THE INFINITIVE

WITH ‘TO’

by C. T.
 THE We use the infinitive with ‘to’:
INFINITIVE • to express the purpose or intention of an action:
WITH ‘TO’
She came to collect her pay cheque.
The three bears went to find firewood.
I am calling to ask you about dad.

• after adjectives especially in this structure:

subject + to be + adjective + (for/of sb) + to-infinitive + …
It is good to talk.
It is good of you to talk to me.
It is important for Jake to be patient with his little brother. 2
 • with adverbs:
THE
INFINITIVE I had too many books to carry.
WITH ‘TO’ This soup is too hot to eat.
She was too tired to work.

• after some verbs:

Afford, agree, aim, appear, arrange, decide, fail, happen,
hope, learn, manage, offer, prepare, pretend, promise,
refuse, remember, seem, try, want, would like,

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 THE
INFINITIVE
WITH ‘TO’ I hope to see you next week.
He claimed to be an expert.
I managed to reach the top of the hill.
He appeared to be lost.

To form the negative infinitive, we need to add 'not'

BEFORE the infinitive.
Try not to be late.
I want you not to finish all the cake at once.
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TO-INFINITIVE
Verbs like begin, start and continue can be followed by
OR GERUND: either a to-infinitive or a gerund with almost no difference in
WITH NO meaning:
DIFFERENCE IN
MEANING I began to learn languages when I was ten.
He began using this software three years ago.

I started wondering what would happen if I lost my job.

After a while, I started to wonder why she'd said that.

Kate continued wearing her wedding ring after her

husband's death.
You continue to surprise me!

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VERB + PERSON Some verbs are used with a direct object followed by a to-
+ INFINITIVE infinitive. These verbs include:
WITH ‘TO’
Advise, would like, would hate, would prefer, ask,
help, teach, need, tell, order, remind, want, invite, etc
I advised him to get a job as soon as possible.

Did Martin teach Gary to play squash?

They want me to go to Germany with them.

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THE INFINITIVE
WITHOUT ‘TO’

by C. T.
 • Let and make
Let and make are followed by an infinitive without ‘to’ in
THE
INFINITIVE active voice sentences. They always have an object before the
WITHOUT ‘TO’ infinitive:
Let me show you this DVD I’ve got.
They made us wait while they checked our documents.

• Help
Help can be followed by an infinitive without ‘to’ or a ‘to’-
infinitive:
I helped her to carry her cases up the stairs.
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 THE
INFINITIVE
WITHOUT • after modal verbs (can, could, may, might, will, shall,
‘TO’
would, should, must):
She can sleep in the guest room tonight.
Will you need to rent a car during your stay?

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TO-INFINITIVE When using gerund or infinitive changes the meaning:
OR GERUND: I forgot to call her = I planned to call her, but I forgot to do
WITH A
DIFFERENCE so.
IN MEANING I forgot calling her = I can't remember whether I called her
or not.
I remember visiting him = I remember the fact that I visited
him.
I remember to visit him = I remember that I need to visit him.
Try to be on time = Make an effort.
Try doing yoga = Do it to see if you like it.
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TO-INFINITIVE I stopped to call her = I interrupted some other action in
OR GERUND:
WITH A order to call her.
DIFFERENCE I stopped calling her = I was calling her but now I stopped
IN MEANING
doing so.
I regret to inform you = I wish I didn't have to tell you.
I regret being late = I am sorry that I am late.
I tried to cook my dinner = I attempted cooking my dinner
but I didn't succeed.
I tried playing the guitar = This was one of the options that I
tried. Maybe I was bored and wanted to cheer myself.
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EXERCISE
S Do the exercises on these links:

https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/3g16-infinitive
-or-gerund.php

https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/3g15-infinitive
-or-gerund.php

https://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/gerund-infi
nitive/gi031.htm

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