English (UK)
In English we often use an infinitive with to to talk about a person’s purpose.
We can also use 'in order to' or 'so as to'.
'So as to' and 'in order to' are more common before verbs like be, have, know etc.
Before a negative infinitive, we normally use 'so as' or 'in order'.
Notes for use of infinitive of purpose :
We say I came here to study English NOT I came here for studying English OR I came here for to study English.
We can use for + noun to say why we do something.
| Infinitive of purpose example sentences | |
|---|---|
| Mike just went to get us some drinks. | |
| Can you check the price tag to see if they are sold by the kilo or individually? | |
| I took a half day off work to bring Pogo to the vet. | |
| What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now? | |
| I brought him to see if he gets on well with Bear. | |
| I will try to talk to her to solve the problem! | |
| I need a couple of days to finish my projects... | |
| Arrgh... I can't believe he suggested leaving Pogo to take the room!!! | |
| I'm just calling you to check if you are ready. | |
| I knew you were waiting to ask that question! | |
| So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster. | |
| Excuse me!? I just played with the kids to keep them entertained. | |
| It requires two people to do it... | |
| Don't you have a cleaner to help keep the house clean? | |
| Yeah, they reduce the price to get rid of them. | |
| We can find you a better house to live in. | |
| Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in. | |
| It helped me a lot to save some time. | |
| Are you here to talk about this issue, Nick? | |
| I think you are doing this on purpose to annoy me. | |
