Verbs Followed to Infinitive or Ing

7/27/2019 Verbs Followed to Infinitive or Ing

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1. to + infinitiveWe use the to-infinitive: to express purpose (to answer "Why...?"):He bought some flowers to give to his wife.He locked the door to keep everyone out.We sometimes say in order to or in order not to:We set off early in order to avoid the traffic.They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children or we can say so as to or so as not to:We set off early so as to avoid the traffic.They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children. after certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive), particularly verbs ofthinkingand feeling:choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like, love, mean, plan, prefer,remember, want, wou ld like, would love and verbs ofsaying: agree, promise, refuseThey decided to start a business together.Remember to turn the lights out.Some verbs are followed by a direct object and the infinitive (see verbs followed byinfinitive):

advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn, expect, intend,would prefer, want, would likeShe reminded me to turn the lights out.He encouraged his friends to vote for him. after certain adjectives.Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:

disappointed

glad

sad

happy

anxious

pleased

surprised

proud

unhappy

We were happy to come to the end of our journey= We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey

John was surprised to see me= He was surprised because he saw me

Other adjectives with the to-infinitive are:


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able

unable

due

eager

keen

likely

unlikely

ready

prepared

unwilling

willing

Unfortunately I was unable to work for over a week.I am really tired. Im ready to go to bed.We often use the to-infinitive with these adjectives after it to give opinions:

difficult

easy

possible

impossible

hard

right

wrong

kind

nice

clever

silly

foolish

Its easy to play the piano, but its very difficult to play well.He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:

difficult

easy

possible

impossible

hard

It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying.It is easy for you to criticise other people.We use the preposition of with other adjectives:Its kind of you to help.It would be silly of him to spend all his money. As a postmodifier (see noun phrases in the end) after abstract nouns like:

ability

desire

need

wish

attempt

failure

opportunity

chance

intention

I have no desire to be rich.They gave him an opportunity to escape.She was annoyed by her failure to answer the question correctly. We often use a to-infinitive as a post-modifier after an indefinite pronoun (Seeindefinite pronouns):


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When I am travelling I always take something to read.I was all alone. I had no one to talk to.There is hardly anything to do in most of these small towns.

2. -ing formsWe can use the -ing form of the verb: as a noun:I love swimming. / Swimming is very good for your health. /You can get fit byswimming regularly.-ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns

as an adjective:The main problem today is rising prices. / That programme was really boring.He saw a woman lying on the floor.Because the -ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb it can have any of thepatterns which follow a verb, for example:

... an object:I like playing tennis. / I saw a dog chasing a cat.

... or an adverbial:You can earn a lot of money by working hard. / There were several people waiting forthe bus.

... or a clause:I heard someone saying that.The -ing noun can be used:

as the subject of a verb:Learning English is not easy.

as the object of a verb:We enjoy learning English.Common verbs followed by an -ing object are:

admit like hate start avoid


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suggest enjoy dislike begin finish

as the object of a prepositionSome people are not interested in learning English.

The -ing adjective can come: in front of a noun:

I read an interesting article in the newspaper today. / We saw a really exciting matchon Sunday.

The commonest ing adjectives used in front of the noun are:

amusing interesting worrying shocking disappointing

boring surprising exciting terrifying frighteningtiring annoying

after a noun:Who is that man standing over there? / The boy talking to Angela is her youngerbrother.

and especially after verbs like see, watch, hear, smell etc.I heard someone playing the piano. / I can smell something burning.verbs with to + infinitiveSome verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive:

They agreed to help. / We decided to go.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive:

She told him to go home. / They advised us to wait.

Verbs with -ing formsSome transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object:

Everybody likes good food. / George considered the problem.

or the ing form of the verb:

Everybody likes eating. / George considered starting again.


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A. Verbs followed by to + infinitive1 Some verbs are followed by the to-infinitive:I decided to go home as soon as possible. / We all wanted to have more Englishclasses.

