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Parts of Speech : Infinitive Verbs
Click each section below to review the grammar explanation and examples.
A Structure and Paragraph
An infinitive uses the base form of a verb. The most common infinitive structure is to + base verb.
to + base verb
●The organization plans to expand its services.
●Employees are expected to complete the training by Friday.
Infinitives can follow a verb, adjective, noun, or object. They can also explain the purpose of an action.
Common Structures
verb + to + base verb
●The committee decided to postpone the meeting.
verb + object + to + base verb
●Management encouraged employees to participate in the survey.
adjective + to + base verb
●The new system is difficult to operate without additional training.
noun + to + base verb
●The organization made an attempt to reduce operating costs.
to + base verb for purpose
●The city increased funding to improve public transportation.
Advanced Infinitive Forms
At CLB 9+, infinitives can also appear in continuous, perfect, passive, and perfect passive forms.
Continuous: to be + -ing
●The company appears to be experiencing financial difficulties.
Perfect: to have + past participle
●The project seems to have exceeded its original budget.
Passive: to be + past participle
●All applications need to be reviewed before Friday.
Perfect Passive: to have been + past participle
●The documents appear to have been submitted incorrectly.
Using Infinitives in a Paragraph
The organization initially planned to expand its operations into several rural communities. However, management appears to have underestimated the cost of providing these services. Several employees were asked to evaluate alternative approaches, and a consultant was hired to identify potential savings. The revised proposal is expected to be presented to the board next month. Although the organization hopes to proceed with the expansion, the project seems to have been delayed by unexpected financial difficulties.
| Infinitive | Form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| to expand | simple infinitive | planned action |
| to have underestimated | perfect infinitive | earlier action |
| to evaluate | object + infinitive | requested action |
| to identify | infinitive of purpose | explains why |
| to be presented | passive infinitive | receives the action |
| to proceed | simple infinitive | follows hope |
| to have been delayed | perfect passive infinitive | earlier passive action |
B Common Infinitive Verbs
Many verbs are commonly followed directly by to + infinitive.
agree, choose, decide, expect, fail, hope, learn, manage, offer, plan, prepare, promise, refuse, seem, tend, want
●The company agreed to reconsider the proposal.
●Officials failed to recognize the long-term consequences.
●The organization hopes to secure additional funding.
●The department managed to reduce its operating expenses.
●Several employees refused to accept the revised conditions.
Reporting and Appearance Verbs
Infinitives are especially useful in formal English after verbs such as appear, seem, and tend.
●The policy appears to benefit larger organizations.
●Housing costs seem to be increasing throughout the region.
●New employees tend to require additional support.
Use the perfect infinitive when the infinitive action happened earlier.
seem / appear + to have + past participle
●The company appears to have underestimated demand.
●Officials seem to have overlooked several important risks.
Negative Infinitives
Place not before the infinitive when the infinitive itself is negative.
verb + not to + base verb
●Management decided not to proceed with the expansion.
●The organization promised not to increase membership fees.
CLB 9+ Tip: Learn infinitives as verb patterns, not as individual words. For example: decide to do, refuse to do, manage to do, appear to do.
C Common Verb Patterns
1. Verb + Infinitive
verb + to + base verb
●The company plans to relocate its headquarters.
●Officials agreed to reconsider the proposal.
2. Verb + Object + Infinitive
Some verbs require a person or thing before the infinitive.
verb + object + to + base verb
Common verbs include:
advise, allow, ask, encourage, expect, force, invite, order, persuade, remind, require, tell, warn
●The supervisor reminded employees to submit their reports.
●The government encouraged businesses to reduce emissions.
●Regulations require employers to provide adequate safety equipment.
●Management persuaded the board to reconsider its decision.
3. Question Word + Infinitive
Infinitives can follow question words such as how, what, where, when, and whether.
question word + to + base verb
●Employees were shown how to operate the equipment.
●The committee must decide whether to approve the proposal.
●Officials have not determined where to construct the new facility.
●Management is considering when to introduce the changes.
4. Adjective + Infinitive
adjective + to + base verb
●The instructions are difficult to understand.
●The organization is prepared to provide additional assistance.
●Employees were reluctant to accept the proposed changes.
5. Noun + Infinitive
noun + to + base verb
●The company made an attempt to resolve the dispute.
●Officials developed a plan to reduce traffic congestion.
●Employees were given an opportunity to provide feedback.
6. Infinitive of Purpose
An infinitive can explain why an action is performed.
main action + to + base verb
●The city increased funding to improve public transportation.
●The company introduced new procedures to prevent workplace injuries.
●Researchers collected additional data to determine whether the program was effective.
CLB 9+ Tip: When an infinitive follows a noun or verb, determine whether it is part of a required grammar pattern or whether it explains the purpose of the action.
D Not Using "To"
Some infinitives use the base verb without to. This is called a bare infinitive.
1. Modal + Base Verb
modal + base verb
●The organization should reduce unnecessary expenses.
●The project could create hundreds of jobs.
●Management might reconsider the proposal.
❌ should to reduce
❌ could to create
✓ should reduce
✓ could create
❌ could to create
✓ should reduce
✓ could create
2. Let + Object + Base Verb
let + object + base verb
●Management let employees work remotely.
●The instructor let participants choose their own topics.
●❌ Management let employees to work remotely.
3. Make + Object + Base Verb
In the active voice, make is followed by an object and a bare infinitive.
make + object + base verb
●The new regulations made employers provide additional training.
