Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verb Complements › Infinitives › Verbs w/Infinitive Complements
Verbs with Infinitive Complements
Express desire or intent to do an activity
| NOUN PHRASE | ||
|---|---|---|
These verbs typically express a desire or intent to do an activity. The verbs in this group are transitive. They require a complement. (The subject and predicate cannot stand alone without something else to complete it.) The complement may be a noun phrase, or sometimes a finite clause. |
||
| SUBJ | PRED | NOUN PHRASE COMPLEMENT |
Ed |
needs |
help. *[that he gets some help.] |
Ed |
hopes |
some peace and quiet. that he will find some peace and quiet. |
Ed |
likes |
attention. ~[that he receives attention.] |
Ed |
hates |
criticism from others. ~[that he hears criticism from others.] |
| INIFINITIVE CLAUSE | ||
|---|---|---|
These verbs also accept a nonfinite infinitive clause, which is a reduced clause: (1) the verb form is not marked for tense, person, or number; (2) the subject¹ is omitted and understood as being the same as the subject of the main (matrix) clause; (3) to is followed by a bare (plain) verb form. (To functions as a subordinator not actually part of the infinitive.) |
||
| SUBJ | PRED | NONFINITE CLAUSE COMPLEMENT |
Ed |
needs |
to get some help.
|
Ed |
hopes |
to find some peace and quiet.
|
Ed |
likes |
to receive attention.
|
Ed |
hates |
to hear criticism from others.
|
*not used / ~less commonly used
criticism (N) – negative comments
goal (N) – objective, result, something that someone wants to achieve or do
infinitive clause – see nonfinite clauses. (Note that the term "phrase" is reserved for groups such as noun phrase, adverb phrase, verb phrase, etc. See Phrase–a dependent in a clause.)
¹The subject of an infinitive clause may be expressed as [for + noun or pronoun] (accusative). See Infinitives w/Subjects
(Azar 14-6) (Biber 9.4) (Huddleston 14 §1.4) (Swan 258) See Grammar Notes below for grammatical terms.
| VERBS + INFINITIVE | |
|---|---|
afford I can afford to buy it. |
continue¹ I continue to work there. |
agree I agreed to help her. |
decide I can afford to buy it. |
appear You appear to be lost. |
demand He demanded to know. |
arrange I arranged to meet them. |
deserve¹ You deserve to win. |
ask I asked to go along. |
desire She desires to see you. |
attempt¹ I attempted to explain. |
expect I expect to be a little late. |
beg I begged to go too. |
fail I failed to get an A. |
begin¹ I began to take classes. |
forget² I forgot to call you. |
can't bear I can't bear to leave. |
hate I hate to miss your show. |
can't stand¹ I can't stand to wait. |
hesitate¹ I hesitate to say anything. |
care I don't care to see them. |
hope I hope to leave soon. |
choose I choose to live here. |
intend¹ I intend to win the game. |
claim He claims to be smart. |
learn I learned to speak Swahili. |
consent He consented to hire them. |
hope I hope to see you soon. |
| MORE VERBS + INFINITIVE | |
|---|---|
like¹ I like to swim. |
regret I regret to tell you this. |
would like I'd like to go with you. |
remember² I remembered to lock it. |
love¹ I love to dance. |
seem He seems to be relaxed. |
manage I'll manage to survive. |
start¹ It started to snow. |
mean I didn't mean to hurt you. |
struggle I struggle to do well. |
need I need to ask them. |
swear I swear to be true. |
neglect¹ I neglected to do my work. |
tend I tend to be on time. |
offer I offered to pay for it. |
threaten I hope to see you soon. |
plan I plan to leave soon. |
try² I try to help often. |
prefer¹ I prefer to pay less. |
use³ I used to play tennis. |
pretend I pretend to be confident. |
volunteer I volunteered to cook. |
prepare I will prepare to leave. |
wait I wanted to see the show. |
promise I promise to be on time. |
want I want to leave now. |
refuse I refuse to believe lies. |
wish I wish to go to Italy. |
¹ This verb can be used before an infinitive or a gerund without a change in meaning (e.g. I began to
plan my trip last week. /
I began planning my trip last week.)
² See Meaning differs
³ used (a former habit) — the tense is limited to past
Also see "Like" — Gerund vs. Infinitive – Small Differences in Meaning.
