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
Hello Peter,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
Hello , I would like to know , what is the correct form , to write Objectives in English?. I'm confused , when I want to write an objective. I don't know in which verb add "to" or omit it . Sorry If I have mistakes. Please !
Hello Daniela R,
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you mean how do we express the reason (purpose) of our actions using infinitives? If so, then we use 'to'. For example:
I went to the shop to buy some fruit.
[buying some fruit was the reason for going to the shop]
I hope this answers your question. If you had something else in mind, please reply and include an example sentence, and we'll try to help.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
"There was nobody to talk to."
"I hated to be told what to do."
"The job was too difficult to be finished alone."
These things happened in the past, so why is the infinitive in the present tense ("to talk", "to be told", "to be finished")?
I understand that it is correct, but how can I explain it to someone? :)
Cheers!
Hello weezer!
The infinitive isn't in the present tense - it's just the infinitive form, and stands outside the tense system. You can just as well say "There will be nobody to talk to", and you will still use the infinitive.
Hope that helps!
Regards
Jeremy Bee
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jeremy! Could you please explain the use of "need" as a model verb? I've been through the examples given by OALD and it's kinda confusing. Never in my life have I ever found a grammar rule so confusing. Please explain when exactly we're not required to put 'to' after "need" Here's the examples:
"I need hardly tell you that the job is dangerous"
"If she wants anything, she need only ask" here "need" without 's' is creating problem.
"All you need bring are sheets"
Here in my part of the world, teachers who teach B.A English, have been telling the students not to put "to" after need. I was surprised to see that every grammar book gives only this one use of "need" and forgetting or denying its use with to.
Hello skinnypigeon,
"Need' is sometimes described as a semi-modal verb - that is, a verb which can function both as a modal and as a regular/normal verb. When we use it as a modal, its form is similar to other modals, meaning we use a bare infinitive (without 'to`), form negatives by adding 'not', questions by inversion and a perfective form by adding 'have', just as we do with 'should', for example:
Need we go now?
We needn't go yet.
However, the verb is slowly changing from a modal to a regular verb and so the forms above are, gradually, becoming less common and are starting to sound a little archaic. In fact, the positive form is no longer used in modern English and you can only really see the modal form of 'need' in questions and negatives. Even with these forms it is much more common these days to use 'need' as a regular verb, similar to 'want':
Do we need to go now?
We don't need to go yet.
Obviously I can't comment on your textbooks or teachers in your country but do remember that English exists in many different standard forms in many countries and what is archaic in, for example, British English may be quite normal in standard English in other countries.
I hope that clarifies it for you.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks very much indeed Peter! I really appreciate that. Your explanation certainly does clarify.
Hi Sir,
I have confusion in using( to Preposition) with verb.
Example : somebody uses the describe verb as " to describe" somebody uses as " to describing " what is the deference between two. and in which instance we can use the above sentence. please explain.
( Same as " to accept " and " to accepting"
Thanking you
Student
Hello mohamed!
I'm sorry, but without seeing the whole sentences you took your examples from, it's very hard to explain why one sentence uses 'to describe' and one uses 'to describing'. I think you are asking about the difference between to + verb and to (preposition) + verb-ing. You can have a look at my reply to alyuuv below, and see if that helps you understand. If you can give me a bit more information, I might be able to help you more.
Regards
Jeremy Bee
The LearnEnglish Team
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