“In Order To” vs “So As To” vs “To” in English

“IN ORDER TO” VS ” SO AS TO” VS ” TO”  

“in order to”, “so as to” and “to”, all of them, are used to express the purpose af an action. However, there are some basic differences in terms of their uses. 

You can see their uses and related examples below. ( Differences and similarities “in order to” , “so as to”  and “to”)

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES

1. 

“in order to“, “so as to“ and “to“, all of them, have same meaning when they are  expressing purpose.

HOWEVER;

“in order to” is much more formal than “to“.  “in order to” has the same degree of formality with “so as to“

2. 

When we want to make infinitive clause negative or negative infinitive, we use “not” before “to”.

( “in order not to“, “so as not to“ and ” not to” )

HOWEVER;

When we make infinitive clauses negative, we generally use “in order to“. 

3. 

“in order to“, “so as to“ and “to“, all of them, can be used at the beginning of a sentence.

4. 

We generally use “in order to“ or “so as to“ before stative verbs.

5. 

Gramatically, there is a main difference between using “in order to“ and “ to“. 

“in order to”  acts only as if it is a part of adjective  in a sentence.

HOWEVER;

 “ to” can act  as if it is a part of adjective or adverb  in a sentence. 

For using “in order to” to express purpose in english click here

For using “so as to” to express purpose in english click here

For using “to” to express purpose in English, click here

For “to” vs ” in order to” vs “so as to” click here

For using “so that” to express purpose in english click here

For using “in order that” to express purpose in english click here

For differences between “so that” and “in order that” to express purpose in english click here