THE INFINITIVE GOVERNED BY PREPOSITIONS. 141 INTRODUCTORY:-All prepositions which admit of a Verb as their Complement, i.e. de, à, pour, après, sans, par, require that Verb in the Infinitive; except en, which is the only Preposition that takes the Participle Perfect. II. The INFINITIVE governed by de is used— (a) as the LOGICAL SUBJECT, with Impersonal Verbs and Phrases, introduced by the Grammatical Subj. il or ce: as, Il est beau de mourir pour la patrie! It is glorious to die for one's country! C'est déraisonner que *de parler It is nonsense to talk thus. ainsi. * When, for the sake of stress, the Complement is placed before the Subject, the latter is generally emphasised by que. See §§ 176-8. (b) as the DIRECT OBJECT of most Transitive Verbs (see § 127), especially those denoting Command, Advice, Entreaty, Cause, Emotion (Joy, Fear, Sorrow, etc.): as, Je vous demande de m'écouter. Je vous promets de suivre vos Il regrette d'avoir négligé ses Je me propose de lui écrire. Pray, listen to me. I promise you to follow your advice. He is sorry he has neglected his duties. I intend writing to him. She will never forgive you for having Observe that the very same Verbs which take their NOUN-OBJECT without Preposition, may require their INFINITIVE-OBJECT with de, and sometimes with à: as, Promettre une visite, but-promettre de visiter. (c) as the ATTRIBUTE of Nouns, or the COMPLEMENT of Verbs and Adjectives, which, according to § 126, require their Noun-Complement preceded by de (On l'accuse de ce crime,' On l'accuse d'avoir commis ce crime): as, = L'art d'écrire. Le plaisir de vous voir. The art of writing. The pleasure of seeing you. 142 Observation.-An historical Infinitive with de frequently stands absolutely instead of a III. The INFINITIVE with à is used (a) as the DIRECT OBJECT after a few Transitive Verbs, especially those of Teaching, Showing, and Learning :—enseigner, instruire, montrer, apprendre, entendre; also— aimer, avoir (il y a), chercher, donner, trouver, essayer, commencer, continuer, préparer, etc. (The same Verb which takes a Noun-Object without Preposition may require the InfinitiveObject with à Il aime le jeu ;' but-'Il aime à jouer'): as, L'habitude apprend à sup- Habit teaches us how to bear fatigue. porter la fatigue. (b) as the ATTRIBUTE of a Noun, or as a COMPLEMENT of Verbs, Adjectives, and Verbal Phrases, which, according to §§ 130-2, require their Noun-Complement preceded by à : (1) after Nouns, to denote their Destination, Fitness, or Characteristic Quality—both with Active and Passive force: as, Du bois à brûler. Une machine à coudre. Une maison à louer ou à vendre. Paris est une ville à voir. Firewood. A sewing-machine. A house to let or sell. Paris is a city worth seeing. He is a man deserving the halter. (2) after Verbs and Adjectives denoting Tendency, Purpose, Aim, Occupation, Consent, Exhortation, and the like, answering the questions-in what? to do what? in or by doing what? as, Cela n'aboutira qu'à le perdre. La chimie a contribué à per fectionner l'agriculture. Vous m'avez autorisé à faire des démarches. Dans les combats de mer, tout con spire à augmenter les périls. Je vous engage à lire cela. Il s'est mis tout de bon à étudier. Il est prompt à servir ses amis. L'homme juste est lent à punir. Nous sommes prêts à vaincre ou à mourir. Il est enclin à médire. Il a été le premier à remarquer ce phénomène. Cela est facile à dire. Il est difficile à contenter. manger. Ce serait trop long à expliquer. That will only end in ruining him. Chemistry has contributed to improve agriculture. You have authorised me to take steps. In naval fights everything combines to increase the perils. I advise you to read that. He set himself in right earnest to study. He is ever ready to serve his friends. The righteous man is slow to punish. We are ready to conquer or to die. He is given (prone) to slander. That is easily said. These shrimps are good to eat. That would be too long to explain. [Comp. Lat.-Puer paratus est ad scribendum. Incredibile dictu.] Observation.-Verbs which take dans, en, sur, if complemented by a Noun, require à if complemented by an Infinitive; compare Il persiste dans sa désobéissance. En quoi faites-vous consister la raison? Il persiste à désobéir. Elle persévère à soutenir ce qu'elle a dit. Il insiste à demander cette place. La libéralité consiste moins à donner beaucoup qu'à donner avec à propos. (3) after Verbal Phrases, in answer to the questions-in or by doing what? as, Prendre plaisir (goût, soin, etc.) à étudier ; Passer son temps (ses loisirs, ses jours, sa vie, etc.) à ne rien faire ; Avoir de la peine (facilité, grâce, etc.) à s'exprimer ; Mettre son honneur (son ambition, etc.) à ne point céder. See also § 143 (b) 2. Observation. Here may be classed the Infinitive used adverbially and answering the questions-how? in what manner or degree? by doing what? as, IV. THE INFINITIVE IS USED EITHER WITH de or à, (a) after the following Verbs, according to their different meaning : Demander de, to ask some one to do a thing. to see after; S'occuper à, to be engaged in. Manquer à, S'occuper de, Venir de, to have just to be long (late) in Je vous demande de m'écouter. Je ne demande qu'à m'amuser. * .; Venir à, to happen to Pray listen to me! All I ask for is to amuse myself. Observation.-Résoudre, décider, déterminer, offrir, refuser, take the Infinitive with de if used Intransitively, with à if used Transitively or Reflectively:— Il refuse de travailler. Il se refuse à travailler. * The arbitrary distinctions in the meaning of commencer, contraindre, forcer, etc., according as they are followed by de or à, to be found in most Grammars, have once for all been disposed of by Littré; cf. his Dictionary under the head of commencer, continuer, etc. 143 144 (b) after Substantives, according as they are used either— (1) with the Definite or Indefinite Article: C'est un plaisir de vous voir si bien portant. It is quite a treat to see you so hale and hearty. Il a pris la peine de venir me voir. (2) with the Partitive Art., without Art., or as a part of a Verbal Phrase:— Cela fait (donne du) plaisir à voir. That is gratifying to see. Je n'ai pas de peine à vous croire. He has taken the trouble to call I have no difficulty in believing you. on me. J'aurai la facilité de vous voir Il a beaucoup de facilité à tous les jours. s'exprimer. himself. Il met son honneur à ne point I shall have the opportunity of He has great fluency in expressing seeing you every day. L'honneur d'achever cette entreprise vous était réservée. The honour of carrying out this undertaking was reserved for you. céder. He makes it a point of honour not to yield. (See also III. b, 3.) (c) after Adjectives, according as they are used (1) with il (impersonal) :— Il est difficile de le faire. Il est impossible de l'entendre. (2) with ce (demonstrative): C'est difficile à faire. That is difficult to do. C'est impossible à croire. V. The INFINITIVE stands after par, pour, sans, après, and after Prepositional Conjunctions:-afin de, avant de, de manière (façon) à, de peur de, à moins de; i.e. (a) With par, generally only after commencer and finir: as, Il commença par me flatter et finit par me dire des injures. He began by flattering me and ended by insulting me. (b) With the following, if the Subject of the Dependent Clause is the same as the Subject of the Principal Sentence |