----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 7:55
AM
Subject: Re: <no subject>
`Mary is trying to improve the condition of her
house':
There is no question in the above sentence of the
verb's being anything more or less than `is trying to improve', nor of its
object's being anything other than `the condition of the house'. `Mary',
the subject of this active-voice verb, is not acting upon `to improve the
condition of her house'; she is acting upon `the condition of her
house'.
Analysis of this sentence must note that it
contains an active-voice verb, and that the characteristic of an active-voice
verb is that its subject acts upon its object: Its subject names its actor,
and its object the acted-upon. `To improve the condition of her house' does
not name the acted-upon. This sequence cannot, therefore, be the object
of this sentence, direct or indirect.
This really is a very basic exercise in
part-of-speech recognition.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 12:18
PM
Subject: Re: <no subject>
to improve the condition of her house is an infinitive phrase
that functions
as the direct object.
Mary is trying what? to improve
the condition of her house