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verb + infinitive (to) (((emily agreed to meet francesca in town again the…
verb + infinitive (to)
after some verbs, we use an infinitive with “to"
emily
agreed to meet
francesca in town again the following week.
alan
learnt to drive
over 20 years ago.
The negative is –not to
Paula
agreed not to forget
to bring her sports kit to school
she agreed to remember her sports kit
john
preferred not to drink
coffee because it gives him headaches
we do not use the infinitive “to” form with some verbs:
simon enjoys
playing
rugby.
This is the wrong way to write it (not to play rugby)
are you
looking
for someone?
This is the wrong way to write it (not are you to look for someone?)
we do use the infinitive with “to” with a continuous infinitive (to be + -ing)
you
seem to be
looking
for somewhere. may I help you?
john
pretended to be*
doing *his homework, but he was really playing a computer game.
AND with a perfect infinitive (to have + verb):
eric
seems to have burnt
the toast.
we can use -ing forms with the same meaning as the infinitive “to” form:
when did you start
learning
golf?/ when did you start
to learn golf?
they began
unpacking
the boxes./ they began
to unpac
k the boxes
we can use a question word (what / how etc.) + to after some verbs.
we asked the guard
whether
to board
the train now.
do you understand
how
to carry
aut this experiment?
we also ask/ show/ tell someone how/ what/ where to do something:
could you please
show
me
how
to answer this question?
