Grammar Topic 2 - To Infinitive and Bare Infinitive

Grammar – Topic 2

To Infinitive & Bare Infinitive

I like to jog. He likes to swim. She likes to play tennis. We like to cycle.

I am sure you have used such sentences like the sentences above when you converse or write in English. You were using the 'to infinitive'. As you can see, it is a typical English sentence structure, so you must learn to use it correctly if you want to master the English language. 

What about these sentences?
The police officer saw him jaywalk across the street. We will leave for Korea tomorrow.

These two sentences above are also typical English sentence structures. You might have used them before. If you have not, you will need to use them as you converse and write more in English. Master the correct use of these sentence structures in order to be proficient in the English language. 



The 'to infinitive' and 'bare infinitive' are also important grammar items you should know before sitting for your PSLE.

The base form of a verb functions as an infinitive. The base form is what you see in a dictionary. There are no suffixes or endings such as ‘d’, ‘ed’, ’s’, ‘ing’. 

There are two types of infinitives:

(a) to-infinitive

(b) bare infinitive

To Infinitive

(a) The to-infinitive refers to the base form of verbs that come after ‘to’.

Examples:

·         She intends to study engineering in the university.

·         I got up early in order to go for a jog at the park.

·         The police patrol the neighbourhood so as to keep the place safe. 

·         We decided not to hold a barbecue after all.

·         Mr Thomson returned home only to find that his house had been burgled. 

Sometimes, an adverb can be put between ‘to’ and the verb.

Examples:

·         She will provide diagrams in order to properly illustrate this concept.

·         I find it challenging to really understand scientific theories.

We can also use the to-infinitive to talk about the future.

Examples:

·         I would like to join you for the game. 

·        She would like to watch the latest horror film.

We can also use the to-infinitive to talk about things that did not happen in the past.

Example:

I would like to have joined you for the game but I was unwell that day.

We use the to-infinitive after these verbs. You might want to take note of these when you speak and write. 

choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like, love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, agree, promise, refuse

Examples: 

·         You can choose to stay home or join us at the beach.

·         I love to read science fiction storybooks. 

·         She refused to take our advice. 

After these verbs, we use an object followed by the to-infinitive. 

advice, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn, expect, intend, would prefer, want, would like

Examples:

·         She encouraged me to take up violin lessons.

·         I intend to help Janice with her homework.

·         The boys would like to eat Indian food.

Let’s Practise!

Select the correct answer. 

1.  At the last minute, she changed her mind and decided to _______ us for the trip to Coney Island.

(1) join

(2) joins

(3) joined

(4) joining

2.  You must get enough sleep in order to _______ refreshed the next day.

(1) feels

(2) felt

(3) feel

(4) feeling

3.  She rushed to the auditorium only to _______ that the seminar had been cancelled.

(1) finding

(2) finds

(3) found

(4) find

4.  They would have liked to _______ at the home for the elderly but they were going on an overseas trip.

(1) volunteers

(2) volunteer

(3) volunteered

(4) volunteering

5.  “I expect you to _______ complete your homework before you watch television,” my mother told me sternly.

(1) completing

(2) completes

(3) completed

(4) complete

The sentences below should contain the to-infinitive. Correct them. 

6. A new conservation society has invited the public contributes ideas on saving the environment.

7. “If you choose buying this toy car, you cannot buy the action hero figurine,” Mrs Clark told her son.

8. The police warned the residents lock their doors when they were not at home.

9. I forgot return my library books yesterday.

10. The coach expected all the players in the netball team turned up for the practice session.

    Answers:
    1.  (1)
    2.  (3)
    3.  (4)
    4.  (2)
    5.  (4)

    6.  public to contribute
    7.  choose to buy
    8.  residents to lock
    9.  forgot to return
   10. team to turn up

Bare Infinitive

(b) The bare infinitive refers to the use of the verb in the base form without ‘to’. We use the bare infinitive after the following:

(i) modal verbs

Modal verbs are: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would

Example:

You should cycle along the bicycle path.

(ii) ‘let’ and ‘make’

Examples:

·         Chloe let her dog sleep at the foot of her bed.

·         Let’s go for a walk in the evening.

·         The teacher made the student stay behind after school.

(iii) ‘had better’, ‘would rather’, ’why not’

Examples: 

·         You had better do warm-up excises before running the marathon.

·         Joshua would rather live in the city than in the suburbs.

·         Why not wait for a sale before buying the game console?

·         

(iv) verbs of perception and an object

Some examples of verbs of perception: watch, see, hear, notice

Examples:

·         Dan screamed because he felt something brush against his leg.

·         We heard Jane play the drums.

·         The police officer noticed a man climb over the fence.

·         The onlookers watched the firefighters put out the fire.

·         I saw an elderly lady slip and fall at the wet market.

Let’s Practise!

Select the correct answer. 

1.  We were impressed that Sophie could _______ five different languages.

(1) spoke

(2) speak

(3) speaks

(4) speaking

2.  Why not _______ with me when you visit next month? There is plenty of room in my house.

(1) stays

(2) stay

(3) stayed

(4) staying

3.  Ann would rather _______ the guitar than the violin.

(1) learn

(2) learnt

(3) learns

(4) learning

4.  The supervisor insisted that his workers _______ to him at the end of the day.

(1) reported

(2) reports

(3) report

(4) reporting

5.  The principal was furious when he saw several students _______ the toilet walls.

(1) vandalise

(2) vandalises

(3) vandalised

(4) were vandalising

6.  Even though the man at the door was a stranger, she let him _______ her house.

(1) entering

(2) enters

(3) entered

(4) enter

7.  My sister made me _______ up late to help her with her art project.

(1) stays

(2) stay

(3) stayed

(4) staying

8.  You had better not _______ the expired food or you will fall ill.

(1) eat

(2) ate

(3) eats

(4) eating

Answers:
    1.  (2)
    2.  (2)
    3.  (1)
    4.  (3)
    5.  (1)
    6.  (4)
    7.  (2)
    8.  (1)

We can use ‘have’ or ‘had’ + the bare infinitive 

Examples:

·         Please have the workers stay for a meeting this afternoon.

·         The teacher had her students clean the classroom on the last day of school.

Sometimes we use the -ing form of the verb after ’to’. 

Examples:

·         We look forward to visiting the theme park next week.

·         She is used to travelling a long distance to work every day.

·         When will you get around to mending the broken drawer? 

We can tell that the ‘ing’ form of the verb should be used instead of the bare infinitive if we can replace the word with ‘it’. This is because the ‘ing’ form of the verb functions as a noun.

Example:

·         Jim is looking forward to it.

·         Jim is looking forward to watching the match. 

Let’s Practise!

Select the correct answer. 

1.  We decided to _______ at the new Italian restaurant.

(1) eats

(2) ate

(3) eat

(4) eating

2.  “Have the next patient _______ in,” the dentist told his assistant.

(1) coming

(2) came

(3) comes

(4) come

3.  My mother is used to _______ her dinner at 9pm as she usually comes home late from work.

(1) has

(2) had

(3) have

(4) having

4.  Ben did not take to _______ up at dawn when he transferred to a new school.

(1) get

(2) getting

(3) gets

(4) got

5.  Would Ann _______ to join us for the picnic?

(1) like

(2) likes

(3) liked

(4) liking



Answers:
    1.  (3)
    2.  (4)
    3.  (1)
    4.  (2)

    5.  (1)