Logical Subjects of Infinitives

The term "clause" refers to a group of words that minimally contains some type of subject and some type of verb. With respect to verb type, there are two basic kinds of clause in English: "finite clauses" and "nonfinite clauses."

Finite Clauses

A finite clause contains an explicit subject in the form of a noun phrase (for example, students, the software engineer, a computer that they purchased) or a pronoun (for example, we, she, they). In addition, the finite clause contains a "finite verb"--a verb that either expresses tense (for example, past or present) or that follows a helping verb such as can, should, or must. The following sentences are examples of finite clauses (the finite verbs are highlighted).

The design engineer changed the design of the computer.
The design engineer might change the design of the computer.

In the first sentence, the finite verb changed expresses tense, in this case, past tense. In the second sentence, the finite verb might change consists of the helping verb might followed by the basic form of the verb change. In both instances, the verbs are preceded by an explicit subject, the design engineer.

The above sentences each contain one clause and serve as independent sentences. However, a sentence can contain more than one finite verb and therefore more than one finite clause. The following sentence contains two finite verbs, suggested and should develop. The second clause, that we should develop a new product, actually occurs "inside" the first clause, serving as the object of the first finite verb, suggested.

The software engineer suggested that we should develop a new product.

Importantly, each finite clause contains a finite verb, which is preceded by an explicit subject. The subject of suggested is the software engineer, and the subject of should develop is we.

Infinitive Clauses

Unlike a finite clause that contains a finite verb, an "infinitive clause" contains an infinitive. An infinitive consists of the word to followed by the basic form of the verb: to go, to prepare, to procrastinate, etc. In the following sentence, the infinitive to repair comes after the finite verb tried.

The technical support specialist tried to repair the computer.

Although an infinitive always occurs in a sentence that contains, additionally, a finite verb, because the infinitive is a type of verb, it can have its own object. The object of to repair is the computer, and the sequence to repair the computer is the infinitive clause in the above sentence.

Logical Subjects

If finite verbs have explicit subjects in finite clauses, why don't nonfinite verbs such as infinitives have subjects? In fact, they do. Linguistic theory assumes that all clauses have subjects, both finite and nonfinite. However, in most nonfinite clauses, the subject is "invisible" or understood; it is a mental placeholder before the nonfinite verb to which users of a language assign a "logical subject."

In the sentences below, we can use a symbol(§) to represent the position of the logical subject before each infinitive.

The technical support specialist tried § to repair the computer.
The engineer asked the technician § to diagnose the problem.

In the first sentence, we understand the technical support specialist to be both the explicit subject of the finite verb tried and the logical subject of the infinitive to repair. That is, the technical support specialist is understood to be the "doer" of both the trying and the repairing. For that reason, we use the separate symbol § to indicate the doer of the repairing.

In the second sentence, the same element does not serve as the subject of the finite verb and the subject of the infinitive. The explicit subject of the finite verb asked is the engineer, and the logical, or understood, subject of to diagnose is the technician, which also serves as the object of the verb asked. In other words, the technician receives the asking and is also expected to do the diagnosing. We therefore assume that there are two separate elements representing these two functions: the technician is the explicit object of asked, and § is the (invisible) logical subject of to diagnose, which we interpret to be the technician.

The interpretation of the logical subjects of infinitives is not arbitrary. It is guided by the inherent properties of specific verbs and by other properties of sentence structure, as will be shown further on.

Properties of Verbs

Inherent Properties of Verbs

When you "know" a word in your native language, you know more than just the meaning of that word. You also know, automatically and unconsciously, what other kinds of words and structures to use along with that word. For example, when you use the verb need in a sentence, you can use an infinitive clause after need, as in the first sentence below, but you will never use a finite clause as in the second sentence. The asterisk (*) means that the sentence is not a grammatical sentence of English.

The manufacturing manager needed to order some new parts.
*The manufacturing manager needed that he ordered some new parts.

