In order not to INFINITIVE

B2, cause, CLAUSES, CONJUNCTIONS, GSE, infinitive, intention, NEGATIVE, phrases, purpose, result, subordinate

The phrase “in order not to” is a subordinating conjunction that is used to introduce a clause that expresses the purpose of avoiding something. The infinitive verb that follows “in order not to” is the action that the speaker or writer is taking to avoid the thing mentioned in the main clause.

For example, the sentence “I studied hard in order not to fail the test” means that the speaker studied hard in order to avoid failing the test.

The grammar of “in order not to” is as follows:

  • “In order not to” is a subordinating conjunction, which means that it introduces a subordinate clause.
  • The subordinate clause is always in the infinitive form.
  • The infinitive verb can be preceded by the word “to” or not.
  • The word “not” usually comes between “in order” and “to”.

“In order not to” is twice as common as “in order to not”

A search in iWeb corpus:

IN ORDER NOT TO 5949

IN ORDER TO NOT 3013

PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:

I think we should do our best at the present moment in order not to be regretful.

Chinese male level 5 writing class.

We will only cover half of:

GSE 60 B2 express negative purpose with ‘so as/in order not to’

In order not to seem stupid, he didn’t say anything.
I came in very quietly, so as not to wake anyone.

because ‘so as not to‘ is at C1 in the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP).  ‘in order to‘ is at B1 in the EVP, so we surmise a negative version deserves B2 listing.

An iWeb search gives us the most common infinitives:

1 IN ORDER NOT TO BE 673
2 IN ORDER NOT TO LOSE 298
3 IN ORDER NOT TO HAVE 228
4 IN ORDER NOT TO GET 212
5 IN ORDER NOT TO MISS 154
6 IN ORDER NOT TO MAKE 112
7 IN ORDER NOT TO OFFEND 105
8 IN ORDER NOT TO DISTURB 86
9 IN ORDER NOT TO GIVE 81
10 IN ORDER NOT TO FALL 78
11 IN ORDER NOT TO CAUSE 74
12 IN ORDER NOT TO DAMAGE 70
13 IN ORDER NOT TO BREAK 67
14 IN ORDER NOT TO WASTE 66

In order not to waste any time, I wasn’t hanging up the phone in between calls.

listen

15 IN ORDER NOT TO FEEL 53
16 IN ORDER NOT TO LET 51
17 IN ORDER NOT TO SPOIL 49
18 IN ORDER NOT TO LEAVE 44
19 IN ORDER NOT TO BECOME 42
20 IN ORDER NOT TO CONFUSE 42
21 IN ORDER NOT TO INTERFERE 41
22 IN ORDER NOT TO RISK 41
23 IN ORDER NOT TO REPEAT 40
24 IN ORDER NOT TO SEE 39
25 IN ORDER NOT TO CREATE 37
26 IN ORDER NOT TO GO 37
27 IN ORDER NOT TO LOOK 36
28 IN ORDER NOT TO COMPROMISE 35
29 IN ORDER NOT TO HURT 35
30 IN ORDER NOT TO UPSET 35
31 IN ORDER NOT TO FORGET 32
32 IN ORDER NOT TO VIOLATE 31
33 IN ORDER NOT TO RUN 29
34 IN ORDER NOT TO DISRUPT 28
35 IN ORDER NOT TO HARM 26
36 IN ORDER NOT TO LOOSE 26
37 IN ORDER NOT TO OVERWHELM 25
38 IN ORDER NOT TO OVERLOAD 25
39 IN ORDER NOT TO ATTRACT 25
40 IN ORDER NOT TO APPEAR 24
41 IN ORDER NOT TO PAY 23
42 IN ORDER NOT TO ENDANGER 23
43 IN ORDER NOT TO DIE 23
44 IN ORDER NOT TO ALLOW 21
45 IN ORDER NOT TO DO 21
46 IN ORDER NOT TO USE 20
47 IN ORDER NOT TO PUT 19
48 IN ORDER NOT TO EXCEED 19
49 IN ORDER NOT TO DISAPPOINT 18
50 IN ORDER NOT TO HEAR 17

Here are the most common B2 verbs found in the above results:

cause, compromise, confuse, disrupt, disturb, harm, interfere, offend, risk

We got AI to complete sentences:

  • Cause:
    • In order not to cause a scene, I waited until the meeting was over to speak to the manager.
    • The doctor prescribed a mild sedative in order not to cause the patient any more pain.
  • Compromise:
    • The two sides agreed to compromise in order to reach a settlement.
  • Confuse:
    • The teacher spoke slowly and clearly in order not to confuse the students.
    • The instructions were written in plain language in order not to confuse anyone.
  • Disturb:
    • The neighbors asked the new tenants to keep the noise down in order not to disturb them.
  • Harm:
    • The doctor warned the patient not to take any medication in order not to harm her unborn child.
    • The soldiers were ordered to fire warning shots in order not to harm the civilians.
  • Offend:
    • The politician apologized for his remarks in order not to offend anyone.
    • The teacher tried to be sensitive to the students’ cultural differences in order not to offend them.
  • Risk:
    • The pilot decided to abort the landing in order not to risk the lives of the passengers.
    • The company decided not to invest in the new project in order not to risk losing money.