10.6 Infinitive clauses

In a few contexts, was is used as a relative pronoun rather than der:

after the demonstrative das Ich hörte nichts von dem, was er sagte. I heard nothing of what he said. after alles, etwas, nichts, viel(es) Das ist alles, was ich sagen will. That’s all that I want to say. after a neuter adjectiveused as a noun Das war dasErste, was sie sagte. That was the first thing that she said. to refer back to a whole clause Es ist ihm gelungen, was mich sehr erstaunt. He succeeded, which amazed me.

was is not normally used in combination with prepositions. Instead, the compound form wo(r) PREPOSITION is used, e.g. wovon, womit, worüber (see 5.5):

Genau das ist es, wofür ich mich interessiere. That’s precisely what interests me. Das ist alles, woran ich mich erinnere. That’s all I can remember. Sie liebt ihn, worüber Emil sich gar nicht freut. She loves him, which Emil is not pleased about.

Infinitive clauses are a type of subordinate clause that is constructed with the verb in the INFINITIVE form rather than with a FINITEVERB.

In such constructions the infinitive is preceded by zu, similar to English ‘to’ with an infinitive, and placed at the end of the clause:

Ich habe ihr geraten zum Arzt zu gehen. I advised her to go to the doctor. Es wird nicht leicht sein ihn davon zu überzeugen. It won’t be easy to convince him of it.

With SEPARABLEVERBS, the zu is placed between the prefix and the verb, with the whole written as a single word:

Sie hatte vor ihren Freund anzurufen. She intended to phone her friend. Ich würde es vorziehen sofort wegzugehen. I would prefer to leave straight away.

If the infinitive is being used with an AUXILIARYVERB or a MODALAUXILIARYVERB, the zu is placed after the main verb and before the auxiliary verb:

Er behauptet die Wahrheit gesagt zu haben. He claims to have told the truth. Ihr gefällt es nicht betrogen zu werden. She doesn’t like being deceived. Es freut mich Sie hier begrüßen zu dürfen. It is a pleasure to be able to welcome you here.

Infinitive clauses most often substitute for a NOUN or NOUNPHRASE and can be used in the same way as clauses with dass:

verb Ihn zu überzeugen war völlig unmöglich. It was impossible to convince him. subject Eine Sprache zu erlernen ist nicht schwer. It isn’t difficult to learn a language. accusative Ich riet ihr nach Hause zu gehen. I suggested she should go home. object Tom versprach ihr sie mitzunehmen. Tom promised to take her along. prepositional Er träumte davon zum Mond zu fliegen. He dreamed of going to the moon. object Sie bestanden darauf ihn zu interviewen. They insisted on interviewing him. dependent on Er gab mir die Erlaubnis hierzubleiben. He gave me permission to stay here. noun or adj. Ellen war bereit ihn nach Hause zu fahren. Ellen was willing to drive him home.

Infinitive clauses are usually quite separate from the clause they depend on. They normally follow all parts of the verb in the clause they depend on and are not enclosed inside it:

Sie hatte beschlossen vor dem Rathaus zu warten. She had decided to wait in front of NOT:*Sie hatten vor dem Rathaus zu warten beschlossen. the town hall. Es fing um fünf Uhr früh an stark zu regnen. It began to rain hard at five o’clock in NOT:*Es fing um fünf Uhr früh stark zu regnen an. the morning. Ich weiß,dass sie versprochen hat ihm zu helfen. I know that she promised to help him. NOT:*Ich weiß,dass sie ihm zu helfen versprochen hat.

However, separable prefixes can follow the infinitive clause if this only consists of zu plus the infinitive:

Es fing an zu regnen. OR Es fing zu regnen an.

Anticipatory es

An infinitive clause which is being used as the subject or object of a verb is often anticipated by es in the preceding clause:

Es fällt ihm nicht ein sich zu entschuldigen. It doesn’t occur to him to apologize. Ihm fällt (es) nicht ein sich zu entschuldigen. It doesn’t occur to him to apologize. Wichtig ist (es) den Begriff richtig zu verstehen. It’s important to understand the term correctly.

This ‘anticipatory’ es is common with a number of verbs, but it is only essential as a subject in initial position before the main verb, as in the first example above.