English

Phrase

in order to

1. As a means of achieving the specified end; to.

   She stood in order to see over the crowd. / She stood to see over the crowd.

   • 1979, David Nasaw, Schooled to Order: A Social History of Public Schooling in the United States, page 227,

     Simple common sense would dictate that the two-year schools, in order to compensate for the relative educational deprivation of their students, would have to spend more money on their college education.

   • 1995, Matthew S. Dryer, Frequency and pragmatically unmarked word order, Pamela Downing, Michael P. Noonan (editors), Word Order in Discourse, page 109,

     In order to do that, I turn briefly to the ways in which the terms "marked" and "unmarked" are employed in other domains, to determine whether those notions can be extended naturally into the area of discourse.

   • 2011, Lisa Sedano, How to Change Your Name in California, page 97,

     State law requires a name change applicant to publish notice of the potential name change, in order to alert the public in case anyone wants to contest the action.

Usage notes

• The words "in order" in this context are usually redundant, and can be removed to leave just "to" as an expression of purpose. On the other hand, the full expression is usually required in the negative ("in order not to," but note also the informal "to not") and occasionally to avoid ambiguity.

Synonyms

• for to, to (particle)

Related terms

• in order
• in order that
• in order for
• so as to
• so that

See also

• to (particle)

Translations