 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
285
The car was heard to turn round the corner. ——> They heard (somebody heard) that the car turned round
the comer.
The subjective infinitive construction is used with a limited number of finite verbs either in the passive or in
the active voice:
I. Verbs used in the passive voice fall into four groups:
1) verbs of sense perception (hear, see, observe, watch, etc.). When used in the passive voice they are
followed by a to-infinitive. They express the idea of evidence. The same idea is also rendered by some other
verbs in the passive voice (such as find, discover).
He was seen to enter the building. (Somebody was a witness of this fact)
They were heard to quarrel. (Somebody heard them and therefore was a witness of their quarrel)
The boy was found to be sleeping at home. (Somebody found the boy and he was sleeping)
2) verbs of mental perception (think, know, mean, believe, expect, consider, assume, presume, suppose)
With this construction these verbs denote different shades of expectation, opinion, judgement:
Pat was supposed to come with me tonight.
The Paliament is expected to introduce some changes into the laws.
Programmed instruction is considered to have many advantages.
3) verbs of saying and reporting
(say, report, declare, predict, etc). These verbs also express some
judgement or opinion:
Blackberries are said to have a lot of vitamins.
A new star was reported to have appeared in the East.
4)
Causative verbs
(cause, make, order, allow, etc.) The verb to make when used in the passive voice is
followed by a to-infinitive.
Jule was made to repeat her words.
The doctor was ordered to change his shift.
No dam was allowed to be built in this part of the country.
II. The following verbs ace used in the active voice:
1. Verbs expressing subjective or personal attitude to facts and their evaluation (to seem, to appear, to
happen, to chance, to turn out, etc.).
The structure seemed to have been properly designed.
Your friend turned out to be stronger than we expected.
Everybody appeared to be enjoying themselves.
He chanced to be in the park when I was there.
I was to tell you the news if I happened to run into you.
2. Modal phrases expressing different shades of probability or certainty (to be (un)likely, to be sure, to
be certain, to be bound); also adjectives or nouns with the link-verb to be expressing estimate of different
kind
(pleasant, hard, easy, difficult, terrible, apt, etc.). As probability mostly implies a future action the non-
perfect infinitive is generally used after to be likely. With modal phrases expressing certainty both non-perfect
and perfect infinitives are possible. The modal phrases to be apt, to be bound generally refer to habitual actions
or states and are accordingly followed by the non-perfect infinitive: