In this sentence: "He tried to right the overturned canoe."
I am trying to identify what function the word "to" has.
What I know: He-pronoun(subject?),
tried-verb, right-adverb(modifing tried?), the-demonstrative adjective(aka-definite article), overturned-adjective modifing canoe, canoe-noun(object of sentence?)
Would the word "to" be part of the verb as in "to try?" If so, what is that called?
Just trying to understand it all, thanks.
Pegg
Yes, "to" is the word which makes a verb an infinitive:
to right
to walk
to swim
to try
It's not a preposition or an adverb. It's simply part of the infinitive. So list "to right" as the infinitive which is completing the idea of the main verb, "tried."
=)
"to right the overturned canoe" is the infinitive phrase acting like the direct object of the verb "tried.
It answers the question WHAT he tried. Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.... They are one of those handy-dandy all purpose parts of English.
And by the way, overturned is an adjective, but that is a particular adjective , a participle ( a verb acting like an adjective.)
thank you for helping me understand "to"
now with the word "overturned" do I call that a participal or participal adjective? thanks again, Pegg
You can call it either. It is specifically a participle (a verb acting like an adjective.)
To identify the function of the word "to" in the sentence, "He tried to right the overturned canoe," you correctly observed that it is part of the verb phrase "to right." In this case, "to" is not a preposition or an adverb, but rather it is a marker that transforms the verb "right" into an infinitive form. This is known as the infinitive marker.
Infinitives are versatile and can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. In this sentence, the infinitive phrase "to right the overturned canoe" acts as the direct object of the verb "tried." It answers the question of what he tried to do.
As for the word "overturned," it is indeed an adjective in this context. More specifically, it is a participle, which is a verb form that functions as an adjective. In this case, "overturned" describes the state or condition of the noun "canoe."
I hope this clears up any confusion. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.