English Infinitives
The infinitive of a verb is its basic form.
The infinitive has two forms:
the TO-infinitive = TO + base
the zero (bare) infinitive = base
You can use an infinitive and a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually sound more like normal, spoken
English, whereas infinitives sound more abstract.
To swim is a good exercise.
Swimming is a good exercise.
Infinitives can be made negative by adding "not."
He decided not to do it.
After the following phrases we use the infinitive with TO:
1. Common verbs followed by an infinitive
Agree | The bank has agreed to lend me £5,000. |
Aim | I aim to be a millionaire by the time I'm 35. |
Appear | There appears to be some mistake. |
Arrange | She's arranged for her son to have swimming lessons. |
Ask | I couldn't ask you to do that. |
Attempt | Rescue workers attempted to cut him from the crashed vehicle. |
Be able | We were not able to give any answers. |
Beg | He begged me to give him the phone number. |
Begin | I began to e-mail you but got interrupted. |
Can/can’t afford | We can't afford to miss this play. |
Can/can’t wait | I can’t wait for the guests to arrive. |
Care | Would you care to sit down, please? |
Chance |
They chanced to be in the restaurant when I arrived. |
Choose | I chose to fly rather than drive. |
Claim |
|
Come | A witness came forward to say that she had seen him that night. |
|
Very reluctantly, I've consented to lend her my car. |
Dare | Do you dare (to) tell him the news? |
Decide | In the end, we decided to go to the theatre. |
Demand | I demand to see a doctor. |
Deserve | He deserves to be treated with respect. |
Endeavour | He endeavoured to attract the waiter's attention. |
Expect | He didn't expect to see me. |
Fail | He failed to do his duty. |
Get | I got to know the town really well. |
Grow (up) | I grew to hate my job. |
Guarantee | Just looking at a picture of the sea is guaranteed to make me feel sick. |
Happen | It happened to snow on the night she was born. |
Have | I have to speak to your father. |
Hesitate | If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me. |
Hope | We hope to buy a house in the spring. |
Hurry | She hurried to answer the phone. |
Incline |
Her attitude did not incline me to help her. |
Learn | I'm learning to play the piano. |
Long | She longed to see him again. |
Manage | I managed to get a promotion. |
Mean | I meant to go running this morning, but I overslept. |
Need | You'll need to work hard to pass this exam. |
Neglect | He neglected to mention the fact that we could lose money on the deal. |
Oblige | The law does not obligate sellers to accept the highest offer. |
Offer | He offered to take her home in a taxi. |
Ought | You ought to work harder than that. |
Pay | I think we'll need to pay a builder to take this wall down. |
Permit | The security system will not permit you to enter without the correct password. |
Plan | I'm not planning to stay here much longer. |
Prepare |
It seems as if she is preparing to win. |
Plead | He pleaded to be allowed to go. |
Pledge | I've been pledged to secrecy. |
Promise | She promises to be a fine actor. |
Propose | I propose to leave town now. |
Prove | The experiment proved to be successful. |
Refuse | He refused to leave. |
Remain | A cure remains to be found. |
Request | He requested me to leave. |
Seek | They sought to reassure the public. |
Seem | You seem to be very interested. |
Start | They started to work. |
Strive | He strives to get promotion. |
Swear | He swore to do his duty. |
Tend | Men tend to die younger than women. |
Threaten | They threatened to kill him. |
Use | Use scissors to cut the shapes out. |
Volunteer | We were volunteered to do the dishes. |
Wait |
She waited for me to say something. |
Want/Would like | What do you want to eat? |
Wish | I wish to make a complaint. |
2. The to-infinitive is used to express the purpose of something and answer the question "Why?"
In this case TO has the same meaning as "in order to" or "so as to".
I remained there to see what would happen.
3. We often use the TO-infinitive with these adjectives after "IT" to give opinions, make a comment or judgement:
- foolish
- stupid
- difficult
- easy
- possible/impossible
- hard
- right
- wrong
- nice
- clever
- silly
A common pattern for using the TO-infinitive with an adjective:
subject + to be + adjective + (for/of someone) + to-infinitive + (rest of sentence)
It is easy to play football.
It is wrong to kill animals.
It is possible for you to find a new job.
It is difficult for me to say "I love you".
4. Sometimes the TO-infinitive gives a reason or additional information about these adjective:
- able/unable
- eager
- likely/unlikely
- ready
- prepared
- keen
- due
- willing/unwilling
- anxious
- sad
- glad
- happy/unhappy
- proud
- pleased
- surprised
- disappointed
I'm happy to hear it.
I'm glad to be here.
He is ready to go there.
5. The To-infinitive is used after the first/the last/the next:
Mike was the first to read the book.
6. Verbs followed by an infinitive without TO:
- auxiliaries/modal verbs (can/could/may/might/must/shall/should/will/would/do)
- Let
- Make
- Let's
- See
- Watch
- Notice
- Hear
- Feel
- Had better/would rather
Let me show you
They made us wait
I heard Mike sing a song
7. Help
Help can be followed by an infinitive without TO or a TO-infinitive:
She helped me find/to find a direction.
Comment