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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
Because I need the chicken stock to cook the rice in.Ich brauche nämlich die Hühnerbrühe, um den Reis darin zu kochen.
She called me last night to let me know about the clogged toilet...Sie hat mich letzte Nacht angerufen, um mich über die verstopfte Toilette zu informieren...
I knew you were waiting to ask that question!Ich wusste, dass du darauf gewartet hast diese Frage zu stellen!
So I turned the stove up higher to cook faster.Also habe ich den Herd hochgedreht, um schneller zu kochen.
Yeah, they reduce the price to get rid of them.Ja, sie reduzieren den Preis, um sie loszuwerden.
I took a half day off work to bring Pogo to the vet.Ich habe mir den halben Tag freigenommen, um Pogo zur Tierärztin zu bringen.
You can bring Pogo one day to see if they get on well.Du kannst eines Tages mal Pogo vorbeibringen, um zu sehen, ob sie miteinander klarkommen.
It helped me a lot to save some time.Es hat mir sehr viel geholfen, dass ich ein bisschen Zeit sparen konnte.
I think she went upstairs to get some sleep.Ich glaube sie ist nach oben gegangen, um etwas zu schlafen.
I already did it a couple of months ago to find this one.Das habe ich bereits vor ein paar Monaten gemacht, um dieses zu finden.
To guarantee our safety.Um unsere Sicherheit zu garantieren.
I will try to talk to her to solve the problem!Ich werde versuchen mit ihr zu reden, um das Problem zu lösen!
I wonder how many times you brought her here to watch the sunset.Ich frage mich, wie oft du sie hierher gebracht hast, um den Sonnenuntergang zu betrachten.
I brought him to see if he gets on well with Bear.Ich habe ihn mitgebracht, um zu sehen, ob mehr gut mit Bear klarkommt.
Don't you have a cleaner to help keep the house clean?Habt ihr keine Putzfrau, die hilft das Haus sauber zu halten?
Can you check the price tag to see if they are sold by the kilo or individually?Kannst du das Preisschild überprüfen, um zu sehen, ob der Knoblauch kiloweise oder pro Stück verkauft wird?
I just came to take Mike with me.Ich bin nur gekommen, um Mike mitzunehmen.
To avoid making my payment!Um zu vermeiden, mir mein Geld zu zahlen!
What? Excuse me! Are you just calling to tell me this now?Was? Das ist nicht dein Ernst! Rufst du mich nur an, um mir das zu sagen?
No, it's only for people to have fun at an amusement park.Nein, nur für Menschen, um Spaß auf einem Rummelplatz zu haben.

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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