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That's the original sentence.

This is one of the hardest books in the world to understand.

What do you think the function of "to understand" is ?

I think it is connected to a whole noun phrase "the hardests books" and

this sentence is the same as

This is one of the books in the world that are the hardest to understand.

Do you agree? Thanks.

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I think "book" is incidental and that the infinitive is a complement of hardest.

This book is the hardest to understand.

This book is the hardest to tear in half.

This book is the hardest to part with.

This book is the hardest to translate.

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  • So, the infinitive is a complement of hardest though it is far away from the adjective.(There is "in the world" between them, but I don't it doesn't matter), right?
    – Jawel7
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 21:55
  • I don't think distance matters there, but that's just an opinion.
    – TimR
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 21:57

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