Kent:

I suppose the infinitive marker "to" could be called a "preposition" in
the sense that it is in a "pre-position" in relation to a verb, but it
is otherwise quite different from the class of prepositions that precede
noun phrases.

For one thing, the preposition "to" can be defined in terms of meaning:
"in the direction toward; reaching as far as, etc." whereas the
infinitive marker "to" is contentless, unparaphrasable, and definable
only in terms of function (a marker that precedes an infinitive). I'd
call the latter "to" its own part of speech, namely an infinitive
marker.

As for elided infinitives, do you mean things like "Mary was elected
treasurer," which could be said to be reduced from "Mary was elected to
be treasurer"? 

Dick Veit

________________________
 
Richard Veit
Department of English, UNCW
Wilmington, NC 28403-5947
910-962-3324
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kent Johnson
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 10:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: elided infinitives (trying again)

Forget about the Spanish, which cluttered up the question in my last.

What is the difference between the "to" in the sentence *I am going to
the store,* and the "to" in the sentence *I am going to run.*

Is the "to" in the second sentence a preposition, or part of the
infinitive? If a "separate" preposition, does that mean that the "run"
has a "hidden" "to"?

Is there such a thing as an elided infinitive?

Kent

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