You also have unconscious knowledge about interpreting the logical subject of an infinitive in a sentence. In the next sentence, the main verb told can be followed by an object, the technician, and then by an infinitive clause, to repair the computer.

The engineer told the technician § to repair the computer.

In interpreting this sentence, you know that the logical subject of the infinitive to repair, indicated by the symbol §, is the technician, which is also the object of the verb told. In other words, the technician both receives the telling and will repair the computer. Both the technician and the § are highlighted to indicate that the technician is the logical subject of to repair.

Many English verbs that can be followed by both an object and an infinitive clause have the same property as the verb tell. Namely, the logical subject of the infinitive is interpreted to be the same element that serves as the object of the main verb. Here are some of the verbs that have that property: tell, allow, order, permit, persuade, convince , force, require.

Other verbs are exceptions to the pattern exhibited above. When the verb promise is followed by an object and an infinitive clause, it is the subject, and not the object of promise, which is understood as the logical subject of the infinitive:

The engineer promised the technician § to repair the computer.

In this sentence it is the engineer that will do the repairing. This fact follows from an inherent property of the verb promise. It is an exception to the property associated with verbs like tell, order, and persuade.

Verbs like tell and verbs like promise are different but consistent in the way a logical subject is assigned to a following infinitive. However, the verb ask in English is inconsistent in its behavior. When ask means something like "request action," it has the same property as verbs like tell, as indicated in the following sentence.

The engineer asked the technician § to repair the computer.

It is the technician that is being directed to repair the computer. Interestingly, if ask is interpreted to mean "request permission," the above sentence can be understood to mean that the engineer would like to repair the computer and is asking the technician's permission. Such an interpretation is easier to see when the asker has lower authority than the person being asked, as in the following sentence.

The child asked the teacher § to go to the bathroom.

The verb ask has yet another meaning when it is followed by an object and then by an infinitive clause that begins with a WH-word such as who, what, where, how, or which. In sentences like the following, ask means "request information," and in these instances, it is the subject of ask, rather than the object, that is interpreted as the logical subject of the infinitive.

The engineer asked the technician what § to repair.
The engineer asked the technician how § to repair the computer.
The engineer asked the technician which computer § to repair.

In all of these sentences it is the engineer who will do the repairing. This interpretation is guided by the special property of the verb ask, in its meaning of "request information" when it is followed by a WH-word and infinitive clause. This does not mean that an infinitive clause beginning with a WH-word automatically establishes the subject of the main verb as the logical subject of the infinitive. With the verb tell, its object is always the logical subject of the infinitive, whether or not a WH-word is present:

The service representative told the customer § to wait in the reception area.
The service representative told the customer where § to wait.

In fact, most other verbs that are followed by an object and an infinitive clause beginning with a WH-word behave like tell, rather than ask, with respect to interpreting the logical subject of the infinitive:

The service representative showed the customer where § to wait.
The service representative reminded the customer where § to wait.

From Outside

Logical Subject Assigned from Outside the Sentence

In the examples considered so far, the logical subject of an infinitive is interpreted as equivalent to some explicit noun phrase (subject or object) elsewhere in the sentence. Sometimes, however, a logical subject is associated with an entity that does not occur in the same sentence. Consider this sentence:

The design team manager said § to change the design of the computer.

There is no noun phrase in this sentence that can be considered as the logical subject of to change. The design team manager cannot be interpreted as the person who is expected to do the changing. Instead, the logical subject of to change has to be someone understood within the context in which this sentence would be spoken or written. Perhaps a design team member or members are being referred to. It is a property of the verb say that allows an infinitive clause to follow it without the explicit mention of who is expected to do the action expressed by the infinitive.

Incidentally, say also allows the explicit mention of a noun phrase after for to serve as the logical subject of the infinitive, as in the following sentence:

The design team manager said for the engineer § to change the design of the computer.

Another verb that behaves like say is explain when it is followed by an infinitive clause beginning with a WH-word, as in these sentences:

The design team manager explained how § to change the design of the computer.

