3.152 commenting on an event

If you want to express your feeling about an event, you can use a 'to'-infinitive clause after a complement.

• It seemed such a terrible thing to happen.

The 'to'-infinitive consists of 'to' and an intransitive verb, usually 'happen'.

The complement must be a noun group consisting of 'a' or 'an', an adjective, and a noun. You cannot use an adjective in constructions of this kind. For example, you can say 'It was a wonderful thing to happen', but you cannot say 'It was wonderful to happen'.