Level: beginner
Many verbs in English are followed by the infinitive with to. Some of these verbs take the pattern:
- Verb + to + infinitive
We planned to take a holiday.
She decided to stay at home.
Others verbs take the pattern:
- Verb + noun + to + infinitive
She wanted the children to learn the piano.
I told him to ring the police.
Two very common verbs – make and let – are followed by the infinitive without to. They take the pattern:
- Verb + noun + infinitive
My parents made me come home early.
They wouldn't let me stay out late.
The verb dare can be followed by the infinitive with or without to:
- Verb (+ to) + infinitive
I didn't dare (to) go out after dark.
verb + to + infinitive
Some verbs are followed by the infinitive with to:
I decided to go home as soon as possible.
We all wanted to have more English classes.
Common verbs with this pattern are:
- verbs of thinking and feeling:
| choose decide expect forget |
hate hope intend learn |
like love mean plan |
prefer remember want would like/love |
- verbs of saying:
| agree | promise | refuse | threaten |
- others
| arrange attempt |
fail help |
manage tend |
try |
- Verb + to + infinitive 1
- Verb + to + infinitive 2
verb + noun + to + infinitive
Some verbs are followed by a noun and the infinitive with to:
She asked him to send her a text message.
He wanted all his friends to come to his party.
Common verbs with this pattern are:
- verbs of saying:
| advise ask encourage |
invite order |
persuade remind |
tell warn* |
* Note that warn is normally used with not:
The police warned everyone not to drive too fast.
- verbs of wanting and liking:
| hate intend |
like love |
mean prefer |
want would like/love |
- others:
| allow enable |
expect force |
get |
teach |
Many of the verbs above are sometimes followed by a passive infinitive (to be + past participle):
I expected to be met when I arrived at the station.
They wanted to be told if anything happened.
I don't like driving myself. I prefer to be driven.
- Verb + noun + to + infinitive 1
- Verb + noun + to + infinitive 2
Level: intermediate
make and let
The verbs make and let are followed by a noun and the infinitive without to:
They made him pay for the things he had broken.
The doctor made me wait for almost an hour.
They let you go in free at the weekend.
Will you let me come in?
But the passive form of make is followed by the infinitive with to:
He was made to pay for the things he had broken.
I was made to wait for almost an hour.
let has no passive form. We use allow instead:
We were allowed to go in free at the weekend.
I was allowed to go in.
dare
The verb dare is hardly ever found in positive sentences. It is almost always used in negative sentences and questions.
When it is used with an auxiliary or a modal verb, dare can be followed by the infinitive with or without to:
I didn't dare (to) disturb him.
Who would dare (to) accuse him?
But when there is no auxiliary or modal, dare is followed by the infinitive without to:
Nobody dared disturb him.
I daren't ask him.
- make, let and dare
Hello British Council,
I'd like to ask if there are any cases in which both the bare infinitive and full infinitive can be used in a sentence? (as in either one of them is correct) There is one example which I can think of that exemplifies this:
I'd very much appreciate it if you'd answer my inquiry, as I am quite curious about this topic.
Hello caokhanhngoc,
Yes, there are a few constructions like this. The most common are with help and dare:
She helped me to do it.
She helped me do it.
I didn't dare to go outside.
I didn't dare go outside.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I wish to ask in regards to using an infinitive following a simple past tense.
"Our class monitor suggested to have a discussion of the project"
"Our class monitor suggested having a discussion of the project"
Which of the following would be correct grammatically?
Thank you
Hi Rick5,
The second one is correct but not the first one. Here are another couple of structures that could be useful.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello British Council
I have two questions and need technical answers.
1) Want to know more about perfect Participle technically.
Passive construction of perfect Participle is
Having been v3
Can we use 'be' and 'have' as a V3.
•Having been been
•Having had had
____
2) infinitive with 'to'
To be
To be being
To have been being
To be been
To have been been.
Hello Prakash,
I'll answer your questions as best I can, but as you know, we provide support for people learning to use English. These kinds of questions are more specialised than the ones we typically handle.
1) As you note, this is a passive construction. The verb 'be' has no passive form, so 'having been been' is not correct. The verb 'be' can technically have a passive form, but I can't imagine a situation when 'having had had' would make any sense, since it refers to a subject of an active verb, which is incongruous with it also being the subject of a passive verb.