The design team manager explained what § to change.

In each of these sentences, the logical subject of to change must be interpreted as someone understood within the context in which such sentences would be spoken or written.

In Passive Sentences

Logical Subjects in Passive Sentences

The principles determining the logical subject of an infinitive become even more complicated when the infinitive phrase occurs in a passive sentence (see the SEA Site module on Passive Voice). The two sentences below illustrate how differently the logical subject is determined when the infinitive clause to repair the computer follows the "passive" verb was told as opposed to the "active" verb told.

The engineer told the technician § to repair the computer.

The engineer was told by the technician § to repair the computer.

As already noted, the logical subject of to repair in the first sentence is interpreted as the technician, which is the object of the active verb told. In the second, passive sentence, which uses the passive verb was told and a "by-phrase" (by the technician) to indicate who did the telling, the logical subject is no longer the closer object noun phrase. Instead, the logical subject is interpreted as the more distant subject noun phrase, the engineer.

Thus, passive alters the assignment of the logical subject of an infinitive. If a main verb has the property of assigning its object as the logical subject of a following infinitive, passive "reverses" that property and assigns the more distant subject of the main verb. What happens when an active verb already has the property of assigning its subject as the logical subject of an infinitive, as in the case of ask when it means "request information"? The following two sentences illustrate what happens.

The engineer asked the technician what § to repair.

The engineer was asked by the technician what § to repair.

In the first sentence, ask followed by an infinitive clause that begins with the WH-word what assigns its subject, the engineer, as the logical subject of to repair. The second sentence contains the passive verb was asked and a by-phrase to indicate who did the asking. In this sentence, the logical subject of to repair reverses from the subject to the object of the by-phrase, namely, the technician.

This reversal is the opposite of what was observed above for the told/was told pair. With tell, passive changes the logical subject from the closer object to the more distant subject. With ask (accompanied by an infinitive clause beginning with a WH-word), passive changes the logical subject from the more distant subject to the closer object of the by-phase.

Because a by-phrase is optional in a passive sentence, watch what happens when a by-phrase is omitted.

The engineer was told what § to repair.

The engineer was asked what § to repair.

In the first sentence, the passive verb was told causes the logical subject of to repair to be the more distant subject, as noted earlier. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether there is a by-phrase or not; the subject the engineer is expected to do the repairing. In the second sentence, the passive verb was asked should cause the logical subject to become the object of a by-phrase. But the sentence does not contain a by-phrase. In this case, the logical subject is interpreted as referring to whoever the object of the by-phrase would be if there were one. In other words, it is interpreted as whoever is understood from the context to have done the asking.

The above grammatical explanation and examples illustrate that the interpretation of a logical subject of an infinitive is guided by the inherent properties of the verbs that can be followed by infinitive clauses. In some cases, these verbs assign their objects as the logical subjects. In the case of promise, it always assigns its subject as the logical subject. In the case of ask, it varies in its assignment of a logical subject depending on which meaning it conveys. With the verbs say and explain, the logical subject can be understood from context, referring to someone outside the sentence. When a main verb is passive, the logical subject of the infinitive gets reversed from what it normally would be. If the logical subject would be the object of a by-phrase but the by-phrase is missing, then it is understood from context as the object of the by-phrase if there were one. Thus, interpreting logical subjects of infinitives in English is a complex process that poses a considerable challenge for many deaf students.

Purpose or Reason

Infinitives that Show "Purpose" or "Reason"

Sometimes an infinitive clause occurs in a sentence to express a "purpose" or a "reason." In such cases, it is often preceded by the words in order to, as in the following sentences.

In order § to improve the application, the software engineer removed some of the unnecessary features.

The software engineer removed some of the unnecessary features in order § to improve the application.

The infinitive clause, in order to improve the application, explains the reason why the software engineer removed some of the unnecessary features. In the first sentence, the infinitive clause precedes the main clause; in the second sentence, it follows the main clause.

