Search results
With the verbs 'come' and 'go', we use an infinitive of purpose when they're in a normal tense but we often use 'and + infinitive' with imperatives or after modal verbs. I went home to sleep. Go home and sleep!
Do you know how and when to use an infinitive to talk about purpose? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you. Look at these examples to see how we use infinitives of purpose.
With come and go, we can use the infinitive of purpose with the verb in any present or past tense or with the gerund form of the verb: I'm just coming to help. We went to talk to a lawyer. Have you thought of going to see a doctor? But if come and go are used as infinitives or as imperatives, we use and instead of to: I must go and check the ...
The structure of “infinitive of purpose” or to- infinitive says why the subject is doing something. But if the subject is different from the doer, we use so that. In more formal contexts, we may use in order to, so as, and in order that. Learn the definition and examples of the infinitive of purpose in this guide.
Infinitive of purpose. We also use the to-infinitive to express purpose (to answer why?): He bought some flowers to give to his wife. He locked the door to keep everyone out. We can also express purpose with in order to and in order not to: We started our journey early in order to avoid the traffic. They spoke quietly in order not to wake the ...
The infinitive of purpose refers to the infinitive structures in which the subject of the main clause and the performer of the action (expressed by the infinitive) are the same. The structure of infinitive of purpose is the same as to-infinitive that is: To + verb. There are different structures to express the purpose: to… / in order to… /so as to…
Infinitives of purpose. Infinitives of purpose tell the reason why we are doing something. She started volunteering at the hospital to meet more people and to help others. Verb tenses. We can use the infinitive of purpose with a main verb in any tense. Word order. We can use the infinitive of purpose before or after the main verb.
