3.207 transitive verbs with a 'to'-infinitive

Other verbs are used with an object and a 'to'-infinitive clause.

• His sister had taught him to sew.
• I encourage students to do these exercises at home.

Here is a list of verbs which are used with an object and a 'to'-infinitive:

• advise, allow, ask, beg, cause, challenge, choose, command, compel, dare, defy, enable, encourage, expect, forbid, force, get, help, induce, inspire, instruct, intend, invite, lead, leave, like, mean, move, oblige, order, pay, permit, persuade, prefer, press, programme, prompt, recruit, remind, teach, tell, train, trust, urge, use, want, warn, will

Note that some of the verbs in the above list are used for reporting orders and requests. For more information on this use, see paragraph 7.36.

Here is a list of verbs which are always or usually used in the passive when followed by a 'to'-infinitive:

• allege, assume, believe, claim, consider, deem, discover, estimate, feel, find, know, learn, prove, reckon, report, require, rumour, say, see, think, understand

They refer to saying, thinking, or discovering. The 'to'-infinitive that follows them is most commonly 'be' or 'have', or a perfect infinitive.

• The house was believed to be haunted.
• Over a third of the population was estimated to have no access to the health service.
• ...the primitive molecules which are believed to have given rise to life on Earth.