[Grammar] Nouns & Infinitives

[Anne59]

Hi, can anyone tell me if I have a common noun as the sentence subject, then the noun should be followed by an infinitive. These are the sentences I'm thinking about:-

The last person to leave the room should switch off the light.
The dog to run the course will be the winner.
The shop to open early on Saturday will be busy.
The course to register for will start in March.
The teenager to pass the exam will receive a scholarship.

If I am correct, are there any exceptions to nouns followed by infinitives?

Thank you and I hope this has sense.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi, can anyone tell me if I have a common noun as the sentence subject, then the noun should be followed by an infinitive. These are the sentences I'm thinking about:-

The last person to leave the room should switch off the light.
The dog to run the course will be the winner.
The shop to open early on Saturday will be busy.
The course to register for will start in March.
The teenager to pass the exam will receive a scholarship.

If I am correct, are there any exceptions to nouns followed by infinitives?

Thank you and I hope this has sense.

Only the first one is correct.

 

[Anne59]

Thank you! Then does that mean that I always need to put an adjective before the noun for this to be correct. Do you know some website where I can study this? I can't find anything.

Perhaps I am asking questions that don't have an answer.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

If you use superlatives, ordinal numbers, or adjectives such as next and last before the nouns you will make correct sentences.
e.g. the fastest dog… the first shop… the next teenager…

But it certainly isn't obligatory to use the infinitive. In some cases you could introduce a relative clause with "that" plus the present tense.

e.g. The next teenager that passes the exam will receive a scholarship.
This will work for all of your sentences except the fourth one.

 

[Raymott]

I'd say you've come across a completely invalid rule from somewhere and are trying to pin down the essence of it. I don't think it will happen.

 

[Anne59]

I promise this is the last question. Are these sentences all subjunctive?

 

[Raymott]

I promise this is the last question. Are these sentences all subjunctive?

No. Why would they be?

 

[Anne59]

Good question! Sorry! I think it would need to be hypothetical or imaginary to be subjunctive and these sentences state a fact. I hope I am correct.