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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
Are you here to talk about this issue, Nick?Ça te va de parler de ce problème Nick?
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.
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.Je pense qu'elle est là-haut entrain de dormir.
I need a couple of days to finish my projects...J'ai besoin de quelques jours pour finir mes projets...
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 already did it a couple of months ago to find this one.Je l'ai déjà fait il y a quelques mois pour trouver celle-ci.
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?
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'm here with a plumber to fix the clogged toilet.Je suis ici avec un plombier pour réparer les toilettes bouchées.
Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in.J'ai besoin du fond de volaille pour cuire le riz.
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.
So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster.Alors j'ai augmenté la chaleur pour cuire plus vite.
I just came to take Mike with me.Je suis juste venu pour prendre Mike avec moi.
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.
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...
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.
What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now?Quoi? Pardon? Tu m'appelles maintenant pour me dire ça?
To avoid making my payment!Pour éviter de me payer!

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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