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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
To guarantee our safety.	Je garantis ta sécurité.
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.
I think you are doing this on purpose to annoy me.	Je pense que tu le fais exprès pour m'importuner.
So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster.	Alors j'ai augmenté la chaleur pour cuire plus vite.
I knew you were waiting to ask that question!	Je savais que t'attendais de me poser cette question!
To avoid making my payment!	Pour éviter de me payer!
It helped me a lot to save some time.	Cela m'a beaucoup aidé pour gagner du temps.
Excuse me!? I just played with the kids to keep them entertained.	Excuse-moi ? J'ai juste joué avec les enfants pour les divertir.
I brought him to see if he gets on well with Bear.	Je l'ai amené ici pour voir s'il s'entend bien avec Bear.
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.	Je pense qu'elle est là-haut entrain de dormir.
Yeah, they reduce the price to get rid of them.	Ouais, ils ont réduit les prix pour s'en débarrasser.
You can bring Pogo one day to see if they get on well.	Tu peux amener Pogo un de ces jours si tu veux pour voir s'ils vont bien ensemble.
I need a couple of days to finish my projects...	J'ai besoin de quelques jours pour finir mes projets...
Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in.	J'ai besoin du fond de volaille pour cuire le riz.
It requires two people to do it...	Il faut deux personnes pour l'ouvrir...
I just came to take Mike with me.	Je suis juste venu pour prendre Mike avec moi.
No, it's only for people to have fun at an amusement park.	Non, c'est simplement pour que les gens puissent s'amuser dans un parc.
We can find you a better house to live in.	On peut trouver une meilleure maison.
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!!!

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