To-infinitive – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You are reading official notices from shops and personal status updates on social media. Read the announcements carefully and choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete each message.
1 “Dear customers, after 10 wonderful years here, we have decided ______ to a much bigger store.”
(A) moving
(B) to move
(C) move
2 “I want to share some personal news with you all. I decided ______ my job at the bank.”
(A) to quit
(B) quitting
(C) quit
3 “We are growing fast! The management decided ______ three new assistants next month.”
(A) hire
(B) hiring
(C) to hire
4 “Notice: Due to the cold weather, we decided ______ the cafe at 8 PM instead of 10 PM today.”
(A) to close
(B) close
(C) closing
5 “It was a hard choice, but I have decided ______ a new career in graphic design.”
(A) start
(B) starting
(C) to start
6 “We listened to your feedback and decided ______ more vegetarian dishes to our menu.”
(A) to add
(B) adding
(C) add
7 “Big news! My family and I decided ______ to Canada next year for a fresh start.”
(A) relocate
(B) to relocate
(C) relocating
8 “To give you better service, we decided ______ our website this weekend. It will be offline for two hours.”
(A) to upgrade
(B) upgrade
(C) upgrading
9 “After a long discussion, the team decided ______ the outdoor event because of the heavy rain.”
(A) cancelling
(B) cancel
(C) to cancel
10 “I have some sad news. I decided ______ my small bakery at the end of the month.”
(A) to shut down
(B) shutting down
(C) shut down
11 “We are happy to announce that we decided ______ a second coffee shop in the city center!”
(A) open
(B) to open
(C) opening
12 “I am officially on holiday! I decided ______ a break from social media for two weeks.”
(A) taking
(B) take
(C) to take
13 “Dear members, we decided ______ the monthly gym fee starting in January.”
(A) to change
(B) changing
(C) change
14 “I loved living in this apartment, but I decided ______ a house with a garden.”
(A) to buy
(B) buy
(C) buying
15 “Notice to all staff: The director has decided ______ a company party next Friday to celebrate our success.”
(A) organize
(B) to organize
(C) organizing
16 “We are going 100% digital! We decided ______ selling paper books next year.”
(A) to stop
(B) stop
(C) stopping
17 “It is time for a new adventure. I decided ______ back to university for my master’s degree.”
(A) to go
(B) going
(C) go
18 “The old colors were boring, so we decided ______ the walls bright yellow!”
(A) paint
(B) painting
(C) to paint
19 “To say thank you to our loyal customers, we decided ______ a 50% discount on all items today.”
(A) offering
(B) to offer
(C) offer
20 “After 30 years of teaching, Mr. Brown decided ______ this summer and travel the world.”
(A) to retire
(B) retiring
(C) retire
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) to move
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb decide expresses a choice made for a future action. It is always followed by the to-infinitive (to + verb).
- Why others are wrong: (A) “moving” is a gerund, which cannot follow decide. (C) “move” is a bare infinitive and is missing “to”.
2 (A) to quit
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive” is used to announce the personal choice to leave the job.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “quitting” is a gerund error. (C) “quit” lacks “to”.
3 (C) to hire
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The management’s choice for the future requires “to hire”.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “hire” lacks “to”. (B) “hiring” is a gerund error.
4 (A) to close
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Announces an official change in the shop’s routine using “decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “close” lacks “to”. (C) “closing” is incorrect.
5 (C) to start
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Explains a major life choice for the future.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “start” lacks “to”. (B) “starting” is incorrect.
6 (A) to add
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “adding” is a gerund error. (C) “add” lacks “to”.
7 (B) to relocate
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive” is the standard way to announce moving to a new place.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “relocate” lacks “to”. (C) “relocating” is incorrect.
8 (A) to upgrade
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “upgrade” lacks “to”. (C) “upgrading” is a gerund error.
9 (C) to cancel
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: A finalized decision about an upcoming event requires the to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “cancelling” is a gerund error. (B) “cancel” lacks “to”.
10 (A) to shut down
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “shutting down” is incorrect. (C) “shut down” lacks “to”.
11 (B) to open
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “open” lacks “to”. (C) “opening” is a gerund error.
12 (C) to take
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “taking” is incorrect. (B) “take” lacks “to”.
13 (A) to change
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive” announces the new policy.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “changing” is a gerund. (C) “change” lacks “to”.
14 (A) to buy
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “buy” lacks “to”. (C) “buying” is incorrect.
15 (B) to organize
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive” announces a future event.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “organize” lacks “to”. (C) “organizing” is a gerund error.
16 (A) to stop
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided to stop” is the correct combination. (Note: “stop” itself is followed by an -ing verb like “selling,” but “decide” strictly takes the “to-infinitive”).
- Why others are wrong: (B) “stop” lacks “to”. (C) “stopping” is incorrect.
17 (A) to go
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “going” is a gerund error. (C) “go” lacks “to”.
18 (C) to paint
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “paint” lacks “to”. (B) “painting” is incorrect.
19 (B) to offer
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “offering” is a gerund error. (C) “offer” lacks “to”.
20 (A) to retire
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Announces a major life decision for the future using “decided + to-infinitive”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “retiring” is a gerund. (C) “retire” lacks “to”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Verb “Decide”: The verb decide means making a choice about something that will happen later. Because it points forward to a future action, it must be followed by the to-infinitive (to + Verb).
- Example: “We have decided to move.”
- Announcing Changes: When a business or an individual posts an update about a change, they usually state the decision in the Past Simple (we decided) or Present Perfect (we have decided), followed by the to-infinitive.
- Example: “I decided to quit my job.” / “We have decided to change our hours.”
- The Common Mistake: Many learners try to use the -ing form (gerund) after decide. This is always grammatically incorrect in English.
- Wrong: I decided quitting.
- Right: I decided to quit.