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I saw in a book a sentence as:

To move such a large mass requires a large amount of force. The intersect between the two displacements makes an angle of ninety degrees.

What is acting as a subject in the first sentence?
Also, I believe intersection should be placed there instead of intersect in the second sentence.

P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
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Anubhav
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  • Do you mean "intersect"? – Peter Jun 20 '17 at 04:33
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    Just as in the first sentence, of course an infinitive can act as a subject in English! "To err is human." ... "To be or not to be, that is the question." Do those quotations ring a bell? Before posing the question, did you do any research on your own? Also, please tell us what English dictionaries you consulted to learn about the English noun intersect. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 20 '17 at 04:49
  • Yes, of course. In your example the infinitival clause To move such a large mass is subject. Here are two more: To turn back now would be a mistake; For you to accept responsibility would be the fairest thing to do. – BillJ Jun 20 '17 at 06:07

1 Answers1

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Infinitives (to+V) and gerunds (V-ing) can act as nouns and therefore can be used as subjects or objects in sentences.

Both can be used as subjects. Using the gerund is more usual. To use the infinitive is very formal and is more often found in formal writing than in spoken everyday language.

Both can be used as objects but the choice in that case does not depend on register but on what verb they depend on. Dictionaries and/or grammar books usually tell what to use with what verbs. For example:

  • I enjoy swimming.
  • I want to swim across the river.
  • I like running.
  • I like to run.

Here is an extensive lesson on how to use infinitives and gerunds as subjects and objects.

None
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    What justifies the downvote? – None Jun 20 '17 at 07:35
  • +1 But I think extraposed infinitive is even more common. "It requires a large amount of force to move such a large mass." – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini Jun 20 '17 at 08:31
  • Laure, there's an upvoted comment here that says that to infinitive can never be a noun. However, here it says that Both gerunds and infinitives can be nouns. So, I personally don't know whom to believe. – Lucian Sava Jun 20 '17 at 09:22
  • @LucianSava I think what BillJ meant to say was that the -ing form can used as a noun and it's technically referred to as a gerundial noun. This gerundial noun functions fully as a noun; that is, it takes a determiner and can be infected for plural(-s) form. But infinitives are always verbs, even though they can be used to realize a subject position. – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini Jun 20 '17 at 09:28
  • Yeah, it might be so. – Lucian Sava Jun 20 '17 at 09:37
  • @LucianSava I wrote infinitives can act as nouns, which is different from be which is the word you use in your sentence. Be refers to the nature of the word, act refers to the function, the role, of the word, it means they can be used as nouns. I gave an outside reference in my answer, but lots more can be found. Here, and here. And here – None Jun 20 '17 at 09:51
  • Yeah, my comment says function, whereas the website that I linked says be. BTW, not the downvoter. – Lucian Sava Jun 20 '17 at 10:34