To-infinitive:

We 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 sometimes say in order
to or in order not to :
We set off early in order to
avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order
not to wake the children
… or we can say so as to or
so as not to :
We set off early so as to
avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly so as not
to wake the children.
• after certain verbs (see
verbs followed by infinitive),
particularly verbs of thinking
and feeling:
choose, decide, expect,
forget, hate, hope, intend,
learn, like,
love, mean, plan, prefer,
remember, want, would
like, would love
… and verbs of saying :
agree, promise, refuse
They decided to start a
business together.
Remember to turn the lights
out.
Some verbs are followed by a
direct object and the
infinitive( see verbs followed
by infinitive
):
advise, ask, encourage,
invite, order, persuade,
remind, tell, warn,
expect, intend, would
prefer, want, would like
She reminded me to turn the
lights out.
He encouraged his friends to
vote for him.
• after certain adjectives .
Sometimes the to -infinitive
gives a reason for the
adjective:
disappointed
glad
sad
happy
anxious
pleased
surprised
proud
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
Other adjectives with the to -
infinitive are:
able
unable
due
eager
keen
likely
unlikely
ready
prepared
unwilling
willing
Unfortunately I was unable
to work for over a week.
I am really tired. I’m ready to
go to bed.
We often use the to -infinitive
with these adjectives after it
to give opinions :
difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
right
wrong
kind
nice
clever
silly
foolish
It’s easy to play the piano,
but it’s very difficult to play
well.
He spoke so quickly it was
impossible to understand
him.
We use the preposition for to
show who these adjectives
refer to:
difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
It was difficult for us to
hear what she was saying.
It is easy for you to criticise
other people.
We use the preposition of
with other adjectives:
It’s kind of you to help.
It would be silly of him to
spend all his money.
• As a postmodifier (see
noun phrases ) after abstract
nouns like:
ability
desire
need
wish
attempt
failure
opportunity
chance
intention
I have no desire to be rich .
They gave him an opportunity
to escape.
She was annoyed by her
failure to answer the
question correctly .
• We often use a to -infinitive
as a postmodifier after an
indefinite pronoun (See
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
Stowns.

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