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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
Yeah, they reduce the price to get rid of them.Ouais, ils ont réduit les prix pour s'en débarrasser.
To guarantee our safety.Je garantis ta sécurité.
I just came to take Mike with me.Je suis juste venu pour prendre Mike avec moi.
I knew you were waiting to ask that question!Je savais que t'attendais de me poser cette question!
Are you here to talk about this issue, Nick?Ça te va de parler de ce problème Nick?
Can you check the price tag to see if they are sold by the kilo or individually?Peux-tu vérifier le prix pour voir si nous devrions en acheter par kilo ou individuellement ?
I wonder how many times you brought her here to watch the sunset.Je me demande combien de fois tu l'as amenée ici pour voir le coucher du soleil.
It helped me a lot to save some time.Cela m'a beaucoup aidé pour gagner du temps.
I need a couple of days to finish my projects...J'ai besoin de quelques jours pour finir mes projets...
It requires two people to do it...Il faut deux personnes pour l'ouvrir...
Arrgh... I can't believe he suggested leaving Pogo to take the room!!!Arrgh... Je n'arrive pas à croire qu'il m'ait suggéré de laisser Pogo pour la chambre!!!
She called me last night to let me know about the clogged toilet...Elle m'a appelé l'autre soir à propos des toilettes bouchées...
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.Je pense qu'elle est là-haut entrain de dormir.
So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster.Alors j'ai augmenté la chaleur pour cuire plus vite.
What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now?Quoi? Pardon? Tu m'appelles maintenant pour me dire ça?
Maybe it's better for us to meet up somewhere to talk about this.C'est peut-être mieux de nous voir quelque part et d'en discuter.
We can find you a better house to live in.On peut trouver une meilleure maison.
Mike just went to get us some drinks.Mike va nous chercher des boissons.
I took a half day off work to bring Pogo to the vet.J'ai pris une demi-journée de congée pour amener Pogo chez le vétérinaire.
Don't you have a cleaner to help keep the house clean?Tu n'as pas un domestique qui t'aide à nettoyer la maison?

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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