Question

There was nothing much to do but sleep

There was nothing much to do but sleep这里为什么用to do还不直接用do？

Answer 1

nothing something anything这类不定代词后面只能用to do

Answer 2

不定式短语 much to do 是 nothing 的后置定语，意思是 “（没有）太多要做的事情”。用作定语是不定式的一大功能。处定语外，不定式还可以作副词性目的和结果状语，名词性的主语、宾语和表语。

Answer 3

to do 作定语修饰nothing，但是but sleep中的to省略了。

Answer 4

There was nothing (much to do) but sleep.
除了睡觉，无事可做。
nothing to do 固定搭配

Answer 5

nothing to do

------------------