In these kinds of sentences, the logical subject of the infinitive is generally interpreted to be the subject of the main clause, irrespective of the properties of the finite verb in the main clause. In each of the above sentences, the software engineer, which is the subject of the main clause, is interpreted as the logical subject of to improve. That is, the software engineer not only removed some of the unnecessary features, but also improved the application.

Sometimes an infinitive clause is not preceded by in order to but still expresses a purpose or reason:

§ to improve the application, the software engineer removed some of the unnecessary features.

The software engineer removed some of the unnecessary features § to improve the application.

These sentences are interpreted exactly the same as the sentences in which in order to precedes the infinitive clause.

Sometimes an infinitive clause expressing a purpose or reason will occur in a sentence in which the main verb is passive:

The technicians were fired by the management in order § to reduce costs.

In such cases, the logical subject of the infinitive is generally not the subject of the main clause but is the object of the by-phrase. Thus, in the sentence above, the logical subject of to reduce is the management. If such a passive sentence has no by-phrase, the logical subject is interpreted from the context, for example, as the object of a by-phrase if there were one:

The technicians were fired in order § to reduce costs.

In this sentence, whoever was responsible for firing the technicians would be interpreted as the logical subject of to reduce.

Formation

What does it mean to have knowledge of infinitives in English? First of all, it means that one properly forms the infinitive by using the word to followed by the basic form of a verb, as in to go, to study, or to procrastinate. In the first sentence below, the infinitive to study is properly formed; in the second and third sentences, the infinitive is not properly formed:

I need to study.
*I need study.
*I need to studied.

Combination

A second aspect of infinitive knowledge is reflected in the appropriate use of an infinitive clause as permitted after certain English verbs. Certain verbs, such as want, can be followed by an infinitive clause, as in the first sentence below, but cannot be followed by a clause beginning with a verb + ing (second sentence) or by a "that-clause" (third sentence):

The programmers want to finish the project.
*The programmers want finishing the project.
*The programmers want that they finish the project.

So knowledge of infinitives in this case means knowing that an infinitive clause (for example, to finish the project) can follow a main verb such as want. This broader knowledge of infinitives is really knowledge about words in general. In addition to knowing the meaning of a word, a native user of a language knows, subconsciously, which kinds of structures can combine with particular words and which kinds of structures cannot.

With respect to infinitive structures, a native user of English knows that some main verbs can be followed immediately by an infinitive clause as in the case of want and that some main verbs can be followed by both a noun phrase object and an infinitive clause. Some of the commonly used verbs that can be followed immediately by an infinitive clause are listed below:

decide
forget
hope
manage
need
plan
prepare
refuse
remember
want

The use of such verbs with infinitive clauses is illustrated in these sentences:

The manufacturing manager forgot to order replacement parts.
The hardware engineer refused to rewire the components.

Some common verbs that allow both an object and an infinitive complement include the following:

advise
allow
convince
force
need
order
persuade
remind
tell
want

The use of such verbs with both an object and an infinitive clause is illustrated in the following sentence:

The software products manager allowed the programmer to alter the software.

It should be noted that some English verbs (for example, hope) cannot be followed by an object before the infinitive clause, that some verbs (for example, remind) must be followed by an object before the infinitive clause, and that some verbs (for example, want) can be followed by an object before the infinitive clause or just by the infinitive clause. The following pairs of sentences, some unacceptable (*), illustrate these facts:

The computer systems auditor hopes to investigate the problem.
*The computer systems auditor hopes the manager to investigate the problem.

*The customer reminded to send a new keyboard.
The customer reminded the service representative to send a new keyboard.

The systems analyst wants to complete the project.
The systems analyst wants the designer to complete the project.

Combining verbs appropriately with objects and infinitive clauses is what we are calling one aspect of an English user's "knowledge" of infinitives. However, it really reflects the user's broader knowledge of words in general and the properties associated with those words.