2) The first two forms are sensical and grammatically correct, though I'd caution against using them. I think the third one is also correct, but I struggle to think of how to use it so I'm not completely sure.
The other two forms make no sense for the same reason as in 1: the verb 'be' cannot be used in the passive.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you for your support.
Hello British Council,
I'm intrigued by the 'want/want to' construction in English.
1) Should 'to' be directly associated with 'want,' or is it more appropriately linked with the verb that follows?
I want "to do"
I "want to" do
________
2) Can we use want with all tenses and auxiliaries?
I will want to do
I am wanting to do
I have wanted to do
I can want to do
I would have wanted to do
_____
Your insights would be valuable.
Thank you!
Kesari Prakash, Bharat.
Hello Prakash,
Someone with a more theoretical background in grammar might say something different, but re: 1) I'd say that 'want' is separate from 'to'. 'to' is part of the infinitive form 'to do'. Think about it this way: just as we can put a noun phrase after 'want' ('I want a vanilla ice cream'), we can also put an infinitive with 'to' ('I want to eat it').
2) As far as I know, from a technical point of view, yes, it can be used with all tenses and auxiliaries. This doesn't necessarily mean they will all be sensical, however, so from a practical perspective the answer could be 'no' in some cases.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you for your reply.
We can say:
1. Want + Noun:
- She wants a new car/ Cars
2. Want + Infinitive with "to":
- I want to learn English.
3. Want + Object + Infinitive with "to":
- They want him to join the team.
4. Want + Adjective:
- She wants the cake to be delicious.
5. Want + Gerund (Verb + -ing):
- He wants swimming to be included in the curriculum.
6. Want + Object + Past Participle:
- We want the issue resolved by tomorrow.
7. Want + Somebody + To Do Something:
- I want Radhika to finish the report.
Question: I understand to my first sentence is wrong per autocorrect: "Her plan was having a look around." It is corrected to: "Her plan was to have a look around." Can you please tell me why? What is the rule or explanation?
Hi patcat,
The infinitive with "to" is often associated with plans, purposes and intentions (e.g. the verbs "plan", "aim", "wish" and "want" are all followed by the infinitive with "to", and we can use a "to" + infinitive clause to show the purpose of an activity, e.g. I went to the shop to buy bread), so I believe that's the reason why it's used in this structure.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello,
About verbs. How do you call verbal set phrase like this one :
"I have to do this" used instead of a modal verb : "I must do this"?
TIA for your answer.
Mac2
Hello MAC2,
Verbs like have to which have aspects of modality in their meaning but not in their form (or vice-versa) are sometimes called quasi-modal or semi-modal verbs. It is not a formal linguistic category but it can be helpful as a way to think about them.
The wikipedia page for modal verbs in English has a clear description of the topic with plenty of examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_modal_verbs
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I would like to know if is there any reason why verbs of thinking or feeling such as love and like are followed by an infinitive.
Regards
Hello pili vargas,
Words such as like and love (as well as hate and dislike) can be followed by either an -ing form or to + verb. There is a difference in meaning, however:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
"Dare" is not followed by "an infinitive without 'to'"; it is followed by a subjunctive
Hello SuperStoat,
I've checked a couple of references (for example, the Cambridge Dictionary Grammar entry for 'dare') and haven't found any that show it being followed by a subjunctive. The 'bare infinitive', also known as an infinitive without 'to' can look like a subjunctive, but is not one.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
1 is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
That's correct. You can use 'looking' here as the subject, but in the first sentence it was not correct because you needed an infinitive to go with 'have to'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ahmed Imam,
Yes, it's correct!
It's also possible to use an -ing form after prefer. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the -ing form places more emphasis on the action itself, e.g.: I prefer walking to cycling.
Using the to + infinitive form places more emphasis on the result of the action. The result (in this example, a holiday) seems more relevant to emphasise here than the action of spending itself.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Mussorie,
The idea here is that if I say 'I prefer walking to cycling', this implies that I'm thinking about what it's like to be walking and what it's like to be cycling, and I prefer the former. Maybe it's because I feel unsteady on a bicycle, maybe it's because I get cold or it seems unsafe -- it could be anything, but I'm thinking about what it's like to be doing the activity in some way.
On the other hand, if I say 'I'd prefer to spend my money on a holiday rather than on a new car', I'm thinking of the result of having spent the money. Maybe I really need a holiday and a new car will be difficult for me to maintain or park, for example. I'm not thinking about the moment I get the new car or the moment I'm on holiday, but rather the whole activity in some sense.
