有一读者问：有人说动词think后通常不用不定式，只有在被动式中始可与不定式连用，如：
(1)This material is thought to be the best one in this area.
而think 之后一般应接“of+动名词”，如：
(2)For a moment I thought of playing truant.
但我在美国一部畅销小说中却见过这样的句子：
(3)I didn't think to ask.
不知你的看法如何？
的确有不少人认为最好不用think to的主动式；有些英语词典（包括一些著名的英语词典）甚至不将think to纳入；有的专家（我本人就曾遇见过）还认为think to是错误的。我们认为，你所引述的那位人士以及上述一些人的看法也许可以接受，但对广大的已有一定英语水平的人来说，就不很妥当了。
一般说来，think to有两层意思：一是相当于intend, expect, propose等；一是相当于remember。 先让我们探讨think to的第一种含义。这种含义都与意志或意愿有关，有不少人认为它是古体，当今已很少用，并且多用于否定和疑问结构中，如：
(4)I did not think to meet you here. （think=expect）
(5)I never thought to see you again. （thought=expected）
(6)I little thought to find you here! （thought=expected）
(7)Don't think to plead illness as an excuse with me. （think=plan, propose）
(8)Who would have thought to find me here? （thought=expectcd）
(9)Do you think to bring it me? （think=intend, propose）
但实际上think to用于肯定的陈述句中的情况也不少，实例如：
(10)I think to go to the dentist. （think=intend, propose）
(11)He thought to deceive me. （thought=intended）
(12)They think to escape punishment. （think=intend, plan）
(13)They think to influence the voters. （think=intend）
(14)You think to outwit me yet again. （think=intend）
thought to往往可表示“本想”，实例如：
(15)I thought to arrive early but couldn't.
(16)I thought to find him home. 我本想他会在家的。
然而，据已出版的Webster's Dictionary of English Usage 说，think to （=expect，intend to）在当今英语中仍很有用，并举了四个例证，兹摘录一二如下：
(17)...and I thought to succeed as they did, and as rapidly.
(18)Martin thinks to make a case for Whitman as a model.
我们在美国出版的畅销书中也见到过这样的例证：
(19)There is a latent barbarism here that I would never have thought to find in twentieth century.
现在谈谈think to相当于remember的情况。尽管有一些语法家责难这种用法，但在美国口语中它已被认为是标准英语了，实例不少，上述句（3）即是一例，现再举几例如下：
(20)I didn't think to lock the door.
(21)I did not think to tell the detective about the footprints.
(22)Did you think to ask him how his father is?
(23)I never thought to look in the dictionary.
(24)I wish I had thought to get you a tea gown.
(25)Why had she not thought to suggest the removal of her desk to the far end of the room?
最后应指出，有时think to相当于think of,但这是较为文雅的说法，实例（摘自荷兰著名语法家克鲁辛加著的《现代英语手册》）如：
(26)A quickened imagination so deceived me that I thought to hear the sea rolling. （thought to hear = thought of hearing）
