But we could also substitute 'it' for the noun phrase, "the condition of her house."
"Mary is trying to improve it."
The analysis seems to work both ways at once!
Paul E. Doniger
----- Original Message -----
From: jacarta
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 8:21 AM
Subject: Re: <no subject>
The infinitive phrase "to improve the condition of her house"
can be substituted by the pronoun "it." Thus, the infinitive
phrase is actually a NOUN PHRASE that functions
as the object of the verb "is trying."
----- Original Message -----
From: Sophie Johnson
To: [log in to unmask]
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.
Sophie Johnson
at ENGLISH GRAMMAR TUTOR
http://www.englishgrammartutor.com/
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----- Original Message -----
From: Marylou Colucci
To: [log in to unmask]
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