Bare Infinitives—Dare, Need and Help
Express opinion or intent (with and without "to")
Bare Infinitive (base form) vs. Infinitive (base + "to")
| LEXICAL VERBS | |
|---|---|
Three verbs—dare, need, help—are followed by the infinitive (with to) when they are used as lexical verbs. A lexical verb has a fixed meaning, one that can be found in a dictionary, and requires "do" support in questions and negatives The meaning expressed as modal or lexical verb is the same. |
|
| SUBJ + PRED | NONFINITE CLAUSE COMPLEMENT |
| LEXICAL VERB | "TO" INIFINITIVE |
Does he dare He doesn't dare He dares |
to go on vacation now? to go on vacation now. to go on vacation now. (statement) |
Does he need He doesn't need |
to ask permission? to ask permission. |
Did they help They didn't help |
to get the project done? to get the project done. |
| MODAL EXPRESSION | "TO" INIFINITIVE |
Are we able We aren't able |
to go on vacation now? to go on vacation now. |
Do we have We don't have |
to ask permission first? to ask permission first. |
| MODAL VERBS | |
|---|---|
The same three verbs—dare, need, help—are followed by the bare infinitive form (without to) when used as modals. As modals, these words express opinion, mostly in questions and negatives. And as with other modals (auxiliaries), dare and need do not require "do" support; help is the exception¹. |
|
| SUBJ + PRED | NONFINITE CLAUSE COMPLEMENT |
| MODAL–LIKE VERB | BARE INFINITIVE |
Dare he He dare not He dare |
go on vacation? go on vacation now. go on vacation now. (uncommon) |
Need we We need not |
ask permission? ask permission? |
Did they help They didn't help |
get the project done? get the project done. |
| MODAL | BARE INFINITIVE |
Can we We cannot |
go on vacation? go on vacation? |
May we We may not |
leave early? leave early. |
Also see Nonfinite Verb Form Types "plain form".
¹A lexical verb has a dictionary meaning, can be marked for tense and 3rd person, uses "do" (or "be") support in questions and negatives. In contrast, modals express meaning through "mood", are not marked for tense or 3rd person, do not use"do" support in questions and negatives. Modals express the speaker's opinion about the following verb phrase. They are used before the bare infinitives of other verbs, and add certain kinds of meaning connected with certainty, or with obligation, and freedom to act.
Negative Infinitives
Express no interest vs. avoidance
Negative main verb vs. negative infinitive
| NEGATIVE MAIN VERB | |
|---|---|
Use a negative verb if the speaker has no particular intention to do something. |
|
| NO PARTICULAR INTENTION | ACTIVITY |
I don't plan |
to shop downtown. |
I don't want |
to buy anymore shoes. |
I don't choose |
to wear fashionable shoes. |
I was asked
|
not to wear sandals but to wear closed-toe shoes instead.
|
| NEGATIVE INFINITIVE | |
|---|---|
Use a negative infinitive if the speaker has a clear intention to avoid something. Normally, the negative is placed before the to of the infinitive; however, it may also be placed after to in order to restrict (the scope of) the negative to just that infinitive. |
|
| INTENTION | AVOIDED ACTIVITY |
I plan |
not to shop downtown. |
I want |
not to buy shoes. |
I choose |
not to wear fashionable shoes. |
I was asked (by my employer)
|
to not wear sandals and to wear closed toe shoes.
|
subtle – not easy to notice or understand unless you pay careful attention; not obvious
Double -ing or to Forms in Sequence
The tendency to avoid repeating forms
Preference for gerund vs. infinitive form
| SECOND VERB FROM IS A GERUND |
|---|
Usually a speaker will vary the wording of a sentence that links same-form verbs. That is to say, the person may avoid using two -ing forms or two "to" forms in a series. This is a tendency (preference) not a rule. |
| PROGRESSIVE VERB + -ING |
*Justin was continuing driving without his glasses. Justin continued driving without his glasses. |
*Justin was starting wearing his glasses. Justin started wearing his glasses. |
| INFINITIVE + -ING |
He won't dare [to] continue to refuse paying for the gas. |
She intends to try persuading him to help her [to] change her car tire. |
| SECOND VERB FORM IS AN INFINITIVE |
|---|
For those verbs (e.g.,attempt, begin, can't stand, continue, deserve, hesitate, intend, like, love, neglect, prefer, start) that do not change meaning when used as a gerund vs. an infinitive, the speaker can switch to an infinitive form. |
| PROGRESSIVE VERB + TO (VERB) |
Justin was continuing to drive without his glasses. |
Justin was starting to wear his glasses |
| INFINITIVE + TO (VERB) |
He won't dare to continue to refuse to pay for the gas. |
She intends to try to persuade him to help her to change her car tire. |
*This is not incorrect but often avoided or reworded.
