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The phrase "to trigger" is an infinitive. Infinitives are the "to" forms of
verbs and may function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. In your first
example sentence the infinitive "to trigger" acts as an adverb. (You can
configure an alarm to trigger.) In your second example sentence, you
created an infinitive phrase (to trigger an alarm). In this case, the
infinitive phrase acts as an adjective phrase (or verbal phrase) modifying
the noun software.
