Not sure what is infinitive? It is the base form of a verb, normally used with to (to eat, to go, to understand). They are used to talk about actions in a general way, often to explain purpose, or to follow certain verbs, adjectives, and nouns. We often see articles and explanations with ‘to-infinitive’, or ‘infinitive-to’, it means all the same. Try the exercise below.
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Infinitive with or without ‘to’?
When we don’t use ‘to’ with an infinitive, we normally call a ‘bare infinitive‘. We see the bare infinitive following auxiliary verb ‘do’ when we conjugate present and past simple, after modal verbs, and after certain verbs we’ll see here. You can check this out in Present Simple, Past Simple, and Modal Verbs.
Verbs with bare infinitive
After the verbs ‘make’, ‘let’, and ‘help’, we normally use a pronouns followed by a bare infinitive. Check examples below:
Look what you made me do.
Let us help you with that.
Can you help me carry this table?
We use infinitive with to, also called ‘to-infinitive’, or ‘infinitive-to’ in all cases described in this article.
Infographic – Uses of infinitive
Infinitive as the purpose
We use the infinitive to explain why someone does something. It can be a positive or negative statement. We could also add conjunctions like ‘in order to’. Check the following examples:
I’m learning English to work abroad.
He left early not to miss the train.
Instructions and general guidance
Common in manuals, instructions, and formal writing. Examples:
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Infinitive as object of certain verbs
Some verbs are followed directly by a to-infinitive.
Verb + to-infinitive
Common verbs: Afford, Agree, Aim, Appear, Arrange, Ask, Attempt, Beg, Care, Choose, Claim, Consent, Dare, Decide, Demand, Deserve, Determine, Expect, Fail, Happen, Hesitate, Hope, Intend, Learn, Manage, Mean, Need, Offer, Plan, Prepare, Pretend, Promise, Refuse, Seem, Strive, Swear, Tend, Threaten, Want, Wish. Examples:
She decided to leave early.
They hope to travel next year.
Verb + object + to-infinitive
Common verbs: ask, tell, want, allow, advise, expect, encourage, invite, force. Examples:
She told me to wait.
They allowed him to enter.
Infinitive as object of certain adjectives
The infinitive often follows adjectives to comment on actions, situations, or reactions. Common adjectives: easy, difficult, important, necessary, possible, hard, dangerous. Any sentence which starts with ‘it + be + adjective’. Examples:
It’s important to sleep well.
This rule is hard to understand.
It’s nice to meet you.
It was surprising to hear the news.
Expressions with ‘too’ or ‘enough’
When we use expressions with ‘too’, ‘enough’, or ‘it + be + adjective’. Check the following examples:
The box is too heavy to carry.
She’s old enough to drive.
Infinitive as object of certain nouns
The infinitive often follows nouns related to plans, decisions, opportunities, or necessity. Common nouns: decision, plan, need, chance, reason, opportunity, time. There could also be an entire sentence that includes an adjective. Examples:
I have a decision to make.
There’s no reason to worry.
It’s a good idea to check the instructions first.
After superlatives and ordinal numbers
After superlatives and ordinal numbers, we always use infinitive. Examples:
She’s the best person to ask.
He was the first student to arrive.
Exercises on Infinitive
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