BBC World Service | Learning English

Selman Ozturt from Turkey: 'If you don't know English well, you can't get a good job'

To, for, so that
In this programme we look at three ways to talk about the reason for doing something.

Our challenger is Selman Ozturt from Turkey. We ask Selman to imagine that he's going camping - but why is he taking the items that he's packed below?

A car boot packed with things, including some beer, some magazines, some candles and a bag

A car boot packed with things, including some beer, some magazines, some candles and a bag

Listen to the programme!

To, for, so that

To talk about purpose, or the reason why we do things, we can use for + verb-ing, we can use the infinitive with to, and we can use so that + subject + verb.

Noun or pronoun	'for' + verb-ing
I'm bringing some pots and pans...	for cooking
Action or event	Infinitive with 'to'
We've got some water...	to make tea
Action or event	'so that' + subject + verb
I'm taking some extra blankets...	so that we don't get cold

Download Catherine's grammar explanation and table (pdf - 55 K)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)
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Now it's your turn to practise for, to and so that. Go to our quiz page on this subject here.

Meet us		Useful links		Next episode
Catherine and William		Learn It - 'for + verb-ing' / 'in order to' Learn It - 'in order to' / 'to' / 'so that' Bloomsbury International* *The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites		The second conditional - talking about unlikely or impossible situations Homepage and archive




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