We suggested to them that they should deal with it themselves.
Note that de obligatorily introduces a ‘passive’ infinitive complement of an adjective, as in difícil d’entendre ‘hard to understand’; Fou una contradicció no gens senzilla de resoldre ‘It was a contradiction not at all easy to resolve’.
(ii) Optional de before infinitive
Traditionally de introduces an infinitive phrase which occurs after the main verb and is (a) its subject or predicate, or (b) the direct object of verbs such as acordar ‘agree’, cercar ‘try’, convenir ‘agree’, deliberar ‘decide’, desitjar ‘wish’, esperar ‘hope’, ‘expect’, jurar ‘swear’, oferir ‘offer’, pensar ‘intend’, pretendre ‘attempt’, ‘aim’, procurar ‘attempt’, proposar ‘intend’, ‘propose’, prometre ‘promise’, provar ‘try’, refusar ‘refuse’, resoldre ‘decide’. The use of de in this context is strongly preferred in more formal styles, but its absence is in no way non-standard. Examples of the presence and absence of this ‘optional’ de will be found throughout this chapter.
(a)
T’agradarà (de) saber-ho.
You will be pleased to know it.
Ens ha resultat molt difícil (de) recollir les dades.
It has proved very hard for us to collect the data.
No us convé gens (de) fer aquestes coses.
It’s not at all right for you to do these things.
Prohibit (d’)afixar cartells.
Bill-posting is prohibited.
L’objectiu serà (de) lluitar contra la fam.
The aim will be to fight hunger.
(Note that some grammarians regard de before a predicate infinitive, as in this last example, as a hypercorrection. In this view also de is not appropriate when an infinitive phrase is the postposed subject in a wh-question:
De què t’aprofita afavorir el ric? ? … d’afavorir el ric?
What advantage is it to you to favour the rich?)
(b)
Sempre pretenia (d’)assegurar-me que no passaria res.
He always attempted to assure me that it would be all right.
Vàrem acordar (de) vendre la casa.
We agreed to sell the house.
M’han proposat (de) fer de conductor
They’ve proposed that I should be the driver.
This optional de introducing infinitives has only a superficial resemblance to the true preposition de. Note in particular that an infinitival direct object (with or without de) can be substituted only by the pronoun ho and never by the pronoun en; see 12.5 and 12.6vi.
Ho vàrem acordar. *En vàrem acordar. We agreed it.
M’ho han proposat. *Me n’han proposat. They have suggested it to me.
(iii) No de before infinitive
After certain modal-type verbs which establish a very close relation with a following infinitive de cannot be used. Such verbs are: caldre ‘be necessary’, deure ‘must’, gosar ‘dare’, necessitar ‘need’, poder ‘can’, ‘may’, saber ‘know how to’, soler ‘be accustomed to’, voler ‘want’. We may add here the basic causative verbs deixar ‘let’ (not = deixar de ‘fail’ with obligatory de), and fer ‘make’; and the perception verbs escoltar ‘listen to’, mirar ‘look at’, oir ‘hear’, sentir ‘hear’, veure ‘see’ (but veure de ‘try’ has obligatory de). Note that clitic raising (12.2.3) takes place with these verbs. There are probably other verbs which never, or rarely, take de before a following infinitive, but we have not found a source which attempts to offer a complete list.
Vull veure el director.I want to see the manager. *vull de veure …
La pregunta, per òbvia, no necessita gairebé ser formulada.
*no necessita … de ser …
The question, being so obvious, hardly needs to be asked.
Els hem deixat anar al cinema.We have let them go to the cinema. *Els hem deixat d’anar …
20.2.2 SUBJECTS OF INFINITIVE PHRASES
Like all non-finite forms, the infinitive does not explicitly express the person/ number category of its subject. In most cases the identity of the subject is inferred from the construction, though in some cases the subject of the infinitive can be made explicit within the phrase (iv).
(i) Open interpretation of infinitive subject
The
infinitive may have a generic or unspecified subject:
Està prohibit (de) fumar.
Smoking prohibited.
Resistir és vèncer.
To resist is to overcome.
Menjar greix fa que augmenti el colesterol.
Eating fat makes the cholesterol level go up.
Convenia abandonar ràpidament el país.
It was time to get out of the country quickly.
This pattern is common when the infinitive phrase is subject of its own clause as in the above examples, or when the infinitive depends on a main clause element which typically takes an indirect object, such as aconsellar ‘advise’, ordenar ‘order’, prohibir ‘forbid’, suggerir ‘suggest’, permetre ‘allow’, and convenir ‘be suitable’, fàcil ‘easy’, agradable ‘pleasant’, impossible ‘impossible’:
No permeten regirar els papers.
They don’t let you/anyone rummage through the papers.
Va resultar impossible de trobar allotjament.
It proved impossible to find accommodation.
When an indirect object is explicitly mentioned in the main clause, of course, that determines the identity of the subject of the infinitive:
Treballar amb ell és fàcil per a mi.
It is easy for me to work with him.
No ens permeten regirar els papers.
They don’t let us rummage through the papers.
(ii) Infinitive subject = main clause object
The subject of the infinitive is coreferential with a direct object or indirect object of the verb of the main clause when there is one.
Direct object: obligar ‘oblige’, autoritzar ‘authorize’, acusar ‘accuse’, invitar ‘invite’, encantar ‘delight’, etc.
Hem invitat els teus companys a prendre cafè.
We have invited your friends for coifee. (lit. ‘to take coffee’; understood ‘(for them) to take coffee’)
La va acusar d’haver robat la seva bossa.
She accused her of having stolen her bag.
M’encanta tocar el clavecí.
I love playing the harpsichord. (i.e. ‘for me to play’ not ‘for anyone to play’)
(Note M’encanta que toquis el clavecí ‘ I love you to play the harpsichord’; here an infinitive phrase would not be possible in Catalan.)
Indirect object: see list above (i), and e.g. impedir ‘prevent’, ensenyar (a) ‘teach’, ‘show how’, proposar ‘suggest’, exigir ‘require’, dir ‘tell’:
Els hem dit de seguir-nos. We have told them to follow us.
(iii) Infinitive subject = main clause subject
Here the subject of the infinitive is coreferential with the subject of the main clause. This is the most frequent case, with verbs that do not take an object (other than the infinitive phrase itself). There is a large number of verbs here, such as those of propositional attitude: creure ‘believe’, admetre ‘admit’, desitjar ‘wish’, confiar ‘trust’, pensar ‘intend’, esperar ‘hope’, refusar ‘refuse’, and all the modal-type verbs mentioned in 18.2.1 (verbal periphrases): voler ‘want’, poder ‘can’, acabar de ‘have just’, etc. and for example, intentar ‘try’, cercar ‘try’.
La Maria Josep creu saber qui ho ha dit.
Maria Josep believes she knows who said it.
Els treballadors acaben de convocar la vaga general.
The workers have just called a general strike.
Els actors van a començar la funció.
The actors are going to open the show.
Els enemies han arribat a dir totes aquestes mentides.
The enemy has gone as far as to tell all these lies.
El petroli ha començat a brollar.
The oil has started flowing.
Amb la calor, les gallines han deixat de pondre.
With the heat the hens have stopped laying.
Els jugadors no estan per donar suport al president.
The players are not in favour of supporting the chairman.
La tortuga no pot arribar mai abans que la llebre.
The tortoise will never be able to get there quicker than the hare.
Quan van sentir els trons, els nens van rompre a plorar.
When they heard the thunder the children burst into tears.
Note that there are (as with the corresponding English versions) a few verbs which while taking an indirect object do not give the indirect object control over a following infinitive but rather retain control with their own subject; these are verbs of promising, offering, swearing – verbs of commitment:
Li vaig oferir d’acompanyar-la.
I offered (to her) to accompany her.
Ens han promès de tornar-nos els diners abans de finals d’any.
They have promised to return us the money before the end of the year.
It seems that with proposar ‘propose’, ‘suggest’, at least, interpretation of an infinitive’s subject is ambiguous:
Em va proposar de fer de conductor.
He suggested his/my acting as driver.
