1. to + infinitive We 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 sometimes say in order to or in order not to: We set off early in order to avoid the traffic. They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children or we can say so as to or so as not to: We set off early so as to avoid the traffic. They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children. after certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive), particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:

choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like, love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, would like, would love and verbs of saying: agree, promise, refuse
They decided to start a business together. Remember to turn the lights out. Some verbs are followed by a direct object and the infinitive (see verbs followed by infinitive):

advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn, expect, intend, would prefer, want, would like
She reminded me to turn the lights out. He encouraged his friends to vote for him. after certain adjectives. Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective: disappointed glad sad happy anxious pleased surprised proud unhappy

We were happy to come to the end of our journey = We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey John was surprised to see me = He was surprised because he saw me Other adjectives with the to-infinitive are:
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able unable due eager

keen likely unlikely ready

prepared unwilling willing

Unfortunately I was unable to work for over a week. I am really tired. Im ready to go to bed. We often use the to-infinitive with these adjectives after it to give opinions: difficult easy possible impossible hard right wrong kind nice clever silly foolish

Its easy to play the piano, but its very difficult to play well. He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him. We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to: difficult easy possible impossible hard

It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying. It is easy for you to criticise other people. We use the preposition of with other adjectives: Its kind of you to help. It would be silly of him to spend all his money. As a postmodifier (see noun phrases in the end) after abstract nouns like: ability desire need I have no desire to be rich. They gave him an opportunity to escape. She was annoyed by her failure to answer the question correctly. We often use a to-infinitive as a post-modifier after an indefinite pronoun (See indefinite pronouns): wish attempt failure opportunity chance intention

When I am travelling I always take something to read. I was all alone. I had no one to talk to. There is hardly anything to do in most of these small towns. 2. -ing forms We can use the -ing form of the verb: as a noun: I love swimming. / Swimming is very good for your health. /You can get fit by swimming regularly.

-ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns

as an adjective:

The main problem today is rising prices. / That programme was really boring. He saw a woman lying on the floor. Because the -ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb it can have any of the patterns which follow a verb, for example:

... an object:

I like playing tennis. / I saw a dog chasing a cat.

... or an adverbial:

You can earn a lot of money by working hard. / There were several people waiting for the bus.

... or a clause:

I heard someone saying that. The -ing noun can be used:

as the subject of a verb:

Learning English is not easy.

as the object of a verb:

We enjoy learning English. Common verbs followed by an -ing object are: admit like hate start avoid
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suggest

enjoy

dislike

begin

finish

as the object of a preposition

Some people are not interested in learning English. The -ing adjective can come:

in front of a noun:

I read an interesting article in the newspaper today. / We saw a really exciting match on Sunday. The commonest ing adjectives used in front of the noun are: amusing boring tiring

interesting surprising annoying

worrying exciting

shocking terrifying

disappointing frightening

after a noun:

Who is that man standing over there? / The boy talking to Angela is her younger brother.

and especially after verbs like see, watch, hear, smell etc.

I heard someone playing the piano. / I can smell something burning. verbs with to + infinitive Some verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive: They agreed to help. / We decided to go. Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive: She told him to go home. / They advised us to wait. Verbs with -ing forms Some transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object: Everybody likes good food. / George considered the problem. or the ing form of the verb: Everybody likes eating. / George considered starting again.

A. Verbs followed by to + infinitive 1 Some verbs are followed by the to-infinitive: I decided to go home as soon as possible. / We all wanted to have more English classes. Common verbs followed by the to-infinitive are: Verbs of thinking and feeling: choose decide expect forget Verbs of saying:

hate hope intend learn

like love mean plan

prefer remember would like would love

agree promise refuse

Other common verbs are: arrange attempt fail help manage tend try want

2 Some verbs are followed by a noun and the to-infinitive: She asked him to send her a text message. / He wanted all his friends to come to his party. Common verbs with this pattern are: Verbs of saying: advise ask encourage invite order persuade remind tell warn *

*Note: The verb warn is normally used with not

The police warned everyone not to drive too fast.

Verbs of wanting or liking: expect intend would prefer want would like
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Other verbs with this pattern are: allow enable 3. Passive infinitive Many of these verbs are sometimes followed by a passive infinitive (to be + past participle): I expected to be met when I arrived at the station. They wanted to be told if anything happened. I dont like driving myself. I prefer to be driven. force get teach

B. Verbs followed by -ing clauses Common verbs followed by ing nouns are: Verbs of liking and disliking: detest dislike enjoy hate fancy like love

I love swimming but I hate jogging. / They always enjoyed visiting their friends. A: Do you fancy going for a walk? B: I wouldnt mind Phrases with mind:

wouldnt mind (= would like) dont mind (= I am willing to) would you mind (= will you please?)

I wouldnt mind having some fish and chips. / I dont mind waiting for a few minutes. Would you mind holding this for me? Verbs of saying and thinking: admit consider deny imagine remember suggest

Our guide suggested waiting until the storm was over. / Everyone denied seeing the accident. Other common verbs are:
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avoid begin finish

keep miss practise

risk start stop

I havent finished writing this letter. / Lets practise speaking English. Passive form of -ing Many of these verbs are sometimes followed by the passive form of -ing: being + past participle I dont like being interrupted. / Our dog loves being stroked under the chin. Noun + -ing clause Some verbs are followed by a noun and an -ing clause: Verbs to do with the senses: see watch hear smell listen to etc.

