Who Agreed to Act? Promise, Persuade and the Unspoken Subject

← Grammar Hub
C2On my own or with a tutor

Who Agreed to Act? Promise, Persuade and the Unspoken Subject

By the end: I can identify the intended actor of an infinitive and preserve commitments without inventing completed actions.

Created by , British English teacher.

I’m studying:

Try the activities, then check your answers.

Choose a short recording.

The subject’s commitment

After promise or offer + to-infinitive, the main-clause subject is normally the intended actor. A named recipient of another verb must not steal that role.

Ana promised to call Ben.

Ana offered to carry the box.

Maya makes an earnest promise to Noor while holding her own smartphone ready but not making a call. Noor listens with expectant attention and carries a slim folder. Maya is the intended caller; the call itself has not happened.
Maya promised to call Noor.Maya is the intended actor of the infinitive.

The object’s proposed action

After persuade or ask + object + to-infinitive, that object names the person whose action is proposed. A request alone does not establish agreement or completion.

Ana asked Ben to call.

Ana persuaded Ben to apply.

Keep roles through rewrites

A passive or full clause can clarify who is meant. Preserve the strength of the original: promised is not did, and asked is not necessarily agreed.

Ben was asked to call by Ana.

Ana promised that she would call Ben.

A request, agreement and fulfilment are separate facts

Ana asked Ben to call: Ben is the requested callerWhether Ben agreed: not established by askedWhether Ben called: not established by asked
Preserve a promise as a commitmentAna promised to call Ben.

Ana is the intended caller. A later call still needs its own evidence.

Knowing the intended actor does not establish that the action was completed. Likewise, an offer to carry a box identifies the person offering; it does not by itself show that the offer was accepted or the box carried.
Maya persuades Noor through a gentle reasoned gesture. Noor now holds her own smartphone and considers making the call, with a thoughtful newly receptive expression. Noor is the intended caller, not Maya. Do not depict a completed call.
Maya persuaded Noor to call.Noor is the intended actor of the infinitive.

Guided practice

Say or write your answer first. Compare form and meaning with the model.

1. Who is the intended caller in Ana promised to call Ben?

Compare a model and explanation

Ana.

Promise + to makes the subject the intended actor.

2. Who is the requested caller in Ana asked Ben to call?

Compare a model and explanation

Ben.

The object of asked supplies the requested actor.

3. Who applies in Ben was persuaded to apply by Ana?

Compare a model and explanation

Ben.

The passive preserves Ben’s role in the infinitive.

4. Does Ana promised to call establish that she called?

Compare a model and explanation

No.

A commitment does not prove fulfilment.

5. Make the intended helper explicit: Ana offered to help Ben.

Compare a model and explanation

Ana herself offered to help Ben.

Ana, not Ben, is the person offering to perform the help.

6. Source: Ana asked Ben to leave. Ben refused. Repair: Ana got Ben to leave.

Compare a model and explanation

Ana asked Ben to leave, but he refused.

The original request was not accepted.

7. Make the actor explicit: Ana promised to return the key. Intended actor: Ana.

Compare a model and explanation

Ana promised that Ana herself would return the key.

Name repetition is acceptable for this clarification task.

8. Contrast a promised benefit and a requested action: Ben was promised a place / Ben was asked to apply.

Compare a model and explanation

The first gives Ben a promised benefit; the second asks Ben to perform an action.

Do not infer the same unspoken action from both passive subjects.

A short conversation

Listen first, then open the transcript when useful.

Open the conversation transcript

A: Who promised to call?

B: Ana promised to call Ben.

A: But the note says Ana asked Ben to call.

B: Then the note changes the intended caller. We need to keep Ana’s promise separate from that request.

Listening checks

Listen to each extract or open its transcript. These three questions have a separate score.

1. Who committed to making contact, and is fulfilment known?
Read the listening transcript

Rosa promised to contact Lee after lunch. No later update is available.

2. Who was asked, and what was the response?
Read the listening transcript

Lee was asked to bring the materials by Rosa, but he declined.

3. Who would perform the offered help?
Read the listening transcript

Mina offered to help Noor. Noor had asked Mina for help.

Mastery quiz

Choose the best answer for each situation. The score is out of eight.

1. Ana promised to call Ben. Who is the intended actor of call?
2. Ana asked Ben to call. Who is the intended actor of call?
3. Ben was persuaded to try by Ana. Who tries in the described persuasion?
4. Which rewrite preserves Ana’s promise?
5. Does a request alone establish compliance?
6. Does a promise alone establish completion?
7. Which passive preserves Ana asked Ben to leave?
8. Why sometimes replace an infinitive with a full clause?

Use it in your own words

Speaking 1

Contrast a promise, an offer and a request using named people.

Reveal a possible response

Ana promised to call Ben. Ana offered to help Ben. Ana asked Ben to send the address.

Success check: Identify the infinitive actor in each.

Speaking 2

Turn an active request into a passive and then an explicit full-clause paraphrase.

Reveal a possible response

Rosa asked Lee to help. Lee was asked to help by Rosa. Rosa requested that Lee help.

Success check: Preserve requester and requested actor.

Put it all together

A fictional record says Ana promised to return the key, asked Ben to collect a parcel, and received no reply. Summarise it without inventing actions, then explain why swapping promise and ask changes meaning.

Reveal a possible response

Ana committed to returning the key herself and requested that Ben collect the parcel. His response and both later actions are unrecorded. Ana asked Ben to return the key would assign the proposed returning to Ben instead.

Success check: Preserve actor, speech-act strength and unknown fulfilment.

Take it with you

I can identify the intended actor of an infinitive and preserve commitments without inventing completed actions.

Reported Speech: Rules, Tense Changes and ExercisesExplore the Grammar Hub