[Apologies in advance if this has
already been discussed on ATEG; I’ve been on the list long enough that I’m
losing track of what we’ve talked about before!]
Dear All:
I ask students in my grammar class to analyze paragraphs
from written texts, and (as you might expect) the inclusion of
not-made-for-textbooks language routinely brings up constructions for
discussion that don’t exactly fit standard patterns. I’ve already
told my (college) class that the traditional responses to such cases are (1) to give them their own name, or (2) to shoehorn them into an
existing category.
Yesterday, it was the use of an infinitive to express
obligation or function:
A. The
work is to be done by Friday.
That
folder is to be filed.
?
The work is to do by Friday
B. There
is more work to be done /to do.
I’m trying to get an idea of what kinds of analyses
exist for this type of thing. Two occurred to me:
(1)
The infinitive is acting as a kind
of subject complement, roughly equivalent to a predicate adjective.
(2)
“BE to be” is a
quasi-modal, like “going to.”
The analysis of B is going to depend on how one deals with
existential constructions in general – whether its [ [there]
[is] [work [to be done]] ] or
[ [there] [is]
[work] [to be done] ]. I’m not sure what to do with “to do”
working better in B than in A – it doesn’t sound right to me in A,
but I’m not sure my reaction is generalizable.
Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated!
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English