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to + infinitive, gerund, -ing, Participles

Use

to – infinitive is used

  • to express purpose
    he went to a bank to get some money
  • after certain verbs (agree, appear, decide, expect, hope, plan, promise, refuse)
    he promised to help us
  • after adjectives which
    • describe feelings/emotions (happy, glad, etc.)
    • express willingness (willing, eager, reluctant, anxious, unwilling, etc.)
    • refer to person’s character (mean, clever, etc.)
    • with adjectives lucky and fortunate
      I was annoyed to hear it
      He is reluctant to help
      You were clever not to believe them

      Note: Also impersonal construction possible
      It was clever of you not to believe them
  • after certain nouns and pronouns: something, somewhere, anyone, nothing, etc.
    Take something to drink
  • after too/enough
    she is too young to stay there
  • with it+be+adjective/noun
    it is great to buy a car
  • to talk about unexpected events (usually with only)
    They rushed to airport (only) to be informed that flight had been canceled
  • after: be + last, first, second, next, best
    he was the first to arrive
  • after: ask, learn, find out, wonder, want to know, decide, explain, etc. when they followed by question words (who, what, where, how)
    he explained how to operate the machine
    I don’t know why he left

bare infinitive is used

  • after modal verbs
    he should apologise
    but: ought + to infinitive
  • after: let, make, see, hear, feel (complete action)
    they saw her talk to the manager.
    but: be made, be heard, be seen + to-infinitive
    she was seen to talk to the manager.
    but: I saw her getting into a taxi. She was seen getting into a taxi.
    but: can/could + see/hear + ing
    we could see smoke coming out of the building
  • after had better and would rather
    you had better see a doctor.
  • help is followed by either to-infinitive or bare
    she helped me (to) fill in a form

ing form is used

  • as a noun
    cycling is a form of exercise
  • after: admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, consider, continue, delay, deny, discuss, enjoy, escape, excuse, fancy, finish, forgive, go, imagine, involve, keep (= continue), mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, prevent, quit, recall, recollect, report, resent, resist, risk, save, stand, suggest, tolerate, understand, etc.
    He avoided answering my question.
    They considered moving abroid.
  • after: dislike, enjoy, hate, like, love, prefer to express general preference
    she likes painting
    but: would like / would love / would prefer to express specific preference
    I’d like to paint your portrait
  • after: be busy, it’s no use, it’s (no) good, it’s (not) worth, what’s the use of, can’t help, there is no point, can’t stand, have difficulty in, have trouble, have a hard time, etc.
    what’s the use of waiting for an answer
  • after: spend, waste, lose (time, money)
    we wasted a lot of time trying to find a parking.
    he lost money investing
  • after prepositions
    he was found guilty of lying in court
  • after preposition ‘to’: look forward to, be used to, get round to, object to, in addition to, prefer, etc.
    she objects to working on saturday
  • after: hear, listen to, notice, see, watch, feel to describe an incomplete action
    I listened to James singing a song (means he listened to part of song, not the whole)
    but: bare infitivite to describe a complete action
    I listened to James sing a song

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