Purpose clauses

You use a purpose clause when you want to state the purpose of the action in the independent clause. The most common type of purpose clause is a to-infinitive clause.

• Sarah went to the computer lab to print out her research report.

In formal writing, in order to and so as to are often used.

• The company conducted a detailed survey in order to gauge its clients’ views.

In formal writing, you can also introduce a purpose clause with so that or in order that. These finite purpose clauses usually contain a modal.

• Dr Chan adjusted the overhead projector so that the students would be able to see the chart more clearly.
• The lecturer finished his lecture five minutes early so that the students could come and ask him questions.

The difference between so and so that is that so that implies that the cause was deliberately done by someone in order to get a specific result.

There are a number of other ways of expressing purpose in English. These are some of the most common ones: with a view to, with the intention of, with the object/aim of, for the purpose of

If you use these phrases, make sure that the verb is in the _ing form.

• The university introduced two new English courses with a view to enhancing students’ proficiency in the language.