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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
I'm just calling you to check if you are ready.	Je t'appelle juste pour savoir si tu est prête.
So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster.	Alors j'ai augmenté la chaleur pour cuire plus vite.
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 need a couple of days to finish my projects...	J'ai besoin de quelques jours pour finir mes projets...
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.	Je pense qu'elle est là-haut entrain de dormir.
To guarantee our safety.	Je garantis ta sécurité.
We can find you a better house to live in.	On peut trouver une meilleure maison.
Are you here to talk about this issue, Nick?	Ça te va de parler de ce problème Nick?
It helped me a lot to save some time.	Cela m'a beaucoup aidé pour gagner du temps.
I just came to take Mike with me.	Je suis juste venu pour prendre Mike avec moi.
What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now?	Quoi? Pardon? Tu m'appelles maintenant pour me dire ça?
Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in.	J'ai besoin du fond de volaille pour cuire le riz.
To avoid making my payment!	Pour éviter de me payer!
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.
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 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.
I knew you were waiting to ask that question!	Je savais que t'attendais de me poser cette question!
Yeah, they reduce the price to get rid of them.	Ouais, ils ont réduit les prix pour s'en débarrasser.
Excuse me!? I just played with the kids to keep them entertained.	Excuse-moi ? J'ai juste joué avec les enfants pour les divertir.
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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