The to-infinitive after nouns, 'something', 'a lot', etc

The to-infinitive can be used after nouns and words used in place of nouns, such as something, someone, a lot [compare > 16.12.1]:

I want a machine/something to answer the phone Active and passive infinitives are sometimes interchangeable:

There was a lot to do/a lot to be done or they can have different meanings:

There was nothing to do so we played computer games (i.e.

we were bored)

He's dead There's nothing to be done (i.e. we can't change that) Sometimes a tor-phrase is included:

He talks as if there's nothing left in life for him to do

16.37 Adjective + noun + to-infinitive

Here are some examples of structures with adjective + noun + to-infinitive:

- with too and enough [compare > 16.32]:
Note the position of a/an

He's too clever a politician to say a thing like that in public He isn't a clever enough politician to have any original ideas In sentences beginning There the quantifier enough can go before or after the noun:

There is enough time to take care of everything There is time enough to take care of everything (more formal)

- with so as to and such a/an as to [compare > 16.27.1]: I'm not so stupid (a fool) as to put it in writing I'm not such a (stupid) fool as to put it in writing

- in exclamations [> 3.13]: What an unkind thing to say!

Sometimes the adjective is omitted if we are criticizing: What a thing to say! What a way to behave!

The '-ing' form

The two functions of the '-ing' form

Gerunds and present participles are formed from verbs and always end in -ing. Therefore words like playing, writing etc. can function as

The '-ing' form

gerunds or as participles. The -ing form is usually called a gerund when it behaves like a noun and a participle when it behaves like an adjective. However, there is some overlap between these two main functions and it is often difficult (and unnecessary!) to make formal distinctions. The term the -ing form is used here to cover gerund and participle constructions and the term 'participle' is used in The sentence' [> 1 56] to refer to part of a verb. In broad terms, the gerund can take the place of a noun, though it can, like a verb, have an object: