Infinitive with to
Examples with the Infinitive with to
After the following phrases we use the infinitive with to in English:
1. after phrases with: the first, the last, the next etc.,
- Hillary was the first to climb Everest.
- Gene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon.
- He is the next to be served.
2. after superlatives
- She is the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize
3. after adjectives
- I was stupid to believe her.
4. after special verbs (agree, choose,fail, forget, hope, learn, promise, regret*, want, …)
- I fail to see the funny side.
* After regret the to-infinitive is used when announcing bad news: We regret to inform you the 18:30 train has been cancelled.
5. after question words
- I don’t know what to say.
- Can you tell me how to get to the station?
6. after want/would like
- I want you to tell me the truth.
7. after Verb + Object
- I helped my friend to empty their garage.
Attention!
- I want to help you. (I help you.)
- I want you to help me. (You help me.)