Infinitive clauses: who is involved?

An infinitive clause normally has no expressed subject. Find its reference from the governing verb and context: promising to act and asking someone to act assign different roles.

In Lea verspricht Tom, die Daten zu prüfen, Lea undertakes the review. With Lea bittet Tom, die Daten zu prüfen, Tom is the person asked to review. The nearest noun alone does not decide the reference; the meaning and construction of the governing verb matter.

In an ordinary purpose sentence such as Lea liest beide Berichte, um die Ergebnisse zu vergleichen, Lea reads and compares. If another person is to compare, make that subject explicit with damit: Lea öffnet die Dateien, damit Tom sie vergleichen kann. Do not teach subject identity as a rule for every infinitive construction: object reference and contextual interpretation also exist.

Check whether the intended referent can perform or undergo the infinitive action. Um die Daten zu prüfen, liegt der Bericht auf dem Tisch unintentionally assigns the review to a report. Naming the analyst who opens or lays out the report makes the intended action clear in this ordinary, non-personifying context.

A passive infinitive changes the role, not necessarily the reference: Sie hofft, eingeladen zu werden refers to her, but she receives the invitation. Ohne zuzustimmen reports absence of agreement during the stated action; it does not by itself rule out all later agreement. Statt … zu presents one action as an alternative to another.

Use commas to separate the um-, ohne- and statt-infinitive groups shown here. With other infinitive patterns, construction and punctuation rules need separate attention; this topic does not claim that every zu group follows one identical rule. For ambiguous references, a finite clause with an explicit subject is often clearer.

Examples