Read the sentence. According to the latest reports sent to us, orangutans prefer to remain safely in their original habitats. Why can the infinitive phrase be classified as a noun?

A) It functions as the subject.

B) It functions as the direct object.

C) It functions as the subject complement.

D) It functions as the object of the preposition.

The correct answer is B. it functions as the direct object. The infinitive phrase in this sentence is to remain safely. The easiest way to determine whether a word is a direct object is to ask the question - What? So, what do orangutans prefer? To remain safely ... This way we know that this phrase is the direct object of the verb to prefer.