Stephen,
Movement tests are frequently useful, although there's nothing that works every time. In this case, you get some interesting differences between the two sentences (with my * and ? marks here being fully provisional). If you can put the infinitive at the beginning of the sentence without changing the sentence's meaning much, you've got pretty solid evidence it's adverbial; if you can't front it, it may still be adverbial, but the probability is lower.
We were looking for a good reason to sell the house.
*To sell the house, we were looking for a good reason.
Sparrow needed something to distract the guide.
?To distract the guide, Sparrow needed something.
Sparrow needed something to distract the guide with.
*To distract the guide with, Sparrow needed something.
Canonical adverbial infinitive:
I opened the door to get a better view.
To get a better view, I opened the door.
I think "Sparrow needed something to distract the guide" can be read a couple of different ways, and in one of those the infinitive is adverbial -- it's a distinction between "I need something because I want to distract the guide" and "I need something, and that particular something has to have guide-distracting potential." I think the second reading will "win" in most contexts for most readers, but moving the infinitive gives some oomph to the first one and boosts it into plausibility. Adding a "with," on the other hand, locks it onto "something" too strongly for it to work in front.
--- Bill Spruiell
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Stephen King [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 12:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Adjective or adverb?
Thanks. I agree that they're adjectival.
The question arose as I began reading diagramming texts that state that the way to distinguish between adjectival and adverbial phrases was to determine whether the phrases answered adjectival or adverbial questions, the former being what kind, how much/many, whose or which ones, the latter when, where, why and how. Standard bits of advice, of course. Yet it seems to me that some phrases can be construed as to answer both adjectival and adverbial questions. So, I'm looking for a solid test to help students (and myself) make the distinction.
I plan on introducing diagramming to community college students this summer and am in preparation.
Thanks again for your reply.
Steve
On May 30, 2011, at 8:52 AM, T. J. Ray wrote:
Stephen,
I don't see them as possible adverbials. A reading of both sentences sans
the infinitive phrases almost makes them incomplete sentences, at least in
terms of full meaning.
I am also puzzled by responses that refer to them as clauses. Infinitive
phrases have functioned in this manner since A-S days. What is the
purpose of trying to stretch them into clauses?
tj
On Friday 05/27/2011 at 8:01 pm, Stephen King wrote:
An embarrassing question: Are the infinitive phrases in the following sentences adjectival or
adverbial?
A. We were looking for a good reason to sell the house.
B. Sparrow needed something to distract the guards.
In A, the inf. phrase answers the question "why?", which would seem to make it adverbial. However, it
also answers the question "What kind of reason?", which would seem to make it adjectival. I find B
similar.
Gentle enlightenment is requested.
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