FULL INFINITIVE (with to)

USE

To express purpose

After certain verbs :

afford, agree, appear, arrange, begin,
be afraid, bother, choose, consent,
claim, decide, demand, deserve, fail,
forget, hope, hesitate, have a chance,
learn, manage, mean, offer, plan, prepare,
pretend, promise, prove, refuse,
remember, seem, swear, start, tend,
threaten, the idea is, try, volunteer,
want, wait, wish, would like, would love,
would prefer, its time, its difficult
After certain adjectives which:
a) describe feelings
happy, glad, sorry etc
b) express willingness or unwillingness
anxious, be willing, eager, reluctant
etc
c) refer to somebodys character
kind, clever etc
and lucky, fortunate, likely
Impersonal construction
It + be + adjective (of somebody)
It + be + adjective (for somebody)
After certain nouns and pronouns
(something, anyone etc) to show that
something is necessary or possible to
be done.
After certain verbs + object
advise, allow, ask, beg, command, cause,
convince, challenge, dare, enable, expert,
encourage, force, forbid, help, hire,
invite, instruct, need, order, permit,
prefer, persuade, remind, require, tell,
teach, urge, want, warn
After too and enough

EXAMPLES
He saved some money to buy a new car.
He decided to apply for the job.
He pretended to be ill.
He refused to tell me the truth.
I didnt mean to hurt your feelings.
I offered to carry the bag for him.

I am sorry to have bothered you.

He is likely to pass the exams.

Shes lucky to have you as a friend.

It
It
It
It

was kind of you to help him.

was generous of you to give the money.
is important for me to know the truth.
is dangerous for children to go out after dark.

With it + be + adjective/noun

Shes got a project to complete.

Theres nothing interesting to talk about.

They didnt allow me to go out.

She encouraged him to try again.
I expected you to say sorry.
She told me not to reveal her secret.

He is too young to drive a car.

He isnt old enough to drive a car.
It is necessary to leave before dark.
It is their dream to reach the South Pole.
Its such a pleasure to be with you.

USE

EXAMPLES

With only to talk about an

unsatisfactory result
After be + the only/the first/the
best/the last etc
After verbs and expressions (ask,
learn, explain, decide, want to know,
wonder, find out etc) followed by
question words
After why we dont use infinitive but:
Why + subject + verb
After whether

In expressions such as:

To tell you the truth, to begin with,
To be honest, to start with, to sum up
NOTE: If two to-infinitives are joined
with and or or, the second to can be
omitted
With so + adjective + as
In the expression
For + noun/adjective + to inf.

I walked for two hours only to find I was in the

wrong area.
He was the only man to survive the accident.

He didnt know how to do the exercise.

She wanted to know what to do next.

I dont know why she said that.

She hasnt decided whether to accept his
proposal or not.
To be honest, I didnt know how to react.
They promised to visit and tell us all about their
trip to Moscow.
Would you be so kind as to pass the sauce?
For John to lend you his car was very unusual.

BARE INFINITIVE (without to)

USE

After modals

After had better/would rather

After the verbs: let, make, see, hear,
feel, watch
BUT : (in passive)
be made/heard/seen + to inf.
NOTE: when the verbs see, hear, watch
are followed by ing form, the
construction dont change in the
passive
Help is followed by either the full
infinitive or the bare infinitive

EXAMPLES
You mustnt smoke in here.
He may not have finished yet.
You had better consult a lawyer.
My father let me stay out late.
I heard him sing the whole song.
They were made to clean the kitchen.
(active) He saw me watering the plants.
(passive) I was seen watering the plants.

She helped me (to ) lift the box.

GERUND (-ing)
USE
As the subject of a sentence
As the object of a sentence.
After certain verbs
admit, appreciate, avoid, anticipate,
consider, continue, complete, delay, deny,
discuss, end up, escape, excuse, fancy,
finish, forgive, imagine, involve, keep,
mind, mention, miss, postpone, practice,
prevent, quit, report, resist, recommend,
risk, resent, recall, recollect, stop, save,
suggest, tolerate
After love, hate, enjoy, prefer, dislike,
like etc to express specific
preference
After certain expressions
cant stand, cant help, feel like, object to,
its no use/good, have trouble, dont mind,
get/be used to, be busy,
get/be accustomed to, have difficulty,
have a hard/difficult time, as well as,
there is/was no point in, look forward to,
spend/waste time/money, in addition to,
its (not) worth, whats the use of
After the verb go when we are talking
about activities
After the verbs feel, hear, listen to,
see, notice, watch to show that an
action was in progress at a specific
time
BUT: infinitive without to express a
complete action, something that one
saw or heard from beginning to end

EXAMPLES
Smoking is harmful.
I love cooking Italian food.
He admitted breaking the window.
I dont remember meeting you again.
She keeps complaining all the time.
I fancy going for a walk down the river.

Alison enjoys gardening very much.

Its no use crying now.

Im not used to getting up early.
He spends most of his time watching tv.
Theres no point in apologizing now.
I dont feel like eating out tonight.

They go walking every weekend.

I saw you opening the door.
I watched her copying my work.

I saw him throw rubbish out of the window.

GERUND OR FULL INFINITIVE

VERB
remember
stop
forget
try
regret

go on

mean
want
hate

sorry

EXAMPLES
Remember to buy some bread on your way home. (not forget)
I dont remember buying that dress. (recall)
Lets stop to ask directions. (interrupt one action to do something else)
I think you should stop asking silly questions. ( not continue)
She forgot to call me again. (not remember to do something)
Ill never forget seeing you for the first time. (not recall)
He tried to answer the question. (attempt)
If the food isnt tasty, try adding some salt. (experiment)
I regret to inform you that you have failed. (be sorry about something
about to be told)
I regret telling those lies. (be sorry about something you have done)
He told us about Jim and then went on to tell us about Sally. (start a
new action)
I went on telling the story although he wasnt listening. (continue)
I didnt mean to offend you. (intend)
If we invite her, it will mean offending her ex-husband. (involve)
I want to stop smoking. (wish)
This room wants tidying up. (something need to be done)
I hate to cut in, but you must see the manager. (hate what one is about
to do)
I hate causing you so much inconvenience. (feel sorry for one is doing)
We are sorry to find out that he had lost his job. (apologise for a
present action/feel sad about something)
Im sorry for hurting your feelings. (apologise for an earlier action)

NOTE: Some verbs (begin, continue, like, love, need, prefer, start, bother) can be
followed by the gerund or the full infinitive with little or no change in meaning.
BUT, if the verb is in the continuous form, it is always followed by the full infinitive.
It started raining/to rain.
It was starting to rain.