Interpretation

The third aspect of infinitive knowledge pertains to the interpretation of sentence structures containing infinitives. Specifically, it pertains to interpreting the logical subjects of infinitives, as discussed in the Grammatical Summary section of this module. Thus, knowledge of infinitives includes knowing that, in the first sentence below, the technician is understood as the logical subject (represented by the symbol "§") of the infinitive to repair whereas, in the second sentence, the engineer is understood as the logical subject of to repair.

The engineer asked the technician § to repair the computer.
The engineer asked the technician what § to repair.

In the first sentence, where the verb ask has a meaning similar to "request action," its object, the technician, is understood as the person who will do the repairing. But in the second sentence, where ask has a meaning similar to "request information," it is its subject the engineer that is understood as the person who will do the repairing.

The remainder of this section on Research Findings and Implications will focus on this third aspect of deaf students' knowledge of infinitives--the ability to interpret the logical subjects of infinitives in various sentence structures.

Assessing Deaf Students' Knowledge

Berent (1983) conducted a study of deaf college students' abilities to interpret the logical subjects of infinitives in English sentences containing infinitive clauses. (The study also assessed these abilities in hearing adult learners of English as a second language.) The study assessed 51 deaf students' abilities to interpret the logical subject of an infinitive in a variety of English sentence types. As noted in the Grammatical Summary section of this module, the interpretation of the logical subject of an infinitive depends on the nature of the main verb that precedes the infinitive clause, including whether or not that verb is active or passive.

In the Berent study, knowledge of logical subjects was assessed using a 15-sentence test in which students read a sentence and an accompanying question and then circled one of two choices to indicate who they thought was the person performing the action expressed by the infinitive. (The complete test appears in the Action Steps section of this module.)

For example, for the test item below, the correct response would be to circle Mary. When the verb tell is active (told), rather than passive (was told), and is followed by an object and an infinitive clause, native users of English know that it is the object (Mary) rather than the subject (John) that is expected to do the action expressed by the infinitive. In this example, Mary would be expected to close the door.

John told Mary to close the door.
Who will close the door?

John            Mary

Results

Results of the study yielded the following order of success on the various sentences, from the most successful to the least successful. The correct target answer is highlighted in each sentence. If there is no highlighted element for a given sentence, that means that the logical subject of the infinitive is interpreted as someone outside the sentence that would be understood, in a given context, as the doer of the action of the infinitive. After each sentence, the percentage of deaf college students who interpreted the sentence correctly is indicated in parentheses. The clustering of the sentences into two groups is explained below.

Bill chose to stay at home. (100%)
John told Mary to close the door. (100%)
Larry told John what to do. (100%)
Linda chose Mary to answer the question. (98%)
George asked Tom to buy a newspaper. (98%)
Jim showed Larry where to go. (96%)
Tom reminded George to do the homework. (88%)
Mary asked to see the teacher. (86%)

Mike was reminded by George to study the lesson. (78%)
Bill promised George to wash the dishes. (65%)
Alice explained what to do. (59%)
Jim was told whom to visit. (57%)
John said to come at 7:30. (49%)
Tom asked Bill what to buy. (25%)
Larry was asked where to sit. (20%)

In the first cluster of sentences above, each sentence was interpreted correctly by at least 86% of the deaf students and, as indicated by the percentages, six of the sentences were interpreted correctly by almost all of the students. In the second cluster of sentences, success ranged from 78% to as low as 20% correct.

Explanation of Results

In view of the inherent properties of the main verbs in the above sentences, Berent (1983) explained deaf college students' abilities to interpret the logical subjects of infinitives in English on the basis of the predictability of the choice for logical subject. It just so happens that, with the vast majority of English verbs that can be followed by an infinitive clause, it is the noun phrase that is closest to the infinitive that is interpreted as the logical subject of the infinitive. In other words, most verbs that can be followed by an infinitive behave like the verb tell, as in the sentence below.

John told Mary to close the door.

