Here's my more extended take on the derivation of the two sentences: Sentence (1) below derives from the same deep structure as the nonrestrictive relative clause (2): (1) My decision, to leave my job, was a wise one. (2) My decision, which was to leave my job, was a wise one. Since (1) and (2) are (approximately) equivalent, and since appositives are derived as reduced relative clauses, we can call the infinitive in (1) either a "nonrestrictive appositive infinitive" or a "nonrestrictive relative infinitive." In contrast, sentence (3) derives from a very different deep structure--i.e., the same deep structure from which the nominal complement sentence (4) is derived: (3) My decision to leave my job was a wise one. (4) My decision that I (would) leave my job was a wise one. Sentence (4) is a complement clause, not a relative clause. Since (3) and (4) are (approximately) equivalent, we can call the infinitive in (3) a "complement infinitive." In other words, I disagree with David Sawyer's argument below that (3) is derived from a restrictive relative clause. There are some infinitives that are derived as reduced restrictive relatives, such as (5), which is (approximately) equivalent to the restrictive relative clause (6): (5) The person to take over my job is Quigley. (6) The person who should take over my job is Quigley. Consequently, I would call (5) -- but not (3) -- a "restrictive relative infinitive." The above are just a few of the dozens of different types of infinitives. Dick Veit UNCW At 06:34 PM 6/4/2001, you wrote: >** Reply to note from Assembly for the Teaching of English >Grammar <[log in to unmask]> Mon, 4 Jun 2001 >14:27:23 -0500 > >Here's another take on those pesky infinitives: > >My decision which was for me to leave my job was a wise one. > >My decision, which was for me to leave my job, was a wise one. > >As you can see, I'm understanding these infinites as relative >constructions which can >then be reduced (ellipts again, Michael) by (1) wh/be deletion and the for-to >transformation. We end up with > >my decision, to leave my job, was a wise one. >My decision to leave my job was a wise one. > >I have a bit of trouble considering the comma marked version an appositive >since I >don't feel "To leave my job, my decision," is equivalent to "My decision, >to leave my >job . . ." The first sounds like something a person would say when trying >to make it >clear he or she was not fired. The second does not carry that sense. >__________________________ >David E. Sawyer, PhD >Chair, Department of English >North Hennepin Community College >Treasurer, Assembly For the Teaching of English Grammar >[log in to unmask] To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/