The same pattern – with main clause subject interpreted as subject of the infinitive – is common in adverbial expressions introduced by prepositions (see 20.3.4.2).
(iv) The subject of the infinitive is expressed
Rentar-se ell la roba era l’únic que podia fer.
Doing the laundry himself was the only option.
Va ser arribar ell i posar-se tots a riure.
He turned up and they all burst out laughing.
Menjar ara nosaltres no seria mala idea.
For us to eat now wouldn’t be a bad idea.
These examples show explicit subjects, but this is only possible in an infinitive phrase acting as subject in the main sentence, in an adverbial phrase introduced by a preposition (see 20.4 below) and in an independent exclamative question:
Venir jo a veure’t?! Mai de la vida!
Me come and see you?! Not on your life!
In all of these cases the explicit subject must follow the infinitive.
20.3 INFINITIVE PHRASES INTEGRATED AS ELEMENTS OF FINITE CLAUSES
Most often, a verbal infinitive phrase appears as an argument of a clause (that is, as subject, predicate, complement, direct object, prepositional object; 20.3.1.1), in a prepositional adjunct of a clause, or as complement of a noun or adjective. Infinitive phrases used absolutely will be discussed in 20.4.
We have already seen various examples of infinitive phrases as subject.
Anar-me’n d’aquí no em sap cap greu. I’m not at all sorry to leave here.
Treballar amb ell és fàcil per a mi. It is easy for me to work with him.
As mentioned in 20.2.1ii, when an infinitive phrase is placed after the verb, the infinitive can be introduced by de.
Examples of infinitive phrases as direct objects introduced by optional de have been discussed at 20.2.1ii(b). As mentioned in 20.2.1iii modal-type verbs and verbs of perception do not take de before a following infinitive. Sentir and veure may take a before an infinitive, though this construction is perhaps somewhat old-fashioned.
Mai no havia sentit (a) tocar tan bé la trompeta.
I had never heard the trumpet played so well.
Et veig (a) venir.
I can see you coming.
20.3.1 INFINITIVE PHRASE AS PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT
An infinitive phrase may be the object of a subcategorized preposition (that is, the specified preposition + its object is a complement, 20.3.1.1), or it may be the object of a preposition functioning as an (optional) adverbial adjunct (20.3.1.2).
20.3.1.1 Infinitive phrase as subcategorized prepositional object
Very many verbs, nouns, and adjectives take a prepositional phrase complement with a specified preposition. Generally speaking the required preposition appears before an infinitive phrase as it does before a noun phrase, thus, for example, with a:
invitar algú a una recepció invite someone to a reception
invitar algú a fer alguna cosa invite someo
ne to do something
una invitació a una recepció an invitation to a reception
una invitació a fer alguna cosa an invitation to do something
with de:
descuidar-se d’alguna cosa forget something
descuidar-se de fer alguna cosa forget to do something
(Note that with real de, as here, unlike the optional de discussed in 20.2.1ii(b), the de phrase can be pronominalized with en: Me n’he descuidat ‘I forgot it’.)
un projecte de desenvolupament a project for development/a development project
un projecte de desenvolupar una cosa a project to develop something
Note that complements of nouns are normally introduced by de.
However when the preposition is en ‘in’, ‘to’, per a ‘for’, or amb ‘with’, the matter is not quite so straightforward. As mentioned in 14.1.1.4, en is replaced by a before an infinitive in standard Catalan, so Tot consisteix en això ‘Everything consists in that’, but Tot consisteix a fer això ‘Everything consists in doing that’; vacil·lar en una decisió ‘hesitate in a decision’, vacil·lar a prendre una decisió ‘hesitate to make a decision’. And as discussed in detail in 14.1.4.2, both usage and normative recommendation vary with respect to the distinction between per and per a, and in particular whether the distinction is maintained before an infinitive, so: bastar per a algú ‘be sufficient for someone’, bastar per a fer alguna cosa or bastar per fer alguna cosa ‘be sufficient to do something’. There seems also to be a certain reluctance to retain amb before an infinitive, though not such that we could say there is a rule in the matter. Note the following:
