Verb + to ...

Verbs Followed by to + Infinitive

After certain verbs, you use to + the base form of the verb (the infinitive). Here are the most common ones:

offer	plan	manage	deserve
agree	arrange	fail	afford
refuse	hope	promise	learn
decide	forget	threaten	tend

• The trip was long, so we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel.
• The project was behind schedule, so I agreed to help the other team.
• I called the supplier three times but failed to reach anyone.
• She tends to send emails late at night.
• How old were you when you learnt to use the new accounting software?

The Negative: not to

To make the infinitive negative, put not before to:

• We decided not to go ahead with the launch because of the delays.
• I promised not to share the salary figures with anyone.

Dare

After dare you can use the infinitive with or without to:

• I didn’t dare to ask for a raise. or I didn’t dare ask for a raise.

But after dare not (or daren’t), drop the to:

• I daren’t tell my manager what happened. (not daren’t to tell)

Seem, Appear, Pretend, Claim

These four verbs also take to + infinitive:

• They seem to have plenty of resources for the project.
• She pretended not to see me when I walked past her desk.

You can also use to be + -ing (continuous infinitive) and to have + past participle (perfect infinitive):

Form	Example	Meaning
to be + -ing	I pretended to be reading the report.	I pretended that I was reading it.
to have + past participle	I seem to have lost the client’s file.	It seems that I have lost it.
not to have + past participle	She claimed not to have seen the memo.	She claimed that she hadn’t seen it.

Question Words + to

After some verbs, you can use a question word (what / how / where / whether) + to + infinitive:

Verb	Example
ask	We asked how to get to the conference centre.
decide	Have you decided where to hold the meeting?
know	I don’t know whether to apply for the position or not.
understand	Do you understand what to do with the new system?
remember	I can’t remember how to reset the password.
forget	Don’t forget where to submit the report.

You can also use show / tell / ask / advise / teach + somebody + question word + to:

• Can someone show me how to use the projector?
• Ask the IT team. They’ll tell you what to do.

Don’t Mix Up: to vs. -ing

Some verbs take -ing, not to. Watch out for these:

Verb + to (infinitive)	Verb + -ing
I decided to leave early.	I enjoy working from home.
She agreed to help.	He suggested meeting at noon.
We hope to finish on time.	Are you thinking of changing jobs?

If you use the wrong form, the sentence is wrong: enjoy to work, suggest to meet, thinking to change.

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