INFINITIVE

 THE INFINITIVE

The negative infinitive is formed by putting not in front of any form of the infinitive.

Examples

• I decided not to go to London.
• He asked me not to be late.
• I'd like you not to sing so loudly.
• I'd rather not eat meat.
• I might not come.

Functions of the to-infinitive

The to-infinitive is used in many sentence constructions, often expressing the purpose of something or someone's opinion about something. The to-infinitive is used following a large collection of different verbs as well. See this page about verbs followed by infinitives.

The to-infinitive to indicate the purpose or intention of an action  

In this case to has the same meaning as in order to or so as to.

• She came to collect her pay cheque.
• I am calling to ask you about dad.
• You sister has gone to finish her homework.

The to-infinitive as the subject of the sentence

This is a formal usage and is far more common in written English than spoken

• To be or not to be, that is the question.
• To know her is to love her.
• To visit the Grand Canyon is my life-long dream.
• To understand statistics, that is our aim.

The to-infinitive to indicate what something can or will be used for

In this pattern, the to-infinitive follows a noun or pronoun.

• The children need a garden to play in.
• I would like a sandwich to eat.
• I don't have anything to wear.
• Would you like something to drink?

The to-infinitive after adjectives

There is a common pattern using the to-infinitive with an adjective. These phrases are formed:
subject + to be + adjective + (for/of someone) + to-infinitive + (rest of sentence)

Subject	+ to be	+ adjective	(+ for/of someone)	+ to-infinitive	(+ rest of sentence)
It	is	good		to talk.
It	is	good	of you	to talk	to me.
It	is	important		to be patient.
It	is	important	for Jake	to be patient	with his little brother.
I	am	happy		to be	here.
The dog	is	naughty		to destroy	our couch.

The to-infinitive to make a comment or judgement

To use the to-infinitive when making a comment or judgement about a noun, the pattern is:
Subject + to be + noun phrase + to-infinitive

Subject	+ to be	+ noun phrase	+ to-infinitive
It	was	a stupid place	to park.
That	is	a dangerous way	to behave.
What you said	was	a rude thing	to say.
This	is	the right thing	to do.
Those	were	the wrong kind of eggs	to buy.
Jim	is	the best person	to hire.

The to-infinitive with adverbs

The to-infinitive is used frequently with the adverbs too and enough to express the reasoning behind our satisfaction or insatisfaction. The pattern is that too and enough are placed before or after the adjective, adverb, or noun that they modify in the same way they would be without the to-infinitive. We then follow them by the to-infinitive to explain the reason why the quantity is excessive, sufficient, or insufficient. Normally the to-infinitive and everything that follows can be removed, leaving a sentence that still functions grammatically.

Examples

• There's too much sugar to put in this bowl.
• I had too many books to carry.
• This soup is too hot to eat.
• She was too tired to work.
• He arrived too late to see the actors.
• I've had enough food to eat.
• She's old enough to make up her own mind.
• There isn't enough snow to ski on.
• You're not old enough to have grand-children!

The to-infinitive with question words

The verbs ask, decide, explain, forget, know, show, tell, & understand can be followed by a question word such as where, how, what, who, & when + the to-infinitive.

Examples

• She asked me how to use the washing machine.
• Do you understand what to do?
• Tell me when to press the button.
• I've forgotten where to put this little screw.
• I'm not sure I know who to call.

Functions of the zero infinitive

The zero infinitive after auxiliaries

Examples

• She can't speak to you.
• He should give her some money.
• Shall I talk to him?
• Would you like a cup of coffee?
• I might stay another night in the hotel.
• They must leave before 10.00 a.m.

The zero infinitive after verbs of perception

With verbs of perception, the pattern is verb + object + zero infinitive.

Examples

• He saw her fall from the cliff.
• We heard them close the door.
• They saw us walk toward the lake.
• She felt the spider crawl up her leg.

The zero infinitive after the verbs 'make' and 'let'

Examples

• Her parents let her stay out late.
• Let's go to the cinema tonight.
• You made me come with you.
• Don't make me study that boring grammar book!

The zero infinitive after the expression 'had better'

Examples

• We had better take some warm clothing.
• She had better ask him not to come.
• We had better reserve a room in the hotel.
• You'd better give me your address.
• They had better work harder on their homework.

The zero infinitive with "why"

The question word why is followed by the zero infinitive when making suggestions.

Examples

• Why wait until tomorrow?
• Why not ask him now?
• Why leave before the end of the game?
• Why walk when we can go in the car?
• Why not buy a new bed?

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We use the to-infinitive:

1 • 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.

2 • 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.

3 • 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.

4.  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.

5. 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.

6 • 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.

7 • 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.

BRAINY QUOTES

You have to think anyway, so why not think big? * I used to make up stuff in my bio all the time, that I used to be a professional ice-skater and stuff like that. I found it so inspirational. Why not make myself cooler than I am? * People always say that you can't please everybody. I think that's a cop-out. (alibi, dodge, fraud, pretence, pretext). Why not attempt it? 'Cause think of all the people you will please if you try. * Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?

Tell the truth so as to puzzle and confound your adversaries. * We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. * Oliver Stone's strategy is to unnerve (upset, enervate, unsettle) the actors so as to make them alert and alive. * The world has always gone through periods of madness so as to advance a bit on the road to reason. * Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else. * The first thing we become convinced of is that man is organized so as to be far more sensible of pain than of pleasure.

Life is too short not to make the best and the most of everything that comes your way everyday. * Life is too short to care what people think. So live your life the way you want to, be happy, be strong, be yourself not caring what people think. * Life is too short to stress yourself with people who don’t deserve to be an issue in your life. * Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. * Life is too short to be anything but happy. * Life is too short to dwell on the crappy things of the past. * Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.