●The delay made the company reconsider its schedule.
However, when make becomes passive, to returns.
be made + to + base verb
●Employers were made to provide additional training.
4. Had Better + Base Verb
had better + base verb
●The organization had better review its financial projections before proceeding.
5. Would Rather + Base Verb
would rather + base verb
●Many employees would rather work flexible hours.
●The company would rather postpone the expansion than increase its debt.
6. Help + Object + Infinitive
After help, both the bare infinitive and the to-infinitive are possible.
●The new system helped employees complete their work faster.
●The new system helped employees to complete their work faster.
Remember: After modals, let, make, had better, and would rather, the next verb normally appears without to.
E Infinitive or Gerund Verbs
Some verbs are followed by an infinitive, while others are followed by a gerund (-ing).
Infinitive
agree, decide, expect, hope, manage, offer, plan, promise, refuse, want + to + base verb
●The company decided to relocate.
Gerund
avoid, consider, delay, deny, enjoy, finish, keep, recommend, suggest + -ing
●The company considered relocating.
●❌ The company considered to relocate.
Verbs That Can Take Both
Some verbs can be followed by either form with little or no major change in meaning.
begin, continue, like, love, prefer, start
●The company began to expand its operations.
●The company began expanding its operations.
Remember
remember + to + verb = remember an action that still needs to be done
remember + gerund = remember a past experience
remember + gerund = remember a past experience
●Remember to submit the application before Friday.
●I remember submitting the application last week.
Forget
forget + to + verb = fail to perform an action
forget + gerund = not remember a past experience
forget + gerund = not remember a past experience
●She forgot to attach the document.
●I will never forget meeting my first instructor in Canada.
Stop
stop + gerund = discontinue an activity
stop + to + verb = interrupt one activity in order to do another
stop + to + verb = interrupt one activity in order to do another
●The company stopped producing the outdated model.
●The employees stopped to discuss the safety concern.
Try
try + to + verb = make an effort
try + gerund = experiment with a possible solution
try + gerund = experiment with a possible solution
●The organization tried to reduce its operating costs.
●The organization tried reducing office hours to lower costs.
Regret
regret + gerund = feel sorry about something that happened
regret + to + verb = formal expression for giving bad news
regret + to + verb = formal expression for giving bad news
●The company regrets closing the regional office.
●We regret to inform applicants that the position has been filled.
Mean
mean + to + verb = intend
mean + gerund = involve or result in
mean + gerund = involve or result in
●Management meant to announce the changes earlier.
●Expanding the program would mean hiring additional staff.
CLB 9+ Tip: With verbs such as remember, forget, stop, try, regret, and mean, changing from an infinitive to a gerund can change the meaning of the sentence.
F Key Points to Remember
1. The Basic Infinitive Uses the Base Verb
to + base verb
●to apply
●to reconsider
●to improve
❌ to applied
❌ to reconsidered
❌ to improving
✓ to apply
✓ to reconsider
✓ to improve
❌ to reconsidered
❌ to improving
✓ to apply
✓ to reconsider
✓ to improve
2. Some Verbs Need an Object
●The company decided to expand.
●The company encouraged employees to participate.
●❌ The company encouraged to participate.
With verbs such as encourage, remind, persuade, tell, require, and allow, identify who performs the infinitive action.
3. Use the Bare Infinitive After Modals
●should review
●could increase
●might change
●❌ should to review
4. Let and Make Normally Do Not Use "To"
●They let employees leave early.
●The regulations made companies change their procedures.
●Companies were made to change their procedures.
5. Infinitives Can Express Purpose
●The organization hired additional staff to reduce processing delays.
Ask: Why did the organization hire additional staff?
The infinitive to reduce processing delays explains the purpose.
The infinitive to reduce processing delays explains the purpose.
6. Use Advanced Infinitive Forms to Show Time and Voice
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| Simple | appears to improve |
| Continuous | appears to be improving |
| Perfect | appears to have improved |
| Passive | appears to be supported |
| Perfect Passive | appears to have been supported |
7. Infinitive vs. Gerund Can Change Meaning
● The organization stopped providing the service.
= It discontinued the service.
= It discontinued the service.
● The organization stopped to provide assistance.
= It interrupted another activity in order to provide assistance.
= It interrupted another activity in order to provide assistance.
CLB 9+ Strategy
Step 1 — Identify what comes before the second verb.
Is it a verb, adjective, noun, or modal?
Step 2 — Identify the required verb pattern.
decide to apply
suggest applying
encourage someone to apply
should apply
Step 3 — Decide whether an advanced infinitive is needed.
to apply
to be applying
to have applied
to be accepted
to have been accepted
Step 4 — Check whether a gerund would change the meaning.
Pay particular attention to:
remember, forget, stop, try, regret, mean
Is it a verb, adjective, noun, or modal?
Step 2 — Identify the required verb pattern.
decide to apply
suggest applying
encourage someone to apply
should apply
Step 3 — Decide whether an advanced infinitive is needed.
to apply
to be applying
to have applied
to be accepted
to have been accepted
Step 4 — Check whether a gerund would change the meaning.
Pay particular attention to:
remember, forget, stop, try, regret, mean
Remember: At CLB 9+, choosing between an infinitive, bare infinitive, perfect infinitive, passive infinitive, and gerund allows you to communicate not only the action, but also its purpose, timing, voice, intention, and relationship to other actions.