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Never give up: from farm fields to space – want to, hope to, decide to and other verbs + to

An A2 ESL lesson plan on verbs followed by an infinitive, such as want to and hope to, for talking about goals and dreams.

Grammar
Want, hope, decide, try, plan, learn and need + to + the base form (I want to fly.), in the present and the past, with don't, didn't and Did…?
Topic
Dreams and goals, through José Hernández, a California farmworkers' son who flew to space in 2009, with words such as apply, give up, farmworker and dream.
Activities
Students read an astronaut's profile, hear a talk on an asparagus farm and a voice message, do self-checking drills, chat about dreams and open boxes of questions about goals.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Dream big!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: dreams, farms and spaceVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: from fields to space

    • Look at the photo: a space shuttle at nightPictureUnlock
    • Read José's profileReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: on the asparagus farm

    • Listen to Nora and RubenListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's ChallengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: I want to fly!

    • Study the scheme: verb + to + verbGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: the verb + toFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: present and pastFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: my dreams

    • Choose the right replies: Marco's questionsChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: my dreamsOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the pairs: the verb and its pastMemory gameUnlock
    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: verb + to + verbFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the right question or sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Read the cousins' post and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock

29 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • farmworker
  • asparagus
  • tortilla
  • crumb
  • wake-up song
  • hometown
  • dream

Grammar: verb + to + the base form

Many English verbs can take a second verb, and in this lesson's verb patterns, to joins the two: I want to fly. Nora decided to visit a farm. Through the story of an astronaut who never gave up, learners put to and a base form after seven verbs, change only the first verb and make negatives and questions.

I want to fly. Nora decided to visit a farm.

After want, hope, decide, try, plan, learn and need, use to + the base form of a second verb.

Seven verbs + to + a base form

Want, hope, decide, try, plan, learn and need all take to and the base form of a second verb: We need to buy gas. José learned to speak English at about twelve. After these verbs, the second verb never comes without to: not He decided apply.

The pattern

want / hope / decide / try / plan / learn / needtobase form

Marco wants to open a restaurant.

Nora decided to visit a farm.

We need to buy gas.

Seven verbs + to

VerbExample
want toMarco wants to open a restaurant one day.
hope toRuben hopes to grow the best asparagus.
decide toYesterday, Nora decided to visit a farm.
try toBiscuit tried to steal a tortilla.
plan toWe plan to drive to Stockton.
learn toJosé learned to speak English at about twelve.
need toYou need to study hard.

Only the first verb changes

The first verb carries the person and the tense: She wants to fly. He wanted to fly. After to, the base form stays the same: to fly, never to flies or to flew. Watch the past spelling of the first verb: tried, planned, hoped, decided.

want to: every person

WhoPresentPast
II want to go.I wanted to go.
youYou want to go.You wanted to go.
he, she, itHe wants to go. She wants to go. It wants to go.He wanted to go. She wanted to go. It wanted to go.
weWe want to go.We wanted to go.
theyThey want to go.They wanted to go.

Only the first verb changes

Change only the first verb: She wants to fly. He wanted to fly. After to, the verb never changes: to fly (not to flies, not to flew). Past spelling: hope → hoped, decide → decided, try → tried, plan → planned.

Negatives and questions

As in the present and past simple, do, does and did make negatives and questions: I don't want to give up. She doesn't need to go. Did she decide to stay? And after didn't or Did, both verbs are bare: He didn't want to stop.

No: don't, doesn't, didn't

  • I don't want to give up.
  • She doesn't need to go.
  • He didn't want to stop.

Questions: Do, Does, Did

  • Do you want to fly?
  • Does he plan to apply?
  • Did she decide to stay?

To or -ing? A first look at gerunds and infinitives

Some verbs take -ing: I enjoy flying. I don't mind waiting. The verbs here take to, so it's I hope to win, never I hope winning. Want never takes a that clause either: I want to go, not I want that I go.

-ing or to?

Some verbs take -ing: I enjoy flying. I don't mind waiting. The verbs in this lesson take to: I want to fly. I hope to win. (Not: I hope winning.)

Common mistakes

  • He decided apply again.

    He decided to apply again.

    decide + to + verb

  • I want go. I want that I go.

    I want to go.

    want + to + verb

  • She hoped flying to space.

    She hoped to fly to space.

    hope + to + verb, not -ing

  • He tried to applied.

    He tried to apply.

    after to: the base form

More lessons on this grammar: Gerunds and infinitives lessons and exercises

Try the verb + to exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 15 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • talk about dreams and plans with a verb + to: I want to travel around America. I plan to go with my best friend.
  • change only the first verb for he, she or the past: She wants to fly. He wanted to fly.
  • keep the base form after to: He tried to apply, not He tried to applied
  • ask and answer about goals: Do you hope to go to space one day? No, I don't. I hope to stay on Earth!

Lesson 29 opens the final unit of English A2.1 · Then and Now, Plans and dreams. Two earlier lessons lead here: A1.2 lesson 12 paired want and need with a noun (We don't need tickets.), and A2.1 lesson 21 put enjoy and don't mind before -ing, the pattern this scheme sets against verb + to. Lesson 30 turns to plans with going to and the present continuous. A true story of applying again and again gives want to and try to real work.

