TO INFINITIVE

full INFINITIVE
bare INFINITIVE
A) Full 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 use the to infinitive after certain verbs:
ask
(can) afford
decide
expect
help
hope
learn
offer
promise
refuse
want
would like
would love
would hate
would prefer
I cant afford to spend so much money.
I hope to travel around the world one day.
Do you want to go out?

after help, we can use the infinitive with or without to
Eg: Can you help (to) move this piano?
After the following verbs we can use an object (eg John, me , her) before the to infinitive:
advise
allow
ask
expect
force
help
invite
order
teach
tell
want
warn
would like
would love
would hate
would prefer

I asked John to phone me.
He doesnt want me to go to Paris.

after help, we can use an object and the infinitive with or without to:
Eg: Can you help me (to) move the piano?







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.
John was surprised to see me.

We often use the to-infinitive with these adjectives after it to give opinions:
difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
wrong
right
nice
clever
foolish
Its easy to play the piano, but its very difficult to play well.
He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.
We use to infinitive after:
the first Gagarin was the first to fly in a spaceship.
the last Peter was the last to watch the film.
the next He is the next to get his passport.

B) Bare infinitive
We use the bare infinitive after modal verbs: can, must, may, might)
I can do it.
We really must go now.
You should be more careful.
EXCEPTION: the modal verb ought to
You ought to be more carfeul.
We also use the bare infinitive after lets:
Its a lovely morning. Lets go out for a walk.
We use the bare infinitive without to after would rather:
Would you like to go out?- I would rather stay in.
Would you rather have tea or coffee?
GERUND and INFINITIVE- no difference in meaning

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs:
begin
He began talking.
He began to talk.
continue
They continue smoking.
They continue to smoke.
hate
Do you hate working on Saturdays?
Do you hate to work on Saturdays?
like
I like swimming.
I like to swim.
love
She loves painting.
She loves to paint.
prefer
Pat prefers walking home.
Pat prefers to walk home.
start
They start singing.
They start to sing

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs. There are two possible structures after
these verbs.
Gerund: verb + -ing
Infinitive: verb + person + to-infinitive
advise
They advise walking to town.
They advise us to walk to town.
allow
They do not allow smoking here.
They do not allow us to smoke here.
encourage
They encourage doing the test.
They encourage us to do the test.
permit
They do not permit smoking here.
They do not permit us to smoke here.
We use the following structures with the word recommend:
recommend
They recommend walking to town.
They recommend that we walk to town.