Review: Infinitival
Constructions
The terms “infinitive / infinitival clause, construction, group” are used interchangeably here. Auf deutsch: Infinitivsatz, Infinitivkonstruktion, Infinitivgruppe.
The basics
Sometimes the meaning of the main verb in a sentence is completed by another verb in the infinitive. When this happens in English, the infinitive is always preceded by to. I want to help. I tried to help. I came to help. In German, if the main verb is a modal verb, the infinitive is not preceded by zu. With nearly all other verbs (don’t worry about the exceptions for now), the infinitive is preceded by zu. These constructions with zu+infinitive are called infinitival constructions (and the other terms mentioned above are used interchangeably).
An infinitival construction is a type of subordinate clause; therefore, it has verb last word order.
The verb in an infinitival construction is an infinitive, and is always preceded by zu.
When a separable prefix verb is used in an infinitive construction, the zu comes between the prefix and the verb stem, as in aufzumachen, wegzugehen.
The verb may have a direct object or other complements, such as prepositional objects.
The basic functions
The most common function of an infinitive construction is to serve as the direct object of the whole sentence.
Ich habe versucht, dir
zu helfen. “Dir zu helfen” is the direct object of “versucht.”
Was hast du versucht?
Ich habe versucht, dir zu helfen.
Somewhat less commonly, an infinitive construction can serve
as the subject of a sentence.
Einen interessanten Film zu sehen gefällt mir.
An infinitive construction can also serve as something like a predicate nominative:
Das ist schwer
zu sagen.
Das ist kaum
zu glauben.
Dieses Buch ist
schwer zu verstehen.
Where to put the infinitive construction
Generally speaking, the infinitive construction comes at the very end of the whole sentence (unless it is functioning as the subject). Ich habe Lust, den neuen Film zu sehen. However, an infinitive construction that consists only of the infinitive and zu may optionally be included in the main part of the sentence before the second part of the main verb. For example, Es fing an zu regnen and Es fing zu regnen an are both correct.
Punctuation
According to the latest rules, it is correct to use a comma before an infinitive construction, and equally correct not to use a comma. Older rules required a comma if the infinitive construction consisted of anything more than just zu and the infinitive, and the majority of German writers probably continue to prefer this.
Exercise: the basics
Make sentences from the elements given. You may have to conjugate verbs, add “zu”, or change word order.
1. es / wäre / schön // dich / wiedersehen
2. es / hörte / auf // schneien
3. es ist zu spät // heute Abend / gehen / ins Kino
4. Thomas Manns Werke / sind / schwer / verstehen
5. darf ich Sie bitten // nehmen / Platz
6. das / ist / glauben / schwer
Express in German.
7. It is time to go home.
8. He asked me to take him home.
9. Fassbinder’s films are hard to understand.
10. It is almost impossible to get a ticket now.
11. That can’t be done.
12. It’s easy to talk to him.
Infinitive constructions with um, ohne, (an)statt
Infinitive constructions introduced by um, ohne, or (an)statt generally function as adverbs in the larger sentence.
Ich habe mein Geld gespart, um ein neues Auto zu kaufen. (Explains why one saved money.)
Ich habe die Frage geantwortet, ohne darüber nachzudenken. (Explains how one answered the question.)
Ich bin zu Hause geblieben, statt zur Arbeit zu gehen. (Modifies or expands the concept of staying at home.)
Another way to understand um . . . zu is to think of it as meaning “in order to.” Consider Ich habe versucht zu schlafen. It would not make sense to translate this as “I attempted, in order to sleep.” But Ich habe mein Geld gespart, um ein neues Auto zu kaufen certainly could be translated as “I saved my money, in order to buy a new car.”
ohne . . . zu means “without …-ing.”
(an)statt . . . zu means “instead of ….-ing.”
A note on word order
Infinitive constructions introduced by um, ohne, and (an)statt usually come at the end of the sentence, but they may also appear at the beginning of the sentence. When this happens, of course, the next sentence element after the infinitival construction is the conjugated verb of the main sentence. Statt im Restaurant zu essen, haben wir im Park ein Picknick gemacht.
Punctuation
Infinitive constructions with um, ohne, and (an)statt must be set off by a comma.
Exercise: um, ohne, statt.
Make sentences from the elements given. The introductory elements “um, ohne, statt” are cued in English. You may have to conjugate verbs, add “zu”, or change word order.
1. (instead of) / nach Köln / fahren // wir / haben / übernachtet / in Bochum
2. er / ging / weg // (without) / auf Wiedersehen / sagen
3. Gregor / arbeitet / sehr schwer // (in order to) / Geld / für seine Familie / verdienen
4. (instead of) / fernsehen // wir / haben/ zugehört / Musik
5. (in order to) / bekommen / eine gute Note // man / muss / fleißig / lernen
6. er / hat / getan / es // (without) / fragen / mich
7. ich / bin / gefahren / zum Flughafen // (in order to) / meine Frau / abholen
8. sie / ist / gegangen / zum Supermarkt // (in order to) / kaufen / Schnitzel
Situations in which
English uses an infinitival construction and German can not.
In the following situations, English uses an infinitival construction and German can not do so, but must use a full subordinate clause.
· When the construction is introduced by a question word. In English, we can say things like I don’t know what to do or I don’t know whom to ask, or we can say I don’t know what I should do or I don’t know whom I should ask. In German, only the full subordinate clause is possible. The only possibilities are Ich weiß nicht, was ich tun soll; Ich weiß nicht, wen ich fragen soll.
·
When sagen is used in the introductory clause. In English we can
say things like He told me to do it;
in German, such sentences are impossible. You must say Er sagte mir, dass ich es
tun sollte.
Note that other verbs meaning roughly the same thing as sagen do not have this restriction: you may use an infinitival construction with befehlen (to order or command), for example: Er befahl mir das zu tun.
· When the construction is introduced by wollen or möchten. Here again, English can (and usually does) use an infinitival construction such as He wants me to do that, and German cannot, but must use a full subordinate clause: Er will, dass ich das mache.
Exercises: Situations in which English uses an infinitival construction and German can not.
Express in German.
1. I don’t know what to do.
2. The teacher told us to study the subjunctive.
3. Our teacher wants us to get good grades.
4. I don’t know how to cook schnitzel.
5. I don’t want to eat schnitzel tonight.
6. Do you know what to see in Berlin?
7. Someone told me to see the Altes Museum.
8. My mother wants me to do the laundry (=die Wäsche waschen).
Mixed exercises
Express in German.
1. It stopped raining.
2. We went to the market to buy fresh vegetables.
3. It would be nice to see you again.
4. She left without saying goodbye.
5. I am not sure who to vote for.
6. I would like you to come along.
7. May I ask you to take your seats?
8. We stayed at home instead of going to a movie.
9. These sentences are hard to understand.
10. His mother wants him to study law (=Jura).
11. I don’t know which wine to drink with my schnitzel.
12. My father told me to come home early.
Acknowledgement: Some of this discussion is influenced by and some examples are taken from Frank Donahue, Deutsche Wiederholungsgrammatik: A Morpho-Syntactic Review of German.