Level: beginner
Verbs with to-infinitives
We use the to-infinitive after certain verbs (verbs followed by to-infinitive), particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:
| choose decide expect forget |
hate hope intend learn |
like love mean plan |
prefer remember want would like/love |
They decided to start a business together.
Remember to turn the lights off.
and verbs of saying:
| agree | promise | refuse | threaten |
We agreed to meet at the cinema.
Promise to call me every day.
Some verbs are followed by a direct object and then the to-infinitive:
| advise ask encourage expect |
intend invite order persuade |
remind tell want warn |
would like/love would prefer |
He encouraged his friends to vote for him.
Remind me to give Julia a call.
- Verbs with to-infinitive 1
- Verbs with to-infinitive 2
Infinitive of purpose
We also use the to-infinitive to express purpose (to answer why?):
He bought some flowers to give to his wife.
He locked the door to keep everyone out.
We can also express purpose with in order to and in order not to:
We started our journey early in order to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children.
or so as to and so as not to:
We started our journey early so as to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children.
- Infinitive of purpose 1
- Infinitive of purpose 2
Level: intermediate
Adjectives with to-infinitives
We use the to-infinitive after certain adjectives:
| able unable anxious |
due eager keen |
likely unlikely ready |
prepared willing unwilling |
Unfortunately, I was unable to work for over a week.
I'm really tired. I'm ready to go to bed.
Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:
| amazed delighted disappointed |
glad happy pleased |
proud relieved sad |
sorry surprised unhappy |
We were happy to come to the end of our journey.
(= We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey.)
John was surprised to see me.
(= He was surprised because he saw me.)
We often use it + be followed by an adjective to give opinions:
| clever difficult easy |
foolish hard kind |
nice possible impossible |
right wrong silly |
It's easy to play the piano, but it's very difficult to play well.
He spoke so quickly that it was impossible to understand him.
We use the to-infinitive with these adjectives to give opinions about people:
| clever foolish |
kind nice |
right wrong |
silly |
She was right to complain about that hotel.
You were clever to find the answer so quickly.
We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:
| difficult | easy | hard | possible | impossible |
It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying.
It is easy for you to criticise other people.
With the other adjectives, we use the preposition of:
It's kind of you to help.
It would be silly of him to spend all his money.
- Adjectives with to-infinitive 1
- Adjectives with to-infinitive 2
Level: advanced
Nouns with to-infinitives
We use the to-infinitive as a postmodifier (see noun phrases) after abstract nouns like:
| ability attempt chance |
desire failure need |
opportunity refusal wish |
They gave him an opportunity to escape.
He was annoyed by her refusal to answer.
I have no desire to be rich.
There is no need to shout.
We often use the to-infinitive as a postmodifier after indefinite pronouns:
When I am travelling I always take something to read.
I was all alone. I had no one to talk to.
There is hardly anything to do in most of these small towns.
- Nouns with to-infinitive 1
- Nouns with to-infinitive 2
Comments
Hi sir
I have a doubt that how can we use ' to infinitive ' with after prepostion.
Hello Patnala akshay,
It is possible to use the infinitive after certain prepositions, but the preposition must have an object (noun or pronoun) before the infinitive. For example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I wonder if you can help - I'm trying to find the grammar basis to a sentence such as: She was the first woman to be elected to parliament, where we use 'to be elected' in the place of: She was the first woman 'who was elected' to parliament. Thank you for your insights!
Hello MandyM,
The structure here is 'be the first person to do something' and it is a quite common stylistic choice in biographical or historical texts. The meaning is the same as the simpler 'be the first person who did something'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sir,
Do your page have a topic about additional words such as: another, other, additional, extra, more, futher...If not, .I would be more thankful if you could take your time to clarify all these mentioned words. Many thanks for your great assistance !!
Hello Amy18295,
We're happy to answer specific questions in the comments sections of our pages but we can't provide long explanations of multiple structures, I'm afraid!
Some of the words you mention are quantifiers, so a good place to start would be our section on those:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/quantifiers
You can also use the search function at the top of the page to find pages which reference the words you are interested in.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Team!
I have a question.
What is the meaning and grammatical function of "to" in this sentence?
"The integration of structural steel elements to inspire, bring people together, and shade the building demonstrates that engineering can be beautiful as well as functional and sustainable.
Thank you!
Hello Goktug123
'to inspire' is an infinitive of purpose here. The 'to' also goes with 'bring' and 'shade'.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello thuc2009
I'm sorry, I haven't been able to find the sentence that you mention Peter uses as an example. I'm afraid the sentence you ask about is not grammatical -- 'easy' is not a verb. Do you mean something like 'To aid their studies, students often use dictionaries'? In this case, the infinitive of purpose 'to aid their studies' has been moved from the end of the sentence to the beginning. This is not common, but there is nothing wrong with doing this.
Or have I misunderstood? Could you please copy Peter's example sentence in your next comment if I haven't answered your question here?
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Team!
I have a question.
Is "to ensure" adjective in the sentence below?
I thought it define "machining".
"Weld metal maybe deposited on the inside or outside of the piping component to provide sufficient material for machining to ensure satisfactory fitting of rings."
Thank you!
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