We saw everybody running away. / I could hear someone singing. Other common verbs: catch find imagine leave prevent stop

I caught someone trying to break into my house. / We couldnt prevent them getting away.

C. Verbs followed by ing or by to + infinitive 1 When one verb is followed by another, the second verb can either be an infinitive or an ing form. Some verbs can be followed by only an infinitive, others by only an ing form and some by both but with a change in meaning. To know which structure to use, you can consult a good dictionary but here are some common examples. Verb + infinitive

I want to speak to the manager. Shes learning to ride a horse. He offered to help us wash up.

Want, learn and offer are followed by to + infinitive

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Other verbs in this group include: afford, agree, ask, choose, decide, expect, hope, prepare, promise, pretend, refuse, would like. Verb + ing form

I enjoy travelling. He admitted stealing the necklace. I dont mind waiting if youre busy.

enjoy admit and mind are followed by the ing form Other verbs in this group include: avoid, consider, dislike, feel like, finish, give up, cant help, practise, suggest. Verb + infinitive or ing form with no change in meaning A few verbs can be followed by either an infinitive or the ing form and the meaning does not change.

I started to work here in 1994. I started working here in 1994.

The meaning of these two sentences is the same. There arent many verbs that can take an infinitive or an ing form with no change in meaning. Begin and continue are two more examples. There is also a group of verbs that can be followed by an infinitive or an ing form with a change in meaning. These verbs will be covered in another section. D. Verbs followed by ing or by to + infinitive 2 When one verb is followed by another, the second verb can either be an infinitive or an ing form. Some verbs can be followed by either an infinitive, or an ing form but with a change in meaning. These are some of the most common ones. like

I like watching old films on TV. With an ing form, like means enjoy

I like to wash up as soon as I finish eating.

I might not enjoy washing up but I think its the right thing to do. Remember that would like can only be followed by an infinitive.

Id like to go to Japan next year, if possible.

try

Im trying to learn Japanese but its very difficult.

Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult and you make an attempt to do it.

Have you tried using butter instead of oil?

Try + ing means make an experiment. Its not difficult it might work, it might not. stop Stop + ing tells us what has stopped. In this example, buying a newspaper.

Ive stopped buying a newspaper every day to try to save money.

Stop + to + infinitive tells us why something stopped. In this example the reason that the bus stopped was to pick up the children.

The bus stopped to pick up the children.

remember /forget

Dont forget to post that letter for me. Did you remember to post that letter for me?

Remember/forget + to + infinitive means that you remember something you have to do a duty or a chore.

Ill always remember meeting you for the first time. Ill never forget meeting you for the first time.

Remember/forget + ing form means remember something you did in the past an event or an activity. E. Verbs followed by that clause With "that" We can use clauses with that: after verbs of thinking: think believe expect decide hope know understand suppose guess imagine feel remember
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forget

I hope that you will enjoy your holiday. She didnt really think that it would happen. I knew that I had seen her somewhere before. after verbs of saying: say admit argue reply agree claim deny mention answer complain explain promise suggest

They admitted that they had made a mistake. She argued that they should invest more in the business. The children complained that they had nothing to do. Note: tell and some other verbs of saying must always have a direct object (see clauses, sentences and phrases): tell convince persuade inform remind

We tried to tell them that they should stop what they were doing. The police informed everybody that the danger was over. as post-modifiers after nouns to do with thinking or saying: advice belief claim feeling argument hope promise report guess opinion idea

He made a promise that he would do all he could to help. I had a funny feeling that something was wrong. after some nouns to say more about the noun: fact advantage effect possibility chance danger evidence problem difficulty

She pointed out the danger that they might be left behind. There was a chance that we would succeed Note: We often use a that clause to define one of these nouns after the verb be :
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danger problem

chance possibility

fact

The danger is that we will be left behind. The fact is that it is getting very late. after some adjectives which describe feelings to give a reason for our feelings: pleased sorry happy I am sorry that you cant come. Everybody was pleased that the danger was past. It is lucky that you were able to drive us home. No "that" NOTE: We can always use a clause without the word that: They admitted [that] they had made a mistake. The police informed everybody [that] the danger was over. I am sorry [that] you cant come. There was chance [that] we would succeed. Appendixes Noun Phrases Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun: People like to have money. I am tired. It is getting late. or a determiner and a noun : Our friends have bought a house in the village. / Those houses are very expensive. perhaps with an adjective: Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village. Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier: unhappy sad excited glad disappointed afraid

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All those children go to school here. Both of my younger brothers are married Some people spend a lot of money. Numbers: Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners: My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.) Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine) So the noun phrase is built up in this way: Noun: people; money Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house. Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children; Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers The noun phrase can be quite complicated: a loaf of nice fresh brown bread the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop with a pistol that attractive young woman in the blue dress sitting over there in the corner

indefinite pronouns The indefinite pronouns are: somebody anybody nobody everybody someone anyone no one everyone something anything nothing everything

We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronouns ending in -thing for things: Everybody enjoyed the concert. I opened the door but there was no one at home. It was a very clear day. We could see everything.

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We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun: Everybody loves Sally. Everything was ready for the party. When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun we normally use a plural pronoun: Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped. I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time. We can add -'s to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive. They were staying in somebodys house. Is this anybodys coat? We use indefinite pronouns with no- as the subject in negative clauses (not pronouns with any.) Anybody didnt come >> Nobody came. We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no one or nothing: Nobody came. Nothing happened. We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things in addition to the ones we already mentioned. All the family came, but no one else. If Michael cant come well ask somebody else. So that's eggs, peas and chips. Do you want anything else?

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