Please note that this difference isn't always implied when people use '-ing' versus an infinitive. It's often there, but not necessarily. Context or questioning the speaker is always a more reliable indicator of what they mean.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
I would recommend 'so as not to' here. When using a negative infinitive of purpose, 'so as not to' and 'in order not to' are generally preferred and 'not to' is generally avoided.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi lexeus,
Yes, it is correct! In this sentence, cheering up is a gerund, i.e., a verb form which functions as a noun. It's not a verb. The verb need can be followed by a gerund. Need with a gerund has a meaning similar to the passive voice. This sentence means I think you need to be cheered up.
Another example is This computer needs fixing (= This computer needs to be fixed).
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Aysn,
Some verbs are followed only by the -ing form and some only by the to-infinitive. Some, as you say, can be followed by either form. Usually in these cases there is a change in meaning, however slight or nuanced. That's also the case with your example.
The -ing form suggests an ongoing result, while the to-infinitive form suggests a particular event. I'll use another context to illustrate it more clearly:
In your example, the second sentence sounds a little strange to me. This is because the -ing form suggests and ongoing activity, while the past form got implies finished time. It's not a grammatically impossible sentence, but there is a dissonance. I think the -ing form is more likely to occur with the present perfect, indicating an unfinished time period and telling us that she is still helping him.
All languages have multiple ways of expressing the same or similar ideas. This is true of lexis and of grammar. It allows to express ourselves in a myriad of styles, to use different rhetorical devices and to make our language beautiful and individual. If a given idea could only be expressed in one way our languages would be far poorer.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Aysn,
I think this is just a quirk of the verb. There are some verbs whose form is different when used with passive voice, such as help:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nuro,
'to' is used after lots of different adjectives and nouns. There are some lists of such words on the internet, but I'd recommend that you look up words as you find them. If you look at the first few examples sentences in the Longman dictionary entry for 'way', for example, you'll see 'to'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nuro,
The verb 'to see' here is an infinitive. The construction is as follows:
You can use other adjectives in this phrase, including first, second, third (etc), last, only, most recent, best-known etc.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello nbu2316,
In this case, I'd say it's a verb phrase in the past simple because the head of the verb phrase is the past simple verb 'planned'.
You might find this Sentence parsing tool useful.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ashish Sharma
Yes, it is. In a formal style, we can use the verb 'be' plus an infinitive to speak about a future time.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello victorray84
We're happy to try to help, but could you please be a bit more specific? What parts do you understand and what parts do you not? Please also tell us what you understand or what you think the answer might be (even if not sure) -- this will help us help you better.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello NoobsDeath
There are many compound nouns (combinations of a word with a noun) in English. I'm afraid it's difficult to know when two words can be combined or not, but I would recommend you read the Cambridge Dictionary's Nouns: compound nouns page, which explains this is in more detail.
In general, though, when two words are combined in this way, the second one is the main noun. So if you are speaking about a room where inventions are made, then 'inventing room' is the better choice, because it means something like 'a room where we invent'. 'room inventing' would refer to a kind of inventing, that is, the invention of rooms.
I hope that helps you understand this a bit better.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello jumairs,
Verb patterns are sometimes not the result of deep grammatical rules, but rather simply the arbitrary outcome of linguistic use over time. In other words, if enough people use language in a certain way for long enough then the pattern becomes fixed. The use of prepositions is a good example. There is no reason why we say 'get on a bus' but 'get in a car'; it is simply the result of linguistic evolution through use.
I think your examples are quite similar and the answer to your questions is generally that there is no reason for the pattern other than it simply having evolved that way. That said, I don't see any problem with any of these sentences:
I don't think that this sentence sounds natural, however:
Both I bought her a cake and I purchased her a cake are perfectly fine. These are examples of double object verbs and you can read more about these here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/double-object-verbs
Suggest is a tricky case. You are right that I suggested her a solution is not correct, while I suggested to her a solution is fine (though I suggested a solution to her is the more common word order). Here, I'm afraid, we simply come back to the arbitrary nature of such patterns. They must be memorised rather than being worked out from an overarching rule.
Suggest is an unusual case, thought not unique – propose works in the same way. Offer can be used with either pattern:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team