Infinitive Verbs

Exercises

Explanation

1. The “to-infinitive”

The to-infinitive is used in many situations. It can express purpose, intention, plans, or general actions.

Examples

• I want to visit my grandparents this weekend.

• She hopes to find a new job soon.

• They planned to leave early.

Negative infinitive

We put not before the infinitive:

• I try not to forget my keys.

• He asked me not to call so late.

2. The bare infinitive (without “to”)

The infinitive without to is used after:

A. Modal verbs

can, could, must, should, may, might, will, would

• She can swim very fast.

• You should eat more fruit.

B. Verbs of perception

see, hear, feel, watch

• I saw him leave the building.

• We heard the dog bark outside.

• She felt the floor shake.

(But: feel + to be uses to: “She felt it to be true.”)

C. Let, make, help

• They let us leave early.

• The joke made everyone laugh.

• I helped him (to) pack the boxes. (to is optional)

D. Expressions:

had better, would rather, why not

• You had better go now.

• I would rather stay home tonight.

• Why not try again?

3. Different Forms of the Infinitive

English infinitives can show simple, continuous, perfect, and passive ideas.

A. Simple (Indefinite) Infinitive

to + verb

Used for a general or present-time idea.

• She is happy to meet you.

• They were excited to start the trip.

B. Continuous Infinitive

to be + -ing

Used for an action happening at the same time as another action.

• He seems to be studying right now.

• The children appeared to be playing outside.

C. Perfect Infinitive

to have + past participle

Used for an action that happened before another action.

• She is proud to have won the prize.

• They seemed to have finished the project.

After certain verbs in the past, it shows an action expected but not done:

• We hoped to have arrived earlier.

• He intended to have called, but he forgot.

D. Perfect Continuous Infinitive

to have been + -ing

Used to show a long action continuing up to another moment.

• She seems to have been working here for years.

• I was glad to have been studying with such a good teacher.

4. Passive Infinitive Forms

A. Simple Passive Infinitive

to be + past participle

• The report needs to be completed today.

• She wants to be invited to the event.

B. Perfect Passive Infinitive

to have been + past participle

• The house seems to have been repaired already.

• I expected the documents to have been sent.

5. When do we use the infinitive?

A. After many common verbs

agree, decide, hope, plan, want, need, try, promise, refuse, expect, learn, offer, seem, appear (And many more.)

Examples:

• They decided to move to another city.

• I need to buy new shoes.

• He refused to speak to the manager.

B. After question words (what, where, how, etc.)

• She doesn’t know what to wear.

• I can’t decide where to go.

• He learned how to swim.

C. After would like / would love / would prefer

• I would like to see the menu.

• We would prefer to sit outside.

D. After adjectives

• She was happy to help.

• It’s difficult to explain this problem.

• He was surprised to hear the news.

E. To express purpose

• I came here to meet you.

• She opened the window to get some fresh air.

F. In set expressions

to be honest, to begin with, to make a long story short, to sum up

• To be honest, I didn’t like the movie.

• To sum up, we need more information.

6. Functions of the infinitive

The infinitive can be:

Subject: To travel alone can be exciting.

Object: She wants to rest after work.

Part of a verb phrase: The project will have been finished by Monday.

Modifier (adjective meaning)

• I have homework to do.

• He has a lot of work to finish.

Quick Summary

The infinitive can be:

to-infinitive — to read, to eat
bare infinitive — read, eat

We use it to express:

• purpose

• plans and intentions

• expectations

• results

• reactions and emotions

It can follow:

• many verbs

• adjectives

• question words

• certain expressions