to infinitive

Infinitves

The infiniives is made up of to + the simple form of the verb.

§  Verbs followed by infinitive

Infinitives can be used after certain , but not after others. The following is a list of verbs frequently followed by ifinitives.

Pattern : Verb + to infinitive

Agree                       I cannot agree to do that

Arrange                   The committee has arrenged to meet once a week.

Care                          Would you care to join our orgaanization?

Consent                    She has consented to address the meeting.

Decide                      Have you decided to answer the letter yet?

Deserve                    He doesn’t deserve to pass the course

Endeavor                 She has endeavored to do her best.

Fail                           Do not fail to visit the museum.

Hesitate                   Do not hesitate to call on me for help.

Hope                         I hope to hear from you soon.

Learn                       She learned to control her temper.

Mean                        She meant to give me the book, but she forgot.

Promise                   She has promised to repeat the course next year.

Prove                       Russell proved to be correct.

Refuse                      She refused to answer the telephon.

Seem                        The class seemed to understand everything he said.

Swear                       The swore never to do again.

Undertake              The committe undertook to telephone all the members.

§  Verbs followed by subject and infinitive

Pattern : Verb + Pronoun/Noun/Noun Phrase + to infinitiveSome verbs are followed by infinitive phrase containing a subject. These verbs are transitive; they must have an object.

Advise               He advised us to review for the examination.

Allow                The professor did not allow us to smoke during examination.

Cause                The flower will cause her to sneeze.

Compel             You cannot compel him to study.

Command        The officer commanded the soldier to live at once.

Encourage       The teacher encouraged the students to study.

Forbid               I forbid you to talk like that.

Force                 Ther forced me to confess.

Get                     the manager got him to resign.

 Help                 I cannot help you to pass the exam.

Instruct            She instructed him to complete the work before he left.

Invite                The chairperson invited the committee members to vote.

Oblige               Illness obliged him to leave school.

Order                The umpire ordered the player to leave the game.

Permit              I cannot permit you to do that.

Persuade         She finally persuaded him to drive the car.

Remind             Please remind me to pay this bill.

Request            His friends requested him to sing a song.

Teach                Please teach me to dance.

Tell                    The class told her to make all the arrangements.

Tempt               The offer of a good job tempted him to leave school.

Urge                  The doctor urged Mr. Martinsky to rest.

Warn                 The teacher warned the students to drive carefully.

§  Verbs followed by (subject and) infinitive

Some verbs can be followed either by a simple infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

Ask             The professor asked to attend the meeting.

                   The professor asked us to attend the meeting.

Beg            They begged to go.

                   They begged her to go.

Expect       Jessica Youngblood expected to go away for the weekend.

Jessica Youngblood expected her mother  to go away for the weekend.

Intend       The man intends to be a doctor.

                   The man intends his daughter to be a doctor.

Like           I would like to win the game.

                   I would like you to win the game.

Prefer        The class prefers to sing.

                   The class prefers you to sing.

Want         I wanted to go to the art exhibit.

                   I wanted Mrs. Martinsky to go to the art exhibit.

Wish          I wish to meet the new teacher.

                   I wish Russell to meet the new teacher.

Wishon / Burks, Lets Write English (New York: Litton Educational Publishing International, 1980), h. 277-278.

§  The other certain transitive verb and certain complex transitive verb

         Come                   Fortunate

Expect     

(Betty Schampfer Azar, 1999 : 326 -331)                               

Begin                                                                                           Propose

Can / could bear                                                                                    Recommend

Cease                                                                                           Regret

Continue                ( Thomson and Martinet, 1986 : 234)                 Remember

Forget                                                                                          Require

Hate                                                                                             Start

Love                                                                                             Stop

Need                                                                                            Try

                                                                                                     Used to

 Offer      Aim     Attemp                        Deserve           Hope   Afford             Manage

Plan       Threaten         Refuse             Forget             Fail     Tend    Appear

Start       Help    Pretend           Claim              Prefer              Dare    Bother

(Raymond Muphy, 1994 : 106-116)

For instance:

ü  I didin’t expect to be invited to his party.

ü  Nadia is fortunate to have been given a scholarship.

ü  The rain seems to have stopped.

(Betty Schampfer Azar, 1999 : 326 -331)

For instance:

§   I began to work.

§   He continued to live above the shop.

§   She never ceased to complain about prices.

§   I can’t bear to wait.

§   I intend to sell it.

I intend him to take over the department.

§   He advised me to apply at once.

§   They don’t allow us to park here.

