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Infinitive of purpose Exercises

( Free Online English Grammar Lessons )

Read time : 1 minute

Form : ( To + infinitive (Verb 1) )

In English we often use an infinitive with to to talk about a person’s purpose.

  • He rose to speak. (Why did he rise? To speak.)
  • She came to the city to look for work. (Why did she come to the city? To look for work.)
  • He sat down to rest. (Why did he sit down? To rest.)

We can also use 'in order to' or 'so as to'.

  • She came to the city so as to look for work.

'So as to' and 'in order to' are more common before verbs like be, have, know etc.

  • He raised his voice so as to be heard.
  • He got up early in order to have enough time to pack.

Before a negative infinitive, we normally use 'so as' or 'in order'.

  • I am leaving now so as not to be late. (NOT I am leaving now not to be late.)

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.

  • I went to the shop for a newspaper.
Infinitive of purpose example sentences
I took a half day off work to bring Pogo to the vet.Ich habe mir den halben Tag freigenommen, um Pogo zur Tierärztin zu bringen.
I'm just calling you to check if you are ready.Ich wollte nur kurz anrufen, um zu sehen, ob du bereit bist.
No, it's only for people to have fun at an amusement park.Nein, nur für Menschen, um Spaß auf einem Rummelplatz zu haben.
Don't you have a cleaner to help keep the house clean?Habt ihr keine Putzfrau, die hilft das Haus sauber zu halten?
What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now?Was? Das ist nicht dein Ernst! Rufst du mich nur an, um mir das zu sagen?
Maybe it's better for us to meet up somewhere to talk about this.Vielleicht ist es besser, wenn wir uns irgendwo treffen, um darüber zu reden.
Are you here to talk about this issue, Nick?Bist du hier um darüber zu reden, Nick?
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.Ich glaube sie ist nach oben gegangen, um etwas zu schlafen.
Mike just went to get us some drinks.Mike ist gerade los, uns ein paar Getränke zu holen.
It requires two people to do it...Man benötigt dazu zwei Menschen...
I just came to take Mike with me.Ich bin nur gekommen, um Mike mitzunehmen.
I brought him to see if he gets on well with Bear.Ich habe ihn mitgebracht, um zu sehen, ob mehr gut mit Bear klarkommt.
Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in.Ich brauche nämlich die Hühnerbrühe, um den Reis darin zu kochen.
To guarantee our safety.Um unsere Sicherheit zu garantieren.
Can you check the price tag to see if they are sold by the kilo or individually?Kannst du das Preisschild überprüfen, um zu sehen, ob der Knoblauch kiloweise oder pro Stück verkauft wird?
It helped me a lot to save some time.Es hat mir sehr viel geholfen, dass ich ein bisschen Zeit sparen konnte.
You can bring Pogo one day to see if they get on well.Du kannst eines Tages mal Pogo vorbeibringen, um zu sehen, ob sie miteinander klarkommen.
We can find you a better house to live in.Wir können dir ein besseres Haus finden.
I knew you were waiting to ask that question!Ich wusste, dass du darauf gewartet hast diese Frage zu stellen!
I will try to talk to her to solve the problem!Ich werde versuchen mit ihr zu reden, um das Problem zu lösen!

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Be going to
Be going to passive
Be used to / Get used to
Comparative
Defining relative clause
Echo tag
Expression
First conditional
Future
Future continuous
Future perfect continuous
Future perfect passive
Future perfect simple
Future simple passive
Greeting
Have/Get something done
Imperative
Implied conditional
Indirect question
Infinitive of purpose
Interjection
Mixed conditional
Modal
Modal passive
Non-defining relative clause
Other
Past continuous
Past continuous passive
Past perfect continuous
Past perfect passive
Past perfect simple
Past simple
Past simple passive
Polite request / offer / suggestion
Present continuous
Present continuous passive
Present perfect continuous
Present perfect passive
Present perfect simple
Present simple
Present simple passive
Question tag
Reduced relative clause
Reported speech imperative
Reported speech question
Reported speech request
Reported speech statement
Second conditional
Short answer
Superlative
Third conditional
Used to / would (past habit)
Was/were going to
Was/were supposed to
Wish
Would rather
Zero conditional