Identifying Infinitive Phrases Exercises and Practice

Identifying Infinitive Phrases Exercises and Practice An infinitive is a verbalusually preceded by the particle tothat can function in a sentence as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. This exercise will test your ability to recognize infinitive phrases and distinguish them from prepositional phrases. Instructions Each sentence below contains at least one infinitive phrase. Some (but not all) of the sentences also include prepositional phrases beginning with to. Identify only the infinitive phrase(s) in each sentence, and then compare your responses with the answers below. More than anything else, I wanted some time alone to read.My grandmother told me that we have been put on earth to share, to care, to give, and to receive.While the train was stopped at the station, Bugsy attempted to climb to the top of one of the freight cars.Mama Day tells the citizens of the island to listen to the crows instead of the news bulletins. (Gloria Naylor, Mama Day)During the Great Depression, audiences wanted to laugh when they went to the movies.Every Wednesday, six women from Wisbech came to the castle to do the weekly wash.On the last night of the retreat, we wanted to sing a song to end an evening that had been particularly touching to us all.The duke left the duchess at a Red Roof Inn and proceeded to drive to the country to see his mother.At the end of their long adventure, Lucy and Edmund are told that they are too old to return to Narnia again.Within each Ring of Plague Sabine had organized, there was a complete assortment of powers: one to fight with ice, one to see through soil, one to throw lightning, one to fly, one to fade, one to shrink, one to breathe fire, one to run like the wind, one to burrow, one to see through rock, one to levitate objects, and one to push and bind dreams. (Obert Skye, Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret) Here (in bold print) are the answers. More than anything else, I wanted some time alone  to read.My grandmother told me that we have been put on earth  to share, /  to care,  /  to give, and  to receive.While the train was stopped at the station, Bugsy attempted  to climb  to the top of one of the freight cars.Mama Day tells the citizens of the island  to listen  to the crows instead of the news bulletins. (Gloria Naylor,  Mama Day)During the Great Depression, audiences wanted  to laugh  when they went to the movies.Every Wednesday, six women from Wisbech came to the castle  to do the weekly wash.On the last night of the retreat, we wanted  to sing a song  /  to end an evening  that had been particularly touching to us all.The duke left the duchess at a Red Roof Inn and proceeded  to drive  to the country  to see his mother.At the end of their long adventure, Lucy and Edmund are told that they are too old  to return  to Narnia again.Within each Ring of Plague Sabine had organ ized, there was a complete assortment of powers: one  to fight with ice, one  to see through soil, one  to throw lightning, one  to fly, one  to fade, one  to shrink, one  to breathe fire, one  to run like the wind, one  to burrow, one  to see through rock, one  to levitate objects, and one  to push and bind dreams. (Obert Skye,  Leven  Thumps  and the Whispered Secret)

5 Ways to Make a Sentence More Concise

5 Ways to Make a Sentence More Concise 5 Ways to Make a Sentence More Concise 5 Ways to Make a Sentence More Concise By Mark Nichol Expressing oneself clearly and concisely in speech is a challenge because one has so little time to order one’s thoughts and choose one’s wording carefully, but writing is easily improved with even the briefest review. Always read over what you have written (whether it’s a tweet or a book manuscript) before you distribute or publish it- not only to adhere to the mechanical basics of grammar, syntax, usage, and style but also to check for narrative flow and conciseness. The following sentences, and the discussions and revisions that follow each one, include advice for paring unnecessary words and phrases. 1. As you establish your policies, it is recommended that you develop a comprehensive list of business activities. When offering recommendations, avoid overly polite entreaties, and simply state the advice as an imperative: â€Å"As you establish your policies, develop a comprehensive list of business activities.† (Other words that signal an expendable phrase are advised, suggested, necessary, and imperative.) 2. Nearly all of the processes and steps conducted during this phase were planned in the early stages. In â€Å"all of the† phrases, of is almost always optional, and the can often be safely omitted as well: â€Å"Nearly all processes and steps conducted during this phase were planned in the early stages.† 3. IPO activity has increased over the past few years, and that presents a great advantage for the company. Be alert for opportunities to condense sentences consisting of two independent clauses into a simple statement. Here, what was an introduced observation is recast as an acknowledged phenomenon, changing the subject from â€Å"IPO activity† to â€Å"the increase in IPO activity†: â€Å"The increase in IPO activity over the past few years presents a great advantage for the company.† 4. Organizations can realize tremendous value from risk management in a cost-effective and efficient way. The presence of way (or manner, or basis, or any similar vague noun) at the end of a sentence signals a sentence in need of abbreviation. Simply dismantle the phrase that ends with the noun and convert the adjectives that precede the noun into adverbs: â€Å"Organizations can cost-effectively and efficiently realize tremendous value from risk management.† 5. There are core sets of critical activities and critical communications that must be performed at this stage. When a sentence or clause begins with an expletive (â€Å"There is/are† or â€Å"It is/They are†), consider omitting the phrase and beginning the sentence with the noun or noun phrase that follows (and delete the now-extraneous that that follows the subject): â€Å"Core sets of critical activities and critical communications must be performed at this stage.† Taking Conciseness Too Far Be cautious, however, about overzealous conciseness, as in the case of multiple nouns and noun phrases stacked in a dense swarm of words. Relaxing a sentence can be just as effective as tightening it in improving a sentence: Overly concise: Executive management and board of directors’ expectations about scalability can be unrealistic. Relaxed: The expectations of executive management and the board of directors about scalability can be unrealistic. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should KnowBetween vs. In BetweenCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups