How is the infinitive functioning in this sentence?

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donnach

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Insights into the brains of paralyzed patients are helping to drive the technology as well as leading to new discoveries.

I think
"to drive the technology" is an infinitive + object functioning as an adverb.

I think this is so because the infinitive phrase answers the question, "In what way are insights helping?"

OR

Is
"to drive the technology" functioning as an object?



Am I wrong? Am I right?

Let me know.

Thanks!

P.S. I have no idea why the formatting is so wacky. Sorry for the minuscule print!

 
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probus

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I think that "to drive the technology" is a noun phrase. Ditto for "leading to new discoveries." I don't know enough about modern Universal Grammar to specify the function of the infinitives.

BTW for me your type is huge rather than miniscule.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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I don't see how "the technology" can be an adverb. An adverb doesn't answer the question Drive what? An adverb would describe how the technology is driven: slowly, dependably, erratically, fast, whatever. There is no adverb in that phrase.

So Probus's suggestion that there are two noun phrases makes more sense to me.
 

ronao

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-I'm not a teacher-

I think to drive the technology is an infinitive phrase/adverbial adjunct of purpose, being the technology the direct object of 'drive' and a noun phrase.
May this be correct?
 
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TheParser

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My teachers told me to simplify a sentence in order to analyze it (that is, delete all unnecessary words).

Let's work on "Insights are helping to drive the technology."

It seems to me:

Insights = subject.
are helping = verbal phrase.
to drive the technology = infinitive phrase that is the direct object.


Question: What are insights helping to do?

Answer: To drive the technology.

*****

Here is a sentence from one of my favorite books: "He helped (to) pay my expenses." [After "help," the "to" is optional.]

The book says that "(to) pay my expenses" is the direct object of the verb "helped."

Source: House and Harman, Descriptive English Grammar (copyright 1931 and 1950).
 

tkacka15

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I've found an alternative analysis of catenative constructions such as "helping to drive".

In "English Grammar for Today - A New Introduction" by Geoffrey Leech, Margaret Deuchar and Robert Hoogenraad the authors suggest relaxing "the 'one-clause-one predicator rule', and to allow a single clause to contain more than one predicator, of which only the first can be finite" (p.124). Further, they give examples of that analysis with such sentences:

"Mary wants to go" [S, P, Pi]

"Mary wants me to go" [S, P, O, Pi]" where S stand for subject, P for a finite predicator, O for an object and Pi for the infinitive predicator.
 

MikeNewYork

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I prefer the traditional view.

Mary wants to go. [subject, verb, (infinitive) direct object.
Mary wants me to go. [subject, verb, indirect object, (infinitive) direct object.
 

ronao

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My teachers told me to simplify a sentence in order to analyze it (that is, delete all unnecessary words).

Let's work on "Insights are helping to drive the technology."

It seems to me:

Insights = subject.
are helping = verbal phrase.
to drive the technology = infinitive phrase that is the direct object.


Question: What are insights helping to do?

Answer: To drive the technology.

*****

Here is a sentence from one of my favorite books: "He helped (to) pay my expenses." [After "help," the "to" is optional.]

The book says that "(to) pay my expenses" is the direct object of the verb "helped."

Source: House and Harman, Descriptive English Grammar (copyright 1931 and 1950).

****** NOT A TEACHER *******

I agree with you, TheParser. 'To drive the technology is de direct object of helping and within 'to drive the technology' 'the technology' is the direct object of 'drive'.
 
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