EMERGENCIES
SB p. 76
Infinitive of Purpose
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:
= 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:
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:
He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.
We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:
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:
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 towns.
FROM: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
• 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 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
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
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 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
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 towns.
FROM: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
HOMEWORK
SB p. 76, ex. 7
SB p. 76, ex. 7