Page 140 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
64 to … , for … and so that …

A We say:
I called the restaurant to reserve a table.
What do you need to make bread?
We shouted to warn everybody of the danger.
This letter is to confirm the decisions we made at our meeting last week.
The president has a team of bodyguards to protect him.

In these examples to … (to reserve … / to make … etc.) tells us the purpose of something: why
somebody does something, has something, needs something etc., or why something exists.

B We say ‘a place to park’, ‘something to eat’, ‘work to do’ etc. :
It’s hard to find a place to park in the city centre. (= a place where you can park)
Would you like something to eat? (= something that you can eat)
Do you have much work to do? (= work that you must do)
Sometimes there is a preposition (on, with etc.) after the verb:
Is there a chair to sit on? (= a chair that I can sit on)
I get lonely if there’s nobody to talk to.
I need something to open this bottle with.
We also say money/time/chance/opportunity/energy/courage (etc.) to do something:
They gave us money to buy food.
Do you have much opportunity to practise your English?
I need a few days to think about your proposal.

C Compare for … and to …
for + noun to + verb
We stopped for petrol. We stopped to get petrol.
I had to run for the bus. I had to run to catch the bus.

You can say ‘for somebody to do something’:
There weren’t any chairs for us to sit on, so we sat on the floor.
We use for (do)ing to say what something is used for:
This brush is for washing the dishes.

But we do not use for -ing to say why somebody does something:
I went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. (not for washing)
You can use What … for? to ask about purpose:
What is this switch for? (= what is it used for?)
What did you do that for? (= why did you do that?)

D so that
We use so that (not to …) especially with can/could and will/would:
She’s learning English so that she can study in Canada.
We moved to London so that we could see our friends more often.
I hurried so that I wouldn’t be late.
(= because I didn’t want to be late)
You can leave out that. So you can say:
I hurried so that I wouldn’t be late. or I hurried so I wouldn’t be late.

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