English 1 Unit 2: To infinitives

The Infinitive Form (See sources at the end of this post.)

The INFINITIVE form of a verb is the form which follows to:     to ask  to believe  to cry  to go to protect  to sing  to talk  to wish    This form is indistinguishable from the base form. Indeed, many people cite this form when they identify a verb, as in "This is the verb to be", although to is not part of the verb.   Infinitives with to are referred to specifically as TO-INFINITIVES, in order to distinguish them from BARE INFINITIVES, in which to is absent:     To-infinitive Bare infinitive Help me to open the gate Help me open the gate

We use 'to' + infinitive:

• After certain verbs - We decided to leave
• After many adjectives - It's difficult to get up early
• To show purpose - I came to London to study English

Verbs that can be followed by infinitives

Many verbs can be followed by the infinitives of other verbs.

• I failed to understand his motive.
• You should learn to say no.
• He agreed to come.
• He tried to open the door.
• We decided to continue our journey.
• She promised to come.

Common verbs that can be followed by to-infinitives are:

afford, agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, beg, begin, care, choose, consent, continue, dare, decide, except, fail, forget, happen, hate, help, hope, intend, learn, like, love, manage, mean, need, neglect, offer, prefer, prepare, pretend, promise, propose, refuse, regret, remember, seem, start, swear, trouble, try, want, wish, would like

Verb + Object + Infinitive

Some of these verbs can be followed by object + infinitive.

Common examples are:

advise, allow, ask, beg, cause, command, compel
encourage, expect, forbid, force, get, hate, help
instruct, intend, invite, leave, like, love
mean, need, oblige, order, permit, persuade, prefer
recommend, remind, request, teach, tell, trouble, want, warn

• I want her to clear my doubts.
• They don't allow people to smoke in their home.
• I told him to leave.

Points to be noted

1. Use "infinitives without to" after modal verbs (can, should, may, might, will, must, etc.).  

• They should join the competition.
• He may visit us this afternoon.

2. Some verbs (let, make, see, feel, watch, notice, have, and sometimes know and help) are followed by object + infinitive without to.

• I heard her open the door.
• We watched them play.
• Let me explain.

3. Some verbs cannot be followed by object + infinitive. Suggest, for example, is followed by a that-clause.

• I suggested that he should consult a doctor. (NOT I suggested him to consult a doctor.)

4. Many of the verbs listed above can also be followed by an -ing form or a that-clause.

• Can you teach me to paint?
• Can you teach me painting?
• They stopped to talk.
• They stopped talking.

5. Many of the verbs given above can be used in passive structures with infinitives.

• They encouraged me to make another attempt. (Active)
• I was encouraged to make another attempt. (Passive)
• They requested him to help them. (Active)
• He was requested to help them. (Passive)
• They ordered her to give the money back. (Active)
• She was ordered to give the money back. (Passive)

Some verbs, however, can be used with infinitives in active structures but not passives. Examples are: like, dislike, love, hate, prefer, wish and verbs with similar meanings.

• She likes people to be happy. (NOT People are liked to be happy by her.)
• I hate to work on Sundays. (NOT To work on Sunday is hated by me.)

 

Adjective + Infinitive

STATEMENT + MODIFYING CLAUSE	BE + ADJECTIVE + INFINITIVE
After adjectives expressing emotion, you can you a that-clause…	or you can use an infinitive.
We are happy that we are hearing the news.	We are happy to hear the news.
We were pleased that we received the letter.	We were pleased to receive the letter.
They were sad when they heard about his death.	They were sad to hear about his death.
They were excited when they heard about the birth of her baby.	They were excited to hear about the birth of her baby.

Common adjectives and participial adjectives followed by infinitives:

afraid  amazed  amazing  angry  anxious  ashamed  astonished  astonishing  awkward  brave  careful  careless  certain  clever  content  cowardly  crazy  delighted  determined  difficult  disappointed  disgusted  eager  easy  extraordinary  fortunate  funny  generous  glad  happy  hard  hesitant  honest  horrified  impossible  kind  likely  lucky  motivated  nice  odd  pleased  pointless  prepared  proud  ready  relieved  ridiculous  reluctant  rude  sad  selfish  shocked  silly  sorry  strange  stupid  stunned  surprised  upset  wicked  willing  wise

 

The above blog post is a compilation of and adaptation from the following sources:

- http://ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/infin2.htm

- http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/gerunds-and-infinitives.html

- http://www.perfectyourenglish.com/grammar/infinitives-after-verbs.htm

- http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/infinitive3c.html 

- http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/wordlist?08