`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/ [log in to unmask] ----- 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