ACCUSATIVE WITH INFINITIVE

 is a contracted construction that corresponds to the Romanian structure

VERB1 + “CA” + NOUN/PRONOUN + VERB2 (IN THE ROMANIAN “CONJUNCTIV”) +
OBJECT OR ADVERBIAL MODIFIER

e.g. Vreau ca tata / el să vină la Piatra Neamţ.

Toţi ai casei aşteaptă ca tu să înveţi mai multe cuvinte englezeşti.
N.B. – It is compulsory that the subject of verb1 should be distinct from the subject of verb2.

In extenso, a sentence like

“I want that father should come to Piatra Neamţ”
because ‘that’, as a conjunction, is usually omitted (that is, it is not used), it makes that the word
“father” should come close to the verb “want”, that is it (“father”) becomes the object of the verb
“want”, and so it is no longer a nominative but an accusative. In this case, it can no longer be the
subject of the verb “come” and so this verb can no longer get a ‘tense form’, that is this verb must
be in a basic form (in Romanian: ‘formă de bază, neflexionară’). That is why it turns into its infinitive,
that is “should come” becomes “to come”.
This construction is known as ACCUSATIVE WITH INFINITIVE and consists in a direct
object (which is, at the same time, the subject of the infinitive that follows) and the infinitive
together with which they are the Object Complement (in Romanian “nume predicativ obiectiv”) of the
predicate of the sentence. It is usually used after:
1. – verbs expressing wish: to desire, to dislike, to expect, to like, to prefer, to want, to wish;
2. – verbs expressing permission: to allow, to let, to permit;
3. – verbs expressing command: to command, to order, to recommend;
4. – verbs expressing perception: to feel, to hear, to notice, to observe, to perceive, to see, to smell,
to taste, to watch;
5. – verbs expressing mental activity; to assume, to believe, to consider, to declare, to find, to
expect, to guess, to imagine, to intend, to judge, to know, to mean, to suppose, to suspect, to
think, to understand;
6. – verbs expressing declaration: to acknowledge, to declare, to deny, to pronounce, to state;
7. – other verbs such as: to bear, to help, to belong to, to care for, to count on, to depend on, , to
help, to look for, to look to (to pay attention to), to make, to prove, to rely on, to report, to send
for, to wait for etc.
Examples:
1. – I didn’t expect her to come so late. He likes me to help him finish his job.
2. – Tom let you read his book when you were on the trip with him, didn’t he?
3. – Bill ordered his son to go and bring the cow.
4. – I heard her play the piano.
5. – I considered him to be a just man, but he proved the opposite.
6. – The lawyer declared Atticus to be not guilty.
7. – a. He made her cry for pain.
b. My brother helped me (to) build a new house.

N. B. – 1. After the notional verbs to let, to make and the verbs of perception the short infinitive is
used (see examples 2, 4, and 7.a). The “to infinitive” is used after these verbs only when they are in the
passive voice.
e.g. You were let to read his book when you were on the trip with him.
She was heard to play the piano.
She was made to cry for pain.
2. After the verb “to help”, either long, or short infinitive can be used (see example 7.b)
 ACCUSATIVE WITH PARTICIPLE

 is very much like ‘accusative with infinitive’ with the difference that it (accusative with
participle) shows the action expressed by the present participle (the – ING form) as being in its
progress, and not that the action is that one expressed by the infinitive and not another one. That is

ACCUSATIVE WITH INFINITIVE ACCUSATIVE WITH PARTICIPLE

ENGLISH ROMANIAN ENGLISH ROMANIAN
I saw him cross the Am văzut că a traversat I saw him crossing the L-am văzut traversând strada.
strada. (ceea ce am văzut este (pe când traversa strada în
street. că “el a traversat strada” nu
street. timp ce traversa strada, când
(The infinitive shows which că “stătea de vorbă cu …”, (the present participle shows el era în traversarea străzii,
the action is. ) sau că “…etc.”) the action in its progress ) nu că el traversa strada şi nu
făcea altceva)

So, it is easy to understand the action as being an infinitive in English when we like to call it, to say
which it is (in Romanian it is introduced by “ că”), while the present participle is used when the
action is considered from the point of view of its development / progression (what in Romanian is
expressed by “gerunziu”).

e.g.
ACCUSATIVE WITH INFINITIVE ACCUSATIVE WITH PARTICIPLE
ROMANIAN ENGLISH ROMANIAN ENGLISH
Am auzit că vorbea I heard her speak to Am auzit-o vorbind I heard her speaking
mamei tale despre your mother about her mamei tale despre to your mother about her
noua sa rochie. new dress. noua sa rochie. new dress.

Accusative with participle is used after:

1. – verbs expressing perception: to feel, to hear, to listen, to look at, to see, to behold, to notice, to
observe, to perceive, to watch, to smell etc.
2. – other verbs such as: to catch, to find, to get, to have, to imagine, to keep, to leave, to set, to
start etc.

Examples:
1.
– I felt him trembling. (that he was trembling)
– He looked at her dancing. (how she was dancing)
– Can you smell something burning? (that something is burning)
2.
– I imagine her packing for this holidays.
– She kept me waiting for an hour.
– Father left me writing to my brother.