To-infinitive – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You are sitting with your family, discussing your plans for the upcoming summer holiday. Read the sentences carefully and choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete your travel plans.
1 “This year, we plan ______ to Italy for our summer vacation.”
(A) going
(B) go
(C) to go
2 “I hope ______ the famous Colosseum when we are in Rome.”
(A) to see
(B) seeing
(C) see
3 “Do you want ______ in a large hotel or a small apartment?”
(A) staying
(B) to stay
(C) stay
4 “Dad decided ______ a car so we can easily drive around the countryside.”
(A) to rent
(B) rent
(C) renting
5 “My sister loves art, so she would like ______ all the famous museums.”
(A) visiting
(B) visit
(C) to visit
6 “Our flight is early. We expect ______ at the airport around 10:00 AM.”
(A) arrive
(B) to arrive
(C) arriving
7 “Mom chose ______ a direct flight to save us some travel time.”
(A) to book
(B) book
(C) booking
8 “I need ______ a new swimsuit before we leave next week.”
(A) buy
(B) buying
(C) to buy
9 “Please don’t forget ______ your sunscreen! It will be very sunny there.”
(A) to pack
(B) packing
(C) pack
10 “Before we leave the house, we must remember ______ our passports.”
(A) bring
(B) bringing
(C) to bring
11 “After talking for hours, we all agreed ______ three days relaxing at the beach.”
(A) spending
(B) to spend
(C) spend
12 “I promise ______ lots of beautiful photos to show our friends.”
(A) taking
(B) take
(C) to take
13 “We decided ______ on Friday evening because the traffic is always terrible.”
(A) not to travel
(B) to not traveling
(C) don’t travel
14 “I would love ______ the local pizza when we visit Naples.”
(A) trying
(B) to try
(C) try
15 “We saved money all year, so we can afford ______ in a very nice resort.”
(A) to stay
(B) stay
(C) staying
16 “We will try ______ a few basic Italian words before the holiday begins.”
(A) learn
(B) learning
(C) to learn
17 “The boat tour sounds fun, but I hope ______ seasick on the water!”
(A) not to get
(B) to not getting
(C) don’t get
18 “When we book the tickets, I would prefer ______ by the window on the airplane.”
(A) to sit
(B) sitting
(C) sit
19 “My uncle offered ______ us to the airport on Monday morning.”
(A) driving
(B) drive
(C) to drive
20 “I am so excited! I can’t wait ______ on the beach and forget about work.”
(A) lie
(B) to lie
(C) lying
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (C) to go
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb plan expresses a future intention and is always followed by a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “going” is a gerund, which is incorrect after plan. (B) “go” is a base verb missing the required “to”.
2 (A) to see
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb hope expresses a future desire and takes a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “seeing” is a gerund error. (C) “see” lacks “to”.
3 (B) to stay
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb want expresses a desire and requires a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “staying” is incorrect. (C) “stay” is a bare infinitive error.
4 (A) to rent
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb decide shows a choice made for the future, requiring a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “rent” lacks “to”. (C) “renting” is incorrect.
5 (C) to visit
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The phrase would like is used to state what someone wants to do, followed by a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “visiting” is a common mistake (learners confuse “would like” with “like”). (B) “visit” lacks “to”.
6 (B) to arrive
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb expect (anticipating a future event) takes a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “arrive” lacks “to”. (C) “arriving” is a gerund error.
7 (A) to book
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb choose requires a to-infinitive when deciding to do an action.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “book” lacks “to”. (C) “booking” is incorrect.
8 (C) to buy
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb need expresses a requirement for a future action, taking a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “buy” lacks “to”. (B) “buying” is incorrect.
9 (A) to pack
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Forget + to-infinitive” means forgetting to perform a task or a planned action.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “packing” would mean forgetting the past memory of packing. (C) “pack” lacks “to”.
10 (C) to bring
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Remember + to-infinitive” means remembering that you must do a task.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “bring” lacks “to”. (B) “bringing” is incorrect for this future-task context.
11 (B) to spend
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb agree (making a mutual plan) takes a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “spending” is a gerund error. (C) “spend” lacks “to”.
12 (C) to take
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb promise makes a commitment for the future and requires a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “taking” and (B) “take” are grammatically incorrect.
13 (A) not to travel
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: To make a negative plan, we put “not” directly before the to-infinitive (“not to + V”).
- Why others are wrong: (B) “to not traveling” uses the wrong verb form and word order. (C) “don’t travel” is imperative and cannot follow decided.
14 (B) to try
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Would love functions exactly like would like and requires a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “trying” is incorrect. (C) “try” lacks “to”.
15 (A) to stay
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb afford (having enough money to do something) takes a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “stay” lacks “to”. (C) “staying” is incorrect.
16 (C) to learn
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: “Try + to-infinitive” means making an effort to do something difficult.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “learn” lacks “to”. (B) “learning” means doing it as an experiment, which doesn’t fit the context of studying.
17 (A) not to get
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Negative infinitive structure: “hope + not + to + V”.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “to not getting” is wrong. (C) “don’t get” is grammatically invalid here.
18 (A) to sit
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: Would prefer requires a to-infinitive to express a specific choice.
- Why others are wrong: (B) “sitting” is used with the general verb prefer, but NOT with would prefer. (C) “sit” lacks “to”.
19 (C) to drive
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The verb offer (volunteering to help in the future) takes a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “driving” and (B) “drive” are incorrect.
20 (B) to lie
Explanation: – Why it’s correct: The phrase can’t wait expresses extreme excitement for a future event and is followed by a to-infinitive.
- Why others are wrong: (A) “lie” lacks “to”. (C) “lying” is a gerund error.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Verbs of Planning and Expectation: Because plans, hopes, and expectations are always about the future, the verbs we use to talk about them are almost always followed by “to + Verb” (the to-infinitive).
- Key Verbs: plan, hope, expect, decide, choose, want, would like, afford.
- Example: “We plan to travel.” (NOT “We plan traveling”).
- The Negative Plan:
- When you decide or hope not to do something, place the word “not” immediately before the “to”.
- Structure: decide / hope + not + to + Verb
- Example: “We decided not to travel on Friday.” (NOT “We decided to not travel” or “We decided don’t travel”).
- Would like / Would love / Would prefer:
- While the verbs like, love, and prefer can often take an -ing verb when talking about general hobbies, adding “would” changes the rule. Would like/love/prefer talk about a specific future desire and must take a to-infinitive.
- Example: “I love eating pizza.” (General) -> “I would love to eat pizza tonight.” (Specific plan).