FULL INFINITIVE (with to)

USE EXAMPLES
To express purpose He saved some money to buy a new car.

After certain verbs :

afford, agree, appear, arrange, begin, He decided to apply for the job.
be afraid, bother, choose, consent, He pretended to be ill.
claim, decide, demand, deserve, fail, He refused to tell me the truth.
forget, hope, hesitate, have a chance, I didnt mean to hurt your feelings.
learn, manage, mean, offer, plan, prepare, I offered to carry the bag for him.
pretend, promise, prove, refuse,
remember, seem, swear, start, tend,
threaten, the idea is, try, volunteer,
want, wait, wish, would like, would love,
would prefer, its time, its difficult
After certain adjectives which:
a) describe feelings I am sorry to have bothered you.
happy, glad, sorry etc
b) express willingness or unwillingness
anxious, be willing, eager, reluctant
etc
c) refer to somebodys character He is likely to pass the exams.
kind, clever etc Shes lucky to have you as a friend.
and lucky, fortunate, likely
Impersonal construction
It + be + adjective (of somebody) It was kind of you to help him.
It was generous of you to give the money.
It + be + adjective (for somebody) It is important for me to know the truth.
It is dangerous for children to go out after dark.
After certain nouns and pronouns
(something, anyone etc) to show that Shes got a project to complete.
something is necessary or possible to Theres nothing interesting to talk about.
be done.
After certain verbs + object
advise, allow, ask, beg, command, cause, They didnt allow me to go out.
convince, challenge, dare, enable, expert, She encouraged him to try again.
encourage, force, forbid, help, hire, I expected you to say sorry.
invite, instruct, need, order, permit, She told me not to reveal her secret.
prefer, persuade, remind, require, tell,
teach, urge, want, warn
After too and enough He is too young to drive a car.
He isnt old enough to drive a car.
With it + be + adjective/noun It is necessary to leave before dark.
It is their dream to reach the South Pole.
Its such a pleasure to be with you.
 USE
With only to talk about an
unsatisfactory result
After be + the only/the first/the
best/the last etc
After verbs and expressions (ask,
learn, explain, decide, want to know,
wonder, find out etc) followed by
question words
After why we dont use infinitive but:
Why + subject + verb
After whether
In expressions such as:
To tell you the truth, to begin with,
To be honest, to start with, to sum up
NOTE: If two to-infinitives are joined
with and or or, the second to can be
omitted
With so + adjective + as
In the expression
For + noun/adjective + to inf.
EXAMPLES
I walked for two hours only to find I was in the
wrong area.
He was the only man to survive the accident.
He didnt know how to do the exercise.
She wanted to know what to do next.
I dont know why she said that.
She hasnt decided whether to accept his
proposal or not.
To be honest, I didnt know how to react.
They promised to visit and tell us all about their
trip to Moscow.
Would you be so kind as to pass the sauce?
For John to lend you his car was very unusual.

BARE INFINITIVE (without to)

USE
After modals
After had better/would rather
After the verbs: let, make, see, hear,
feel, watch
BUT : (in passive)
be made/heard/seen + to inf.
NOTE: when the verbs see, hear, watch
are followed by ing form, the
construction dont change in the
passive
Help is followed by either the full
infinitive or the bare infinitive
EXAMPLES
You mustnt smoke in here.
He may not have finished yet.
You had better consult a lawyer.
My father let me stay out late.
I heard him sing the whole song.
They were made to clean the kitchen.
(active) He saw me watering the plants.
(passive) I was seen watering the plants.
She helped me (to ) lift the box.
 GERUND (-ing)

USE EXAMPLES
As the subject of a sentence Smoking is harmful.
As the object of a sentence. I love cooking Italian food.
After certain verbs
admit, appreciate, avoid, anticipate, He admitted breaking the window.
consider, continue, complete, delay, deny, I dont remember meeting you again.
discuss, end up, escape, excuse, fancy, She keeps complaining all the time.
finish, forgive, imagine, involve, keep, I fancy going for a walk down the river.
mind, mention, miss, postpone, practice,
prevent, quit, report, resist, recommend,
risk, resent, recall, recollect, stop, save,
suggest, tolerate
After love, hate, enjoy, prefer, dislike, Alison enjoys gardening very much.
like etc to express specific
preference
After certain expressions
cant stand, cant help, feel like, object to, Its no use crying now.
its no use/good, have trouble, dont mind, Im not used to getting up early.
get/be used to, be busy, He spends most of his time watching tv.
get/be accustomed to, have difficulty, Theres no point in apologizing now.
have a hard/difficult time, as well as, I dont feel like eating out tonight.
there is/was no point in, look forward to,
spend/waste time/money, in addition to,
its (not) worth, whats the use of
After the verb go when we are talking They go walking every weekend.
about activities
After the verbs feel, hear, listen to, I saw you opening the door.
see, notice, watch to show that an I watched her copying my work.
action was in progress at a specific
time
BUT: infinitive without to express a I saw him throw rubbish out of the window.
complete action, something that one
saw or heard from beginning to end
 GERUND OR FULL INFINITIVE

VERB EXAMPLES
remember Remember to buy some bread on your way home. (not forget)
I dont remember buying that dress. (recall)
stop Lets stop to ask directions. (interrupt one action to do something else)
I think you should stop asking silly questions. ( not continue)
forget She forgot to call me again. (not remember to do something)
Ill never forget seeing you for the first time. (not recall)
try He tried to answer the question. (attempt)
If the food isnt tasty, try adding some salt. (experiment)
regret I regret to inform you that you have failed. (be sorry about something
about to be told)
I regret telling those lies. (be sorry about something you have done)
go on He told us about Jim and then went on to tell us about Sally. (start a
new action)
I went on telling the story although he wasnt listening. (continue)
mean I didnt mean to offend you. (intend)
If we invite her, it will mean offending her ex-husband. (involve)
want I want to stop smoking. (wish)
This room wants tidying up. (something need to be done)
hate I hate to cut in, but you must see the manager. (hate what one is about
to do)
I hate causing you so much inconvenience. (feel sorry for one is doing)
sorry We are sorry to find out that he had lost his job. (apologise for a
present action/feel sad about something)
Im sorry for hurting your feelings. (apologise for an earlier action)

NOTE: Some verbs (begin, continue, like, love, need, prefer, start, bother) can be
followed by the gerund or the full infinitive with little or no change in meaning.
BUT, if the verb is in the continuous form, it is always followed by the full infinitive.
It started raining/to rain.
It was starting to rain.