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Direct and indirect speech: Reporting hopes, promises and intentions
To report a promise, hope or intention we use an appropriate reporting verb followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive.
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Direct and indirect speech: Reporting orders, requests and advice
To report orders, requests and suggestions, we normally use a reporting verb like tell with (object) + to infinitive.
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Infinitives without to
Infinitives are generally used with the marker to. But we use the infinitive without to in some cases. After modal auxiliary verbs After the modal auxiliary verbs will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might and must, we use the infinitive without to.
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Infinitive forms
Besides simple infinitives like (to) write, there are also progressive, perfect and passive infinitives. Progressive Infinitive Form: (to) + be + present participle Examples are: (to) be writing, (to) be reading, (to) be walking etc.
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Functions of the to-infinitive
Functions of the to-infinitive The to-infinitive as the subject of the sentence. This is a formal usage and is far more common in written English than spoken: