Verbs followed by to infinitive

A. As an object (following directly the verb)

Verb	Meaning	Example
afford	(a) have enough money for (b) do something without damage	Can you afford to buy a new bicycle? I can't afford to neglect my work.
agree	consent be willing	He agreed to accompany us to the theatre.
aim	intend direct one's efforts toward a purpose	They aim to please their customers.
appear	seem; look as if	He appears to want to leave.
arrange	make plans in advance; make preparations	I arranged to meet them at three this afternoon.
be bound	(a) be certain; destined; obliged; (b) be determined	He is bound to win; he is by far the most talented. He is bound to go, and nothing can stop him.
care	like; be willing or desirous {interrog. and neg. only)	Would you care to have dinner with me? I don't care to go there.
choose	decide; determine; elect	If he chooses to resign, let him do so.
claim	assert; state as a fact	He claimed to be the best tennis player in the school.
consent	agree; give permission	He consented to let me go.
decide	make up one's mind; resolve	She decided not to go.
decline	say "no" to; refuse politely	She declined to discuss her report with the newspapermen.
demand	ask for firmly and sharply	The policeman demanded to know where he lived.
drive	cause or force someone to do something, especially something unpleasant	He was driven to steal by hunger.
endeavor	make an effort; try	You must endeavor to do better.
fail	not do; not succeed; omit; neglect	She failed to understand its real significance.
have	be required or forced to; must [probability]	Do you have to go now? He has to be kidding. (AmE)
hope	desire and expect	We hope to see you soon.
is	should; must	Is John to remain here, too?
learn	gain skill in	You must learn to swim.
long	want very much; desire earnestly	I long to see her again.
offer	present for acceptance or refusal	The government offered to give us financial help.
ought	(a) should; must; (b) be probable that something will happen	You ought to obey your parents. Prices ought to come down soon.
plan	prepare in advance for something; intend	We are planning to visit Europe this summer.
pledge	make a solemn promise or agreement	He pledged never to come back until he had found her.
pretend	act as if something not real is real, or vice versa	They pretended not to see us.
proceed	begin and continue a course of action	As soon as he came in he proceeded to tell us all his troubles.
profess	claim	I don't profess to be an expert on the subject.
promise	(a) agree to do or not do something; (b) give reason to expect	I promise not to be late. It promises to be warm this afternoon.
refuse	say "no" to; reject	She refused to help us.
resolve	make up one's mind; decide; determine	That night he resolved to leave for London.
seek	attempt to do something	They sought to change my mind, but I said no.
seem	appear to be; give the impression of being or doing	The old building was not much better than a shed, and no one else seemed to want it.
strive	try hard; work hard; make a great effort	He strives to succeed.
swear	take an oath	The witness must swear to tell the truth.
think	intend or plan to do something; imagine or expect	They think to influence the voters.
threaten	warn that one will do harm, depending on certain conditions	He threatened to fire her.
undertake	agree; promise; make oneself responsible	He undertook to finish the job by Friday.
volunteer	offer one's services without being asked	He volunteered to get some information.

B. As object complement {following a noun or pronoun object)

Verb	Meaning	Sentence
believe	suppose; regard something as true	He believed his friend to have been wronged.
cause	lead to; bring about; produce a result	The vibration during the operation caused the nuts to loosen.
encourage	give hope, courage, or confidence to	They encouraged the children to paint pictures.
forbid	not allow; prohibit	I forbid you to use that word.
force	make a resisting person or thing do something	They forced us to leave the house.
invite	ask politely to come; encourage	I invited her to go for a walk. The cool water of the lake invited us to swim.
judge	give an opinion about someone or something	I judged him to be about 50.
know	have information in the mind	I have never known her to tell a lie.
persuade	cause to do something by reasoning, arguing, begging, etc.	We persuaded him to try again.
prompt	cause or urge a person to do something	What prompted him to be so generous?
remind	tell someone to remember to do something; make someone remember to do something	Please remind me to write tomorrow. The sight of the clock reminded me to leave at once.
show	give evidence of; make clear; cause to be seen; reveal	The facts show him to be honest.
suppose	believe	Most people supposed him to be innocent.
tell	warn; advise; command	I told you not to print that story, and now look what's happened.
trust	believe in the honesty and reliability of	You can't trust him to do anything right.
understand	accept or interpret in a certain way	I understood him to say that he would wait for us.
urge	request earnestly; try to persuade	The salesman urged me to buy the car.
warn	inform in advance of possible danger or consequences	We warned them not to go skating on such thin ice.

C. As (1) object {directly following the verb) or (2) object complement (following a noun or pronoun object) These verbs may have different meanings in the two cases.

Verb	Meaning	Sentence
ask	(1) request to be allowed (2) invite	She is asking to see you. He asked me to dine with him.
beg	(1) take the liberty of saying or doing something (2) ask earnestly	I beg to point out that your facts are incorrect. He begged her to remain at home.
dare	(1) be brave enough to (2) challenge	Young people should dare to think, dare to speak, and dare to act. Tom dared me to jump over the stream.
desire	wish or want very much	(1) We always desire to live in peace with our neighbours. (2) I desire you to go at once.
determine	(1) form a firm intention in the mind; decide (2) cause to decide	She determined to go at once. What determined you to accept the offer?
elect	(1) choose; decide (2) choose someone by voting	He elected to become a doctor. We elected her to represent us.
expect	(1) think or believe that something will happen (2) require	I expect to succeed. The officer expected his men to fight well in the coming battle.
prepare	make or get ready	(1) Turning, he prepared to go upstairs. (2) The nurse is preparing the child to go to (the) hospital.
presume	(1) dare to do something which one has no right to do (2) take something as true without proof; take for granted; suppose	She presumed to tell her employer how the work should be done. From the way they talked I presumed them to be married.
prove	(1) turn out to be (2) show beyond doubt to be true	It will prove to be false. I can prove it to be false.
trouble	(1) cause oneself inconvenience (often in negative sentences) (2) ask someone to do something inconvenient	Don't trouble to write when I'm gone. Can I trouble you to shut the door?