The same switching occurs with to: He prefers X to Y (where X and Y are infinitives). He prefers to jog to to walk. See Prefer to.
"The double-ing constraint" (Huddleston 14 §5.6.1)
Infinitive Meaning
Differs from the gerund form
Infinitive vs. Gerund meaning
| INFINITIVE—MEANING 1 |
|---|
In general, to (infinitive) verbs are associated with a goal, with a projected time in the future while -ing (gerund) verbs are associated with what is current and actual. However, there are many variations in actual use. |
Joe tried to wear his glasses all day. (attempted) |
Joe stopped to put on his glasses. (ended activity #1 so that he could do activity #2 [putting on glasses] |
Joe remembered to put on his glasses . (didn't forget; he did put them on) |
Justin forgot to put on his glasses . (didn't put them on) |
| GERUND—MEANING 2 |
|---|
Some verbs change meaning when followed by an infinitive or gerund. The verbs below vary in meaning from the verbs on the left. |
Joe tried wearing his glasses all day. (experimented with a new method) |
Joe stopped putting on his glasses. (ended activity #1 [putting on glasses] |
Joe remembered putting on his glasses. (recalled the action) |
Justin forgot putting on his glasses. (couldn't recall the action) |
Also so Gerund Meaning (gerund meaning differs from infinitive meaning).
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Traditional and Linguistic Description
Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions
| TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION | LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
In traditional grammar, an "infinitive "phrase" is a nominal (noun) form used as (that functions as) the object of the verb.
|
In current grammar, the verb+ infinitive is a "simple" construction. The clause complements specific verbs which form a sub-category. (See list above.) The understood subject of the matrix (main) clause is the same as the subject of the infinitive clause: Ed needs (for Ed) to get some help. For more precise and complete details, see " To-infinitivals with and without a subject (1178); The clause subordinator for (Huddleston 1181); "accusative rather than nominative pronoun forms" (Huddleston 1182); "The infinitival subordinator to" (Huddleston1183); understood subjects (Huddleston 1192) |
| PARSE DIAGRAM | TREE DIAGRAM |
Ed needs to get some help.
|
Ed needs to get some help.
|
Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.
Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.
Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).
Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning (DO – direct object; IO – indirect object); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.
Works Cited
- Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. "Common Verbs Followed by Infinitives." Understanding and Using English Grammar, 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
- Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. "Infinitive Clauses." Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English, Pearson Education, 1999.
- Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum. "The structure of infinitivals." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Pullum, Geoffrey. "Non-finite Clauses." Linguistics and English Language, U of Edinburgh. 1 Nov 2012, www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/grammar/nonfiniteclauses.html.
- "Sentence diagram: The Reed Kellogg System." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Apr. 2016. wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed.E2.80.93Kellogg_system.
- Swan, Michael. "283 Infinitives (5): I want you to listen." Practical English Usage, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Global Warming
Decide how each verb is complemented (completed).
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Practice 2
Following the "Orangutan Diet" 
Correct or Incorrect?
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Practice 3
Cooking—Bold Pairings
Read for Errors
When learning how to cook, ninety per cent of the people fail learn what to cook or cook something really well. A true chef has to know how to examine, to feel and smell food. Every young chef, hoping to create, perfect, and to present a special signature dish, begins by experimenting with strange combinations.
Chocolate and pepper, onions and papaya, strawberries and truffles—bold pairings of ingredients tend to struggle persuading us to accept them as complementary. To seek that perfect combination of flavors is daunting; it is sheer joy finding it.
bold pairing (expression) – a very unexpected combination of ingredients such as garlic and chocolate
complementary (Adj) – things that are different but go well together
daunting (Adj) – frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident
perfect (V) – to make perfect (Adj) , excellent
pairing (N) – putting two items together
Edit for Errors
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