Grammar & Vocabulary: Clauses of Purpose [Madrasati @ Abdessalami On

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Salma went to the shop. She wanted to buy some sugar.

Why did Salma go to the shop?	\|
What was her intention?	\|
What was her goal?	\|
What was her aim?	\|
What was her objective?	\|
What was her purpose?	\|
What was her point?	\|

To buy some sugar.

Salma went to the shop(. She wanted) to buy some sugar.

We can say the same thing in many ways

Salma went to the shop to buy some sugar.
Salma went to the shop in order to buy some sugar.
Salma went to the shop so as to buy some sugar.

to... / in order to ... / so as to ...

Expressing purpose in English, then is not too much demanding. The basic tools you need for the accomplishment of the task are mostly no more than these:

to	\|
in order to	\|
so as to	\|

+ bare infinitive

Affirmative

Leila jumped in the river to rescue the drowning child.
Mike exercises regularly in order to lose weight.
Julian is moving to Paris so as to look for a better job.

And they are interchangeable; which means that the three of them can replace each other in all sentences.

These tools are also used initially:

To make an omelette, you have to break the eggs.
To arrive on time for school, I had to leave home earlier than usual.
In order to drive a car, you must have a driving license.
In order to get good scores, he tried to cheat on the exam.
In order for you to have good scores, you must revise your lessons regularly.
In order for the students to improve their English, they must practise it all the time.

All these structures are formal and explicit.

Negative

In the negative form, the "not" is simply placed before the particle "to"

He opened the door stealthily so as not to wake his parents.
He took a taxi in order not to be late for school.
He is reading silently so as not to disturb the other patients.
In order not to fail in the exams, you have to work harder.

so that... / in order that ...

Other structures are also used to express purpose but with modal auxiliary verbs.

so that	\|
in order that	\|
so	\|

+ subject + modal + bare infinitive

Affirmative

She took a taxi so that she could arrive on time. (more common)
She took a taxi in order that she could arrive on time. (more formal)
Let's take a taxi so we can be there on time (is to be avoided)

Negative

He took a taxi in order that she wouldn't be late for school.
He drank a lot of coffee so that he wouldn't fell asleep.
Don't run fast at the start so that you don't get tired quickly.
As the journey is long, you should read a book so that you don't get bored.

Practice with meaning

Mach the numbers with the letters to make meaningful sentences

1. She turned off the radio so as to	a. I could speak to the manger.
2. They didn’t want to go to bed so as not to	b. get fatter than she is now.
3. She stops eating chocolate in order not to	c. hear what her mother was saying.
4. I don’t want to leave the office early so that	d. I wouldn’t go to see the police.
5. They kept me inside in order that	e. miss the midnight movie

Write Down the complete sentences

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Expressing Purpose

Give me a hand so that I could understand.

Salma went to the shop. She wanted to buy some sugar.

Salma went to the shop(. She wanted) to buy some sugar.

to... / in order to ... / so as to ...

Affirmative

Negative

so that... / in order that ...

Affirmative

Negative

Practice with meaning

Write Down the complete sentences

COMPARE