§   The grass needs to be cut.

§   I regret to say that you have failed your exam.

§   I’ll remeber to ring Bill.

§   I often forget to sign my cheques.

§   I stopped to ask the way.

§   They tried to put wire netting all round the garden.

§   I used to swim all the year round.

 ( Thomson and Martinet, 1986 : 234) 

 For instance:

o    I waved to Karen but failed to attract her attention.

o    We decided not to go out because of the weather.

o    I like George but I think he tends to talk too much.

o    Ann pretend not to see me as she passed me in the street.

o    I wouldn’t dare to tell him.

o    He doesn’t want anybody to know.

o    I got somebody to help me.

o    It has started to rain.

o    Don’t bother to lock the door.

o    I need to take more exercise.

o    I was very tired. I tried to keep my eyes open but I couldn’t.

o    Everybody helped to clean up after the party.

o    I love to meet people.

o    I like to get up early.

o    She can’t bear to be alone.

(Raymond Muphy, 1994 : 106-116)

 Want               plant               beside             try

Hope               expect             offer                forget

Need               promise          refuse             learn

For instance:

Ø  I am going to play tennis tomorrow .

Ø  What are you going to do ?

Ø  I have to go now .

Ø  Everybody has to eat .

Ø  Do you want to go out ?

Ø  They don’t want to come with us .

Ø  I’d like to talk to you .

Ø  Would you like to go out ?

Ø  Dave used to work in a factory .

Ø  What do you want to do tonight?

Ø  Tina has decided to sell her house .

Ø  You forgot to turn off the light when you went out.

Ø  My brother is learning to drive.

Ø  I tried to read my book,but I was too tired .

Ø  I’d hate to lose my address book.

Ø  I’d love to go to Australia.

Murphy Raymond with William R.smalzer , 2002 ,”Basic grammar in use”, Cambridge university Press, USA.

Verbs	examples	notes
Hate Have Know how Like Love Need Plan Want	I hate to clean the house We have to clean the house today I know how to do laundry,but I don’t know how to iron. I like to read I love to listen to music We need to do the laundry I plan to study tonight We want to relax this weekend	The infinitive is to +simple verbs some sentences follow this pattern: subject+verb1+infinitive(to+v2). the First verb can be in any tense. The second verb is always the simple form.

Werner Patricia K/John P Nelson and Marilyin spaventa , 2002 , “interactions access grammar “,Mcgraw-Hill, North America.

Infinitives may used as objects of the following verbs.

List of verbs	examples
Agree                decide         mean          seem Appear              forget          offer           serve Be                      happen        plan           tend Be about             hope          prepare       wait Be supposed      learn           proced Come                manage        refuse	They agreed to help We decided to leave early He forgot to call She refused to help You seem to be upset We waited to say good bye

Verbs that may be followed by (Pro) nouns and infinitives

The following list of verbs may use an infinitive object or a ( pro) noun object and an infinitive.

Form	examples	List of verbs
Verb + infinitives Verb + (pro)noun+infinitive	I asked to go I asked her to go	Ask             need**  Bag            prefer Choose       promise Dare            want Expect         wish Help*          would like Intend

Verbs that must be followed by a (Pro)noun object before an infinitive

In the active voice, the following verbs must have a (Pro) noun object before an infinitive. In the passive voice , the infinitive may follow the verb directly.

Form	Examples	List of verbs
Verb+(Pro) noun+infinitive Passive verb+infinitive	We hired him to do the research.( active voice) He was hired to do the research .( passive voice )	Believe          instruct Cause            motivate Convince      order Enable          permit Encourage    remind Forbid           show…how Force            teach Get*             tell Hire              use

For instance:

·         She refused to help.

·         We waited to say “good-bye”.

·         We hired him to do the research.

·         We was hired to do the research.

·         I asked to go.

·         I asked her to go.

(Wener/Nelson.  2002 : 288 – 290)

References

Azar, Betty Schampfer. 1999. Understanding and Using English Grammar. America: Pearson Education.

Byrd, Patrician and Beverly Benson. 2001. Applied English Grammar. USA: Heinle Cengange Learning.

Kirn, Elaine and Darcy Jack. 2002. Interaction 1 Grammar 4th Edition. New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Murphy, Raymond. 1994. English Grammar in Use. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Thomson, A.j. and A.V. Martinet. 1986. A Practical English Grammar. New York: Oxford.

Wishon, George E. and Julia M. Burks. 1980. Let’s Write English. New York: Litton Educational Publishing International.