Verbs Followed by Infinitives in English

• afford  

We cannot afford to hesitate.

• agree    

The professors agreed to disagree.

• aim       

We aim to increase the speed of delivery.

• appear  

The results appear to support your theory.

• attempt  

Are you going to attempt to pass the exam?

• ask        

Historians frequently ask to consult the collection.

• arrange           

They had arranged to meet at noon.

• beg        

I beg to differ with you.

• begin    

The leaves begin to fall when autumn comes.

• care      

Would you care to respond?

• choose

Every day is beautiful if you choose to see it.

• claim   

She claims to have new data.

• consent         

Will you consent to run for office?

• continue         

The finance minister will continue to mastermind Poland’s economic reform.

• dare      

I wouldn’t dare to call him. He’s very angry.

• decide  

He has decided to live in France.

• demand              

I demand to see the results of the survey.

• deserve        

She deserves to have a fair hearing.

• dislike  

We dislike to have anyone patronize us.

• expect  

What time do you expect to arrive home?

• fail       

The teacher failed to recognise my good work.

• forget

She forgot to turn off the tap, so there was water all over the floor.

• get     

We’ve got to get the economy under control or it will literally eat us up.

• hesitate             

I hesitate to try the experiment again.

• hope  

He hope to find a job in Cork soon.

• hurry    

It had to hurry to find a home because I was already on to something else.

• intend  

I heard they intend to marry.

• learn      

We have learned to proceed with cautions.

• like  

She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.

• love  

I love to ramble through the fields and lanes in this part of the country.

• manage   

How did she manage to find the solution?

• mean    

I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.

• neglect

The author neglected to provide an index.

• need    

Do we need to find new subjects?

• offer      

She offered to help me move my things to my new house.

• plan      

Next year I plan to travel around the world.

• prefer    

Would you prefer to live in the country instead of a town?

• prepare      

He was not prepared to give a lecture.

• pretend  

She was pretending to cry. I knew she was lying.

• proceed   

They will proceed to build another laboratory building.

• promise          

He promised to collect her from the airport.

• propose

We propose to deal with this subject in the following chapter.

• refuse  

She refused to cooperate any longer.

• remember          

He had remembered to bring a pair of gloves, unlike me.

• seem    

Something seems to be wrong with your design.

• start 

The child started to sob when he couldn’t find his mother.

• stop   

His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me.

• struggle     

We struggled to understand her point of view.

• swear   

He swears to tell the truth.

• threaten              

The team threatened to stop their research.

• try      

We tried to confuse the enemy.

• volunteer   

Will you volunteer to lead the group?

• wait      

We could not wait to hear the outcome.

• want    

She did not want to go first.

• wish   

Do you wish to participate?