not to + verb VS don't + verb

Question

Recently a student of mine made the following mistake : "I want my family don't need anything". I corrected it to "I want my family not to need anything". But when asked why I used "not to" instead of "don't", I couldn't explain why.

Can anybody help me with this?

Thank you very much.

Answer 1

The verb want takes an infinitive after it, not an auxiliary verb.

For example, you can't say

*I want can fly.

You have to say

I want to be able to fly.

Answer 2

To want takes an object, when that object is a thing.

I want a pony.

I want more money.

I want world peace.

To want takes to + infinitive, when an action is wanted, for the subject to do.

I want to sleep.

I don’t want to work.

I want to go to the beach.

I want to be able to fly.

To want takes an object + to + infinitive, when an action is wanted, for another person to do.

I want the baby to sleep.

I want him to work.

I want you to go to the beach with me.

I want my brother to be able to swim.

I don’t want them to need me.

I want my family not to need anything.

To want can also take a noun clause describing an action, starting with that. But these formulations are not preferred. The ones above sound better.

I want that the baby sleeps.

I want that I can fly.

I want that my brother can swim.

I don’t want that they need me.

I want that my family doesn’t need anything.

You can add stress by changing the order of the sentence, starting with the noun clause, and referring to it with a second that.

That my family doesn’t need anything, that’s what I want!

That works with regular objects as well.

A pony, that’s what I want!