In all of the sentences in the first cluster above, the main verbs are active and the logical subject is either the closer of two noun phrases or else it is the only noun phrase that precedes the infinitive. In the latter case, as the only noun phrase, it is by definition the closest to the infinitive, even if it is not the object of the main verb, as in:

Bill chose to stay at home.

In this sense, the choice of a logical subject in all of the sentences in the first cluster is predictable as the closest noun phrase to the infinitive. Therefore, the deaf students in the study were quite successful in interpreting the logical subjects of the infinitives in those sentences. Those sentences reflect the default "closeness principle," so students would be expected to interpret them correctly.

The second cluster of sentences, repeated below, contains structures in which the interpretation of logical subjects is arguably unpredictable with respect to the closeness principle.

Mike was reminded by George to study the lesson. (78%)
Bill promised George to wash the dishes. (65%)
Alice explained what to do. (59%)
Jim was told whom to visit. (57%)
John said to come at 7:30. (49%)
Tom asked Bill what to buy. (25%)
Larry was asked where to sit. (20%)

As discussed in the Grammatical Summary section, when a main verb is passive, the choice of logical subject is the reverse of what it is in a corresponding active sentence. This is seen by comparing one of the sentences from the first cluster with the first sentence of the second cluster:

Tom reminded George to do the homework.
Mike was reminded by George to study the lesson.

Accordingly, students' performance was worse on the passive sentence than on the active one. In the passive sentence, the logical subject is unpredictable, in terms of the closeness principle, in that it is the further, rather than the closer, noun phrase to the infinitive. However, with this particular pair of sentences, performance differed only by 10%. There are probably two reasons for this.

First, the explicit by-phrase in the passive sentence facilitates students' comprehension relative to passive sentences that do not contain a by-phrase. Note that none of the other passive sentences in the second cluster contains a by-phrase. Secondly, performance on the active sentence was probably lower than expected for "pragmatic" reasons. Even though 88% of the deaf students provided the target response to "Who did the homework?", some may have reasonably surmised that both Tom and George had the same homework assignment and therefore chose Tom as one acceptable answer to the question. None of the other sentences on the test has this pragmatic flaw.

With respect to the other sentences in the second cluster, two are unpredictable in terms of the closeness principle on the basis of the inherent properties that stipulate that the logical subject of the infinitive is the subject of the main verb. One sentence contains the exceptional verb promise and the other contains ask in its meaning of "request information" when it is followed by an infinitive clause that begins with a WH-word:

Bill promised George to wash the dishes.
Tom asked Bill what to buy.

Three of the sentences have logical subjects that are not contained within the sentence but are inferred from context.

Alice explained what to do.
John said to come at 7:30.
Larry was asked where to sit.

The interpretation of the logical subject is unpredictable in all of these sentences because the closest noun phrase--in these cases, the subject of the main verb--cannot serve as the logical subject of the infinitive.

Finally, the status of one of the sentences in the second cluster is interesting. On the following sentence, the deaf students were only 57% correct even though the sentence seems to conform to the closeness principle. Jim appears to be the only noun phrase preceding the infinitive and therefore the closest noun phrase.

Jim was told whom to visit.

However, the infinitive clause in this sentence begins with the WH-word whom, which refers to a person (in contrast to what and where in some of the other sentences). In addition to referring to a person, whom is in fact a noun phrase (both nouns and pronouns serve as noun phrases). Therefore, whom is the closest noun phrase to the infinitive, and so the interpretation of the logical subject indeed violates the closeness principle in this sentence. On the test that the students were given, the two choices for this sentence were Jim and another person. Thus, if a student perceived the sentence incorrectly as something like "Jim was told who visited," it is easy to see how another person would be a reasonable choice for logical subject.

Performance by Proficiency Level

The results discussed above were based on the overall performance of the 51 deaf college students in the Berent (1983) study. The deaf students actually represented three English proficiency levels: Low, Mid, and High. The students' performance by group illustrates how the distinction between predictable and unpredictable sentences helps to explain deaf students' knowledge about the logical subjects of infinitives.