A wheel of questions about childhood dreams and favorite vegetables starts the lesson, and the word cards, with pictures and audio, go from decide and give up to tortilla and wake-up song. The reading is a profile of José Hernández, who worked in the fields as a child and flew on the space shuttle Discovery in 2009. Nora then interviews an asparagus farmer near Stockton (an AI-voiced dialogue). A voice message sets a challenge. Four self-marking drills come after the scheme, from picking to open over opening to a table of present and past forms. Students then answer Marco's chat questions about their dreams and open boxes that ask what they hope, plan or need to do.

Eight homework tasks mark themselves: matching words to meanings, an anagram, a gap-fill of the lesson's words, a memory game pairing each verb with its past, a word-order drill, a verb + to gap-fill, a quiz on questions and negatives, and a channel post to complete.

Grammar:
verb + to + verb · want to, hope to, decide to · try to, plan to, learn to, need to · present and past
Topic:
José Hernández · NASA · dreams and goals · Stockton, California · farms · space food

Teaching tips

  • Put two sentence starters on the board: As a child, I wanted to… and Now I want to…. Each student finishes both before the wheel spins.
  • Hunt for verb + to in the farm dialogue: copy its phrases from the teacher-only transcript onto the board (I need to ask you, He tried to steal…), and students tick each one they hear.
  • Turn the common mistakes into a race: read He decided apply again aloud, and the first student to fix it (He decided to apply again) reads out the next one.
  • After the open boxes, report a partner's dream: I want to… turns into She wants to… or He hopes to…, which practices the -s on the first verb.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29 · you're hereNever give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

What are verb patterns in English?
Verb patterns are the forms that can follow a verb, such as a noun, to + a base verb or an -ing form. Want, hope, decide and plan take to (I hope to win.), while enjoy and don't mind take -ing (I enjoy flying.). The A2 lesson Never give up: from farm fields to space on edio.ai drills the to pattern with seven verbs.
How do you use "want to" in English?
Use want to + the base form for a wish or a plan: I want to travel around America. Add -s for he and she (She wants to fly.) and -ed for the past (He wanted to be an astronaut.), but never change the verb after to. For questions and negatives, add do, does or did: Do you want to go? I don't want to give up.
What are infinitive verbs?
An infinitive is the base form of a verb, often after to: fly, to fly, to apply. It never changes for the person or the tense, so it's She hoped to fly, not She hoped to flew. The to form follows verbs such as want, decide and learn (He learned to speak English.); the bare form follows can, should and might: You should rest.
When do you use the to-infinitive?
Use the to-infinitive after verbs of wishing, planning and deciding, such as want, hope, plan and decide: I hope to visit California next summer. They plan to drive to Stockton. It can also say why someone does something: She saves money to buy a car. In Never give up: from farm fields to space, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, a gap-fill asks for the verb + to in eight sentences.
How do you use "decide to" in a sentence?
Put to and a base verb right after decide: We decided to stay home. Yesterday, she decided to visit a farm. Only decide changes, for the past (decided) or for he and she (decides). Questions use did with the base form: Did she decide to stay? Leaving out to, as in He decided apply again, is a typical slip.
Which verbs are followed by an infinitive?
Common verbs followed by an infinitive include want, hope, decide, plan, try, learn and need: I need to save some money. My brother learned to swim last summer. Would like, agree and promise work the same way. Verbs such as enjoy, finish and don't mind take -ing instead, so it's I enjoy flying but I want to fly.
Is it "I want go" or "I want to go"?
It's I want to go, with to before the second verb. Want takes neither a bare verb nor a that clause, so I want go and I want that I go are both wrong. The same goes for need: I need to save money, not I need save money. The chat in the A2 lesson Never give up: from farm fields to space on edio.ai hides both wrong forms in its first reply.
Is it "hope to win" or "hope winning"?
It's hope to win: hope takes to, never -ing. So it's I hope to visit California and She hoped to fly to space, not She hoped flying. The -ing form belongs to other verbs, such as enjoy and don't mind: I enjoy flying. When the hope is about someone else, use a clause instead: I hope you win.
How do you talk about goals and dreams in English?
Talk about goals and dreams with want to, hope to and plan to + a verb: I want to open a restaurant one day. I hope to go to space. Add need to for the first step (I need to save some money), try to for effort and give up for stopping when it gets hard: He didn't give up. A dream is a big wish for your future.
How do I teach want to, hope to and decide to?
Start with want to and true sentences about the class, then add hope to, plan to and decide to one at a time. Next, show that only the first verb changes (She wanted to fly), and contrast the -ing verbs (I enjoy flying). Never give up: from farm fields to space, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, goes from an astronaut's profile through the scheme and its drills to a chat and open-box questions about dreams.
What's a good game for practicing verb + to?
Open-the-box questions about plans and wishes make a good game: each box asks something like This weekend: what do you plan to do?, and the student answers with the same pattern, I plan to visit my grandma. In groups, students then report a partner's answer, so I hope to… becomes She hopes to…. The A2 lesson Never give up: from farm fields to space on edio.ai closes its speaking chapter with eight such boxes.
Are there interactive exercises for verb + to?
Yes: online gap-fills and chat replies that mark themselves let learners practice verb + to alone. Four parts of the A2 lesson Never give up: from farm fields to space on edio.ai are free to try on this page, with no account: José Hernández's profile, a dialogue on an asparagus farm, a gap-fill that asks for forms such as decided to and hopes to, and a chat about the student's dreams. The other exercises are locked.
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