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The particle "to" before the infinitive - Coggle Diagram
The particle "to" before the infinitive
The infinitive is usually preceded by the particle to: Chinese is a difficult language to learn.
The infinitive is used without to:
After the auxiliary or modal verbs shall, will, do, should, may, can, must, dare, need:
e.g. You shall have a car for your birthday. I suggested that they should drive along the coast.
After some verbs of perception: to hear, see, watch, observe, perceive, notice, feel:
e.g. The crowd watched the firemen climb the ladder, break a window on the first floor, and enter the building
Note 1: If the verb to feel expresses not physical but mental perception, the infinitive is used with to: I felt this to be true.
Note 2: In the passive, verbs of perception are followed by the infinitive with to: They were seen to climb through the window.
After the verbs to let , to make , to have (= compel, cause, persuade, arrange):
e.g. The customs officer made Sally open her case. Have the next patient come in now please, nurse
Note 1: In the passive, the verb to make is followed by the infinitive with to: Sally was made to open her case.
Note 2: Unlike let, make and have, the verbs to allow, to get (= compel, cause, persuade, arrange) are followed by the infinitive with to: Nothing else but a major disaster will get us to realize that we can't go on destroying the forests of the world.
After the verbs to know (= experience, observe) and to have (= experience) in the perfect form: e.g. I've never had such a thing happen to me before.
Note. The particle to is also possible after the verb to know in this form and meaning, and the use of a to-infinitive is more formal. In the passive, to is obligatory. e.g. I've never known her to be late before. He was known to have a quick temper as a boy.
After the verb to help the infinitive may be used with or without to. The use of a to-infinitive is more formal: All this arguing isn't going to help us (to) win the election.
After the expressions: had better, had best (less common than had better), would rather (… than), would sooner (… than), need scarcely, need hardly:
e.g. You'd better not go near the edge. Would you rather have tea or coffee? // I need hardly remind you that smoking isn’t allowed here.
After but, except, rather than, sooner than used as conjunctions and after the expressions cannot but, does nothing but: e.g. This is a computer that can do everything except talk. She does nothing but grumble.
After to do + to be the use of the particle to is optional: All I did was (to) press this button.
The particle to is usually dropped before the second infinitive if the infinitives are joined by and, but, except, or and than:
e.g. Which would you prefer: to win a million pounds or (to) have a brain like Einstein's?
Note: Where the second infinitive follows closely the first, it is normal to omit to before the second infinitive: I'd like to lie down and go to sleep.
Note: To avoid repetition, we can often leave the verb out after to: You don't have to eat it if you don't want to.
After Why? And Why not? in questions: e.g. You're fully insured, so why worry? Why not wait till the winter sales to buy a new coat?