Common verbs followed by the to-infinitive are:

Verbs of thinking and feeling:choose

decide

expect

forget

hate

hope

intend

learn

like

love

mean

plan

prefer

remember

would like

would love

Verbs of saying: agree promise refuse

Other common verbs are:arrange

attempt

fail

help

manage

tend

try

want

2 Some verbs are followed by a noun and the to-infinitive:She asked him to send her a text message. / He wanted all his friends to come to hisparty.

Common verbs with this pattern are:

Verbs of saying:advise

ask

encourage

invite

order

persuade

remind

tell

warn *

*Note: The verb warn is normally used with notThe policewarned everyone not to drive too fast.

Verbs of wanting or liking:expect

intend

would

prefer

want

would like


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Other verbs with this pattern are:allow

enable

force

get

teach

3. Passive infinitiveMany of these verbs are sometimes followed by a passive infinitive(to be + past participle):I expected to be met when I arrived at the station.They wanted to be told if anything happened.I dont like driving myself. I preferto be driven.

B. Verbs followed by -ing clausesCommon verbs followed by ing nouns are:

Verbs of liking and disliking:detest

dislike

enjoy

hate

fancy

like

love

I love swimming but I hate jogging. / They always enjoyed visiting their friends.A: Do you fancy going for a walk?B: I wouldnt mind

Phrases with mind: wouldnt mind (= would like) dont mind (= I am willing to) would you mind (= will you please?)

I wouldnt mind having some fish and chips. / I dont mind waiting for a few minutes.Would you mind holding this for me?Verbs of saying and thinking:

admit

consider

deny

imagine

remember

suggest

Our guide suggested waiting until the storm was over. / Everyone denied seeing theaccident.

Other common verbs are:


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avoid

begin

finish

keep

miss

practise

risk

start

stop

I havent finished writing this letter. / Lets practise speaking English.Passive form of -ingMany of these verbs are sometimes followed by the passive form of-ing: being + pastparticiple

I dont like being interrupted. / Our dog loves being stroked under the chin.Noun + -ing clauseSome verbs are followed by a noun and an -ing clause:Verbs to do with the senses:

see

watch

hear

smell

listen to

etc.

We saw everybody running away. / I could hear someone singing.Other common verbs:

catch

find

imagine

leave

prevent

stop

I caught someone trying to break into my house. / We couldnt prevent them gettingaway.

C. Verbs followed by ing or by to + infinitive 1When one verb is followed by another, the second verb can either be an infinitive or aning form. Some verbs can be followed by only an infinitive, others by only an ingform and some by both but with a change in meaning. To know which structure to use,

you can consult a good dictionary but here are some common examples.

Verb + infinitive I want to speak to the manager. Shes learning to ride a horse. He offered to help us wash up.

Want, learn and offer are followed by to + infinitive


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Other verbs in this group include: afford, agree, ask, choose, decide, expect, hope,prepare, promise, pretend, refuse, would like.Verb + ing form

I enjoy travelling.

He admitted stealing the necklace. I dont mind waiting if youre busy.

enjoy admit and mind are followed by the ing formOther verbs in this group include: avoid, consider, dislike, feel like, finish, give up,cant help, practise, suggest.Verb + infinitive or ing form with no change in meaningA few verbs can be followed by either an infinitive or the ing form and the meaningdoes not change.

I started to work here in 1994. I started working here in 1994.

The meaning of these two sentences is the same.

There arent many verbs that can take an infinitive or an ing form with no change inmeaning. Begin and continue are two more examples.There is also a group of verbs that can be followed by an infinitive or an ing form witha change in meaning. These verbs will be covered in another section.

D. Verbs followed by ing or by to + infinitive 2When one verb is followed by another, the second verb can either be an infinitive or aning form. Some verbs can be followed by either an infinitive, or an ing form but witha change in meaning. These are some of the most common ones.

like I like watching old films on TV.

With an ing form, like means enjoy I like to wash up as soon as I finish eating.


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I might not enjoy washing up but I think its the right thing to do.

Remember that would like can only be followed by an infinitive.

Id like to go to Japan next year, if possible.

try Im trying to learn Japanese but its very difficult.

Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult and you make an attempt to doit.

Have you tried using butter instead of oil?Try + ingmeans make an experiment. Its not difficult it might work, it might not.stopStop + ing tells us what has stopped. In this example, buying a newspaper.

Ive stopped buying a newspaper every day to try to save money.Stop + to + infinitive tells us why something stopped. In this example the reason thatthe bus stopped was to pick up the children.

The bus stopped to pick up the children.

remember /forget Dont forget to post that letter for me. Did you remember to post that letter for me?

Remember/forget + to + infinitive means that you remember something you have todo a duty or a chore.

Ill always remember meeting you for the first time. Ill never forget meeting you for the first time.

Remember/forget + ing form means remember something you did in the past anevent or an activity.

E. Verbs followed by that clauseWith "that"We can use clauses with that: after verbs of thinking:

think

believe

expect

decide

hope

know

understand

suppose

guess

imagine

feel

remember

forget


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I hope that you will enjoy your holiday.She didnt really think that it would happen.I knew that I had seen her somewhere before.

after verbs of saying:say

admit

argue

reply

agree

claim

deny

mention

answer

complain

explain

promise

suggest

They admitted that they had made a mistake.She argued that they should invest more in the business.The children complained that they had nothing to do.Note: tell and some other verbs of saying must always have a direct object (seeclauses, sentences and phrases):

tell

convince

persuade

inform

remind

We tried to tell them that they should stop what they were doing.The police informed everybody that the danger was over. as post-modifiers after nouns to do with thinking or saying:

advice

belief

claim

feeling

argument

hope

promise

report

guess

opinion

idea

He made a promise that he would do all he could to help.I had a funny feeling that something was wrong. after some nouns to say more about the noun:

fact

advantage

effect

possibility

chance

danger

evidence

problem

difficulty

She pointed out the danger that they might be left behind.There was a chance that we would succeedNote: We often use a that clause to define one of these nouns after the verb be :


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danger

problem

chance

possibility

fact

The danger is that we will be left behind.The fact is that it is getting very late. after some adjectives which describe feelings to give a reason for our feelings:

pleased

sorry

happy

unhappy

sad

excited

glad

disappointed

afraid

I am sorry thatyou cant come.Everybody was pleased that the danger was past.It is lucky that you were able to drive us home.No "that"NOTE: We can always use a clause without the word that:They admitted [that] they had made a mistake.

The police informed everybody [that] the danger was over.

I am sorry [that] you cant come.

There was chance [that] we would succeed.

AppendixesNoun PhrasesOften a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:People like to have money.I am tired.It is getting late.or a determiner and a noun :Our friends have bought a house in the village. / Those houses are very expensive. perhaps with an adjective:

Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village.Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier:


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All those children go to school here.Both of my younger brothers are marriedSome people spend a lot of money.

Numbers:Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners:My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.)Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine)So the noun phrase is built up in this way:

Noun: people; money

Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses

Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money

Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.

Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children;

Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers

The noun phrase can be quite complicated:

a loaf of nice fresh brown bread

the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop with a pistol

that attractive young woman in the blue dress sitting over there in the corner

indefinite pronounsThe indefinite pronouns are:

somebody someone somethinganybody anyone anythingnobody no one nothing

everybody everyone everything

We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or

what they are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronounsending in -thing for things:Everybody enjoyed the concert.I opened the door but there was no one at home.It was a very clear day. We could see everything.


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We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun:Everybody loves Sally.Everything was ready for the party.

When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun we normally use a plural pronoun:Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped.I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time.We can add -'s to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive.They were staying in somebodys house.Is this anybodys coat?We use indefinite pronouns with no- as the subject in negative clauses (not pronounswith any.)

Anybody didnt come >> Nobody came.We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no one or nothing:Nobody came.

Nothing happened.

We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things in addition to theones we already mentioned.

All the family came, but no one else.If Michael cant come well ask somebody else.So that's eggs, peas and chips. Do you want anything else?

Verbs Followed to Infinitive or Ing

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