BE TO+Infinitive, BE ABOUT TO+Infinitive Flashcards
BE TO+infinitive is used in NEWs to talk about things that are likely to happen in the near future.
Police officers are to visit every home in the area.
The main Rome-Napolis railway line is to be opened today. (passive form).
BE TO+infinitive is used to talk about formal arrangements or give orders.
BE TO+Past Participle (passive) is used to make order more impersonal.
You are not to leave the school without my permission.
The European Parliament is to introduce a new law on safety at work.
Children are not to be left unsupervised in the museum. (passive).
BE TO+Infinitive is used to events that can be controlled by people.
In the next years, more cameras are to appear on major roads. (or will appear).
Scientists can’t say when the disease will appear again.
BE TO+infinitive is used to refer to the future from the past.
Mathew Flinders sailed past Tasmania in 1770, but it was to be a further 30 years before he landed there.
Clare Atkins was to write two more books before her death in 1997.
BE TO+infinitive is used in if-clause to say that a thing happens before the other in the if-clause.
If the human race is to survive, we must look at environmental problems now.
The law needs to be revised if justice is to be done.
BE ABOUT TO+ Infinitive is used to say a thing can happen in the near future.
We’re about to eat, do you want to join us?
I was about to try when you came in. (not I was to try.)
