Consider these sentences, please:
Try to complete the examination
He tried to climb a cliff.
Are the to-infinitives the objects of the verb try Or are they infinitives of purpose?
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The "object of the verb" sense would apply in contexts such as He tried the door, but it was locked, which is semantically the same as He tried to open* the door*, even though the syntax is different. – FumbleFingers Mar 12 '20 at 17:55
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1Yes, clauses, like infinitive clauses, gerund clauses, that-clauses, and wh-clauses, can be direct objects of certain verbs. Each verb is different. Try can take a noun or pronoun object (He never tried that before), a gerund object (He tried waterskiing and didn't like it), or an infinitive object, as you point out. There is a minor usage difference between the gerund and infinitive complements of try, though. – John Lawler Mar 12 '20 at 18:14
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Although, come to think of it, there is no real semantic difference between the complement of try, which describes what the attempt is sposta accomplish, and a real infinitive of purpose. Try *means* 'purpose'. – John Lawler Mar 12 '20 at 18:16
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1@JohnLawler: With my "bare" example He tried the door (no *to open* or *opening) there could in principle be a genuine semantic difference. Usually, trying a door would imply attempting to open it just a little bit* (the default "purpose" being to establish whether or not it's actually *locked). But it seems like there's a significant difference in how the verb works between He tried the door, but it was locked* and, say, He tried the door, but it was too small for him to get through**. – FumbleFingers Mar 12 '20 at 18:50
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That's the "minor usage difference" I noted above; follow that link for more details. – John Lawler Mar 12 '20 at 19:08
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Then there's 'try someone's patience'. This isn't usually an 'attempt', but I can see it as a broadened usage. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 12 '20 at 19:11
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I think that's the same try as try the bacon, i.e, heat until fat runs out. Though it could also be the try of 'try your luck'. – John Lawler Mar 12 '20 at 19:42
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to complete the examination and to climb a cliff can both be replaced by “it”.== to complete the examination and to climb a cliff can both be the subject of a verb. == to complete the examination and to climb a cliff are infinitive clauses (they act as nouns.) ==To try is a transitive verb in the context you give. == In each example, to try has an object. – Greybeard Mar 12 '20 at 20:45
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In comments John Lawler wrote:
Yes, clauses, like infinitive clauses, gerund clauses, that-clauses, and wh-clauses, can be direct objects of certain verbs. Each verb is different. Try can take a noun or pronoun object (He never tried that before), a gerund object (He tried waterskiing and didn't like it), or an infinitive object, as you point out. There is a minor usage difference between the gerund and infinitive complements of try, though.
And also:
Although, come to think of it, there is no real semantic difference between the complement of try, which describes what the attempt is supposed to accomplish, and a real infinitive of purpose. Try means 'purpose'.