On the predictable sentences, the three groups performed as follows, in terms of percentages correct:

Low 96%
Mid 95%
High 97%

These percentages demonstrate that the three groups of students performed almost perfectly and equally well on the predictable sentences. On the other hand, the performance pattern on the unpredictable sentences demonstrates that deaf college students' knowledge of the logical subjects of infinitives is much lower on these sentences but that it improves as overall English proficiency level increases.

Low 35%
Mid 49%
High 70%

The results of Berent (1983) indicate that deaf college students continue to have difficulty in properly interpreting some very basic English sentence structures, even those that exhibit seemingly straightforward grammar and that contain common, high-frequency words. The students' overall low performance on two of the sentences that contain the verb ask is quite remarkable. These are sentences in which ask expresses a request for information because it is followed by an infinitive clause that begins with a WH-word.

Tom asked Bill what to buy. (25%)
Larry was asked where to sit. (20%)

The potential misinterpretation of such sentences can have significant consequences for students' comprehension of reading materials used in their courses. Remember that this study assessed the abilities of deaf college students. If deaf college students can misinterpret such fundamental English structures, we might anticipate that the average performance of younger deaf students could be considerably lower.

Unlike problems of written production, it is important to emphasize that problems with the comprehension of the kinds of sentences studied in Berent (1983) can go totally unnoticed by educators. As with all potential problems of reading (or any receptive) comprehension, we never know to what extent low academic performance is a consequence of poor English comprehension or a result of some other academic variable. Teachers of deaf students must be knowledgeable of these kinds of "invisible" English problems and attempt to determine both the nature of their students' English skills and the difficulty levels of the reading material used in their courses.

As noted, sentences containing infinitive clauses are common English sentence structures, and the grammatical formations involved are quite straightforward. Therefore, it should be easy for teachers of deaf students to demonstrate and model the kinds of sentences discussed in this module within the context of their course content. By focusing on infinitive clauses that follow high-frequency English verbs such as ask, tell, explain, etc., teachers of deaf students can use the vocabulary and content of their own courses to illustrate, explain, and reinforce some of the grammatical principles involved in interpreting infinitive clauses. This effort can be extremely valuable to the effort to support deaf students' continuing English acquisition both in the English classroom and in the content classroom.

1. Learn how to identify infinitives and to distinguish between finite verb forms and infinitives. Learn how to identify structures containing passive verbs followed by infinitive clauses. For details on passive, see the SEA Site module on Passive Voice.

2. Review your course readings and other materials to determine the extent to which these materials contain infinitive structures. When you encounter an infinitive, note what the logical subject of the infinitive is. If the logical subject is frequently not a noun phrase that immediately precedes the infinitive or if the logical subject is not contained in the sentence, you should assume that the readings may be misinterpreted by students. In class, discuss readings that contain a lot of infinitive clauses and point out the logical subjects of the infinitives. To the extent that you are comfortable, explain some of the general principles regarding the interpretation of logical subjects that have been discussed in this module. Do not use grammatical terminology; just talk about who will presumably do the action expressed by the infinitive. Demonstrate to students how the logical subject will change when a sentence is changed from active to passive.

3. In written assignments and on quizzes, avoid the more problematic sentence structures containing infinitives where possible.

4. Do your own assessment of your students' abilities to correctly interpret the logical subjects of infinitives by developing a short test based on the readings and other materials used in your courses. Doing this within the context of your course content has several advantages:

a. It will allow you to consciously identify structures containing infinitive clauses that commonly occur in the readings associated with your courses.

b. It will strengthen your own knowledge and awareness of the nature of English structures that contain infinitives.

c. It will allow you to anticipate which structures from your readings students may be inclined to misinterpret.

d. It will allow you to observe firsthand how well your particular students are at interpreting the logical subjects of infinitives.

e. It will demonstrate how much variation there is in your classes in your students' abilities to interpret structures containing infinitives.

f. It will demonstrate the extent to which passive sentences pose a problem for your students in interpreting logical subjects.

g. It will indicate which kinds of structures you should avoid on quizzes or other assignments when you want to be certain that you are assessing content knowledge rather than English knowledge.

h. It will provide you with a set of sentence structures with which you can help to reinforce students' knowledge of English infinitive structures at the same time that you are discussing facts associated with the course content.

