Inf. as a Part of a Compound Nominal Predicate. In the function of a predicate the Inf. is used in CNP after the link verb to be: Ex.: His dearest wish was to have a son.
The subj. of the Inf. predicative is either an Inf. or a noun. In either case the Inf. is used with the particle to.
The use of the Inf. as a predicative has some peculiarities. 1) In sentences with an Inf. subject the predicative Inf. denotes an action that follows the action of the subject Inf..
Ex.: To see her was to admire her.
2) The set of nouns that can function as the subject of a CNP with an Inf. predicative is very limited. It includes about 50 nouns describing situations: action, duty, experience, function, habit, idea, job, plan, risk, wish.
3) The function of the subj. may be also performed by the pronoun all or the substantivized superlatives the most & the least with an attributive clause attached to them: All he wanted was to be left alone. The least I can expect is to have this day all to myself.
4) Occasionally the function of the subj. can be performed by a G or a what-clause: living with hemophilia was to live off balance all the time. ‘’what we want to do’’, said Ann, ‘’is to fight a world.’’
P1 as a Part of a Compound Nominal Predicate. (Predicative) In the position of predicative only non-perfect P1 active occurs, its adjectival character being predominant.
The P in this position gives the qualitative assessment of the subject.
Ex.: the story is amusing. – I find the story amusing.
As seen, the verbal traits of the P are not manifested at all. In many cases P1 may have a synonymous adjective: amusing-funny.
P1 as predicative can be distinguished from P1 as part of the continuous form with the help of its distribution:
Ex.: The children are amusing = they seem amusing to me. But: They are amusing me.
P1 as predicative may be used with other link verbs, in which case it may keep its verbal character, as in:
Ex.: Isadora remained standing.
