Common Verbs Followed Only by an Infinitive

afford I can’t afford to buy it.

agree They agreed to help us.

appear She appears to be tired.

arrange We arranged to meet at ten.

ask He asked to come with us.

beg He begged to come.

care I don’t care to see that show.

claim She claims to be a descendent of Karl Marx.

consent She finally consented to marry him.

decide I have decided to leave on Monday.

demand I demand to know who is responsible.

deserve She deserves to win the prize.

expect I expect to enter graduate school in the fall.

fail She failed to return the book to the library.

forget I forgot to mail the letter.

help He wanted to help with the clean-up.

hesitate Don’t hesitate to ask for my help.

hope Jack hopes to arrive next week.

learn He learned to play the piano.

manage She managed to finish her work early.

mean I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.

need I need to have your opinion.

offer They offered to help us.

plan I am planning to have a party.

prepare We prepared to welcome them.

pretend He pretends not to understand.

promise I promise not to be late.

refuse I refuse to believe his story.

regret I regret to tell you that you failed.

seem That cat seems to be friendly.

struggle I struggled to stay awake.

swear She swore to tell the truth.

threaten She threatened to tell my parents.

volunteer He volunteered to help us.

wait I will wait to hear from you.

want I want to tell you something.

wish She wishes to come with us