Assessing your students' abilities to interpret infinitive structures will also provide you with valuable information about their overall English language abilities. The reason for this is that success at interpreting the logical subjects of infinitives (especially in passive structures) generally correlates with overall success in English.

Following is a sample test that uses some vocabulary associated with computer science. This sample test will give you an idea of the kinds of simple sentences you could use that could be adapted to your own course content. For illustration, the correct answers are highlighted.

Test

Read a sentence. Then read the question about the sentence. Answer the question by circling your choice. "Another person" means someone that is NOT in the sentence.

A. The hardware engineer asked the equipment engineer to assist the team.
Who will assist the team?

the hardware engineer     the equipment engineer

B. The manufacturing manager chose to delay production of the computers.
Who will delay production of the computers?

the manufacturing manager     another person

C. The circuit designer told the technician to replace the circuit.
Who will replace the circuit?

the circuit designer     the technician

D. The logic designer promised the technical writer to make an outline.
Who will make an outline?

the logic designer     the technical writer

E. The contract programmer said to wait in the conference room.
Who will wait in the conference room?

the contract programmer     another person

F. The applications programmer showed the software engineer where to find the answer.
Who will find the answer?

the applications programmer     the software engineer

G. The database expert asked to see the information systems manager.
Who will see the information systems manager?

the database expert     another person

H. The engineer told the inspector what to look for.
Who will look for something?

the engineer     the inspector

I. The tester reminded the systems analyst to review the specifications.
Who will review the specifications?

the tester      the systems analyst

J. The applications analyst was asked where to submit the report.
Who will submit the report?

the applications analyst      another person

K. The product manager explained what to do with the manuals.
Who will do something with the manuals?

the product manager     another person

L. The designer chose the researcher to assist with the proposal.
Who will assist with the proposal?

the designer     the researcher

M. The maintenance staff was reminded by the assembler to discard the broken parts.
Who will discard the broken parts?

the maintenance staff     the assembler

N. The computer systems auditor was told whom to contact.
Who will contact someone?

the computer systems auditor      another person

O. The hardware technician asked the service representative what to purchase.
Who will purchase something?

the hardware technician     the service representative

If you prefer to assess students' knowledge of the logical subjects of infinitives without using the vocabulary of a specific content area, you can use or adapt the following simple test, which was used in the research study by Berent (1983). Correct answers are highlighted.

Test

Read a sentence. Then read the question about the sentence. Answer the question by circling your choice. "Another person" means someone that is not in the sentence.

A. George asked Tom to buy a newspaper.
Who will buy a newspaper?

George     Tom

B. Bill chose to stay at home.
Who stayed at home?

Bill      another person

C. John told Mary to close the door.
Who will close the door?

John     Mary

D. Bill promised George to wash the dishes.
Who will wash the dishes?

Bill     George

E. John said to come at 7:30.
Who will come at 7:30?

John     another person

F. Jim showed Larry where to go.
Who will go somewhere?

Jim      Larry

G. Mary asked to see the teacher.
Who will see the teacher?

Mary      another person

H. Larry told John what to do.
Who will do something?

Larry     John

I. Tom reminded George to do the homework.
Who did the homework?

Tom     George

J. Larry was asked where to sit.
Who will sit somewhere?

Larry     another person

K. Alice explained what to do.
Who will do something?

Alice     another person

L. Linda chose Mary to answer the question.
Who answered the question?

Linda      Mary

M. Mike was reminded by George to study the lesson.
Who will study the lesson?

Mike     George

N. Jim was told whom to visit.
Who will visit someone?

Jim      another person

O. Tom asked Bill what to buy.
Who will buy something?

Tom     Bill