VERB PATTERNS – Exercises

I. Complete the sentences with FULL INFINITIVES, BARE INFINITIVES or GERUNDS.    

My dad made me to study last night.
We need to help Mary to move out this weekend.
You must letting me see you tomorrow night.
happy.
John never permits anyone to help him with his car.
Paul let his friend to help him packing up his suitcase.
the floor.
Our schedule permits us to let the students leave early today.
I will make them used to making their beds everyday.
He enjoyed working with you yesterday.
Elvira discussed leave college with her advisor.
He will hate seeing you leave so early.
I will try to hel Harry complete the work by tomorrow.
Will you practice playing your basketball outside?
Mary enjoyed eating dinner last night.
I planned to try out my new car but couldn't.
He started cleaning his room immediately.
I will stop playing basketball when I am tired.
Joe will start swimming on the team this year.
Please permit John to have your book.
I can't allow you have any extra time.
He had made me working all night before he was
Mr. Peterson let his child going back home yesterday.
I will allow you permits the dog to eating on
Joe often allows his dog walking without a leash.
I want to help you carry your bags.
He will need to learn to enjoy life more.
You need to begin learning immediately.
Marvin enjoyed to finish his project early.
I plan enjoys keeping my plants alive.
Please permit me correct your errors.
John loves to drink milk with cookies.
Pete had finished working on his project.
He had learned to fly in the Air Force.
I needed seeing my advisor yesterday.
Harry quit not to smoke for good last January.

I want to learn to fly an airplane. John said he enjoys practicing basketball.

Mike enjoys practicing and playing basketball. Harriet planned to discuss going on her
vacation in June.

II. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.
1) Sorry, I forgot to bought some milk.
2) What would you choose to do if you won £1,000,000?
3) When they had finished eating, the doorbell rang.
4) The traffic warden ordered me to park my car over there.
5) Would you mind me to close the window?
6) A friend of mine has offered to pick us up from the airport.
7) This soup doesn’t taste right yet. - Try putting in a bit more salt.
8) The mother would like her children more at home.
9) People shouldn’t let their’s dog run around in the forest.
10) I’ll have pay the bills this weekend.
11) Nobody told me to finish this exercise by today.
12) They agreed to meet the following Friday.
13) I can’t stand the queque !
14) I need to wash my hair tonight.
15) The book seems will be missing.
16) They wanted her to do work for very little money but she refused to do that.
17) Don’t expect to have an easy life here.
18) Kids need their’s parent to being supporting and understanding.
19) Can you remind me to buy some batteries?
III. Look at the following sentences. Correct as needed.
A. My teacher made me to write an essay about a difficult subject. B. She used to be director of the ESL
program.
C. She made her child to study to get a scholarship. D. That color made him look fat.
E. I have some leftover cheese and meat. We could to making this lasagne with a little work.
F. My daughter was to making clean her room.

IV. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.

1. My sister loves to went to shopping. 20. Would you like to listen to some music?
2. I´ll try to came to the meeting on time. 21. She told me to close the door.
3. Peter refused to lent me some money. 22. I don’t really mind doing the housework.
4. She finally finished reading the book yesterday. 23. The film was so sad that it made her cry.
5. I met Susan yesterday and we stopped to talked. 24. They invited us to spend summer with them.
6. She continued to write despite her disability. 25. He can’t stand working with arrogant people.
7. Look this room. It needs painting. 26. She admitted to killing her husband.
8. You are not allowed to talk during the test. 27. You are not doing it right. Let me show you.
9. He tried to stop drank but he couldn’t. 28. She stopped reading to ask me a question.
10. He forgot to sent that parcel. 29. She advised me to tell them about the accident.
11. Thomas doesn’t let anyone smoking in his house. 30. He promised to come on time.
12. Tom helped his mother to got the dinner ready. 31. I have arranged to meet him at the airport.
13. The driver admitted didn’t have a driving licence. 32. Every Sunday we like to go for a walk.
14. The fridge is empty. I need to do the shopping today. 33. She encouraged him to take the exams.
15. Why don´t you put off going until tomorrow? 34. They can´t risk catching a bird flu.
16. I met Susan and we stopped talking for a while. 35. I regret breaking the window.
17. She persuaded him taking Cambridge exams. 36. Will you give up smoking?
18. They wouldn´t let me to paid for anything. 37. We expected them to wear smart clothes.
19. I tried to moved the table but it was too heavy. 38. He suggested watching the film.

V. Complete the following sentences using the correct modal verb:

a. When I am older I would like to live in the USA. b. Have you decided what to buy yet?
c. It's a secret. You mustn't to tell anybody! d. I suggest to go to the seaside tomorrow.
e. Please don't forget to close the window before you leave.

VI. Choose the correct answer:

a. I remember meeting the Queen in London. a. meet b. to meet c. meeting d. to meeting
b. Did you remember posting the letter? a. post b. to post c. posting d. to
posting
c. I'm not used to getting up this early. a. get b. to get c. getting d. to getting
d. I used to go to the cinema a lot. a. go b. to go c. going d. to going
e. I regret telling Mary about the wedding. a. tell b. to tell c. telling d. to telling
f. Mrs Jones, I regret to inform you that your credit limit has been exceeded.
a. inform b. to inform c. informing d. to informing
g. Stop making this terrible noise at once! a. make b. to make c. making d. to making
h. I wanted to stop buying some presents, but we didn't have enough time.
a. buy b. to buy c. buying d. to buying
i. Look, it's starting to rain. a. rain b. to rain c. raining d. to raining
j. I started learning English when I was four. a. learn b. to learn c. learning d. to learning

VII. Cloze Exercise: Gerunds and Infinitives

Yuri was in his first year at university, studying History. He was rather a lazy student, and he tended to avoid working
whenever he could. In the middle of the semester, his history professor gave out an assignment, due in two weeks. Yuri
intended doing the assignment, but he postponed to write it for a week. The following week, he forgot to do it. The night
before the assignment was due, he suddenly remembered it, and rushed to the library. He tried reads as much as possible
on the topic, but there wasn't enough time. Yuri considered asking for more time to do his paper, but the History professor
was known to be very tough on students, so finally he decided to cheating and copy his paper from somewhere else. He
found an old article on the same topic, and quickly typed it out. The next day, he submitted the paper.
The following week, he was alarmed seeing the professor approaching him, looking angry.
"Is this your own work, or did you copy it?" asked the professor. Yuri denied copying the paper.
"If you expect me to believe that, you must be very stupid," said the professor. "Every word is taken from an article I
wrote myself five years ago. Did you really think I would forget to write it?"

Type the correct form of the verb.

1. I can't afford to pay for a new car.

2. He is so impatient that he can't wait to speak.
3. Speech class will give you practice speaking in front of people.
4. I expect to finish this by three o'clock.
5. They are preparing eating dinner.
6. Bernadette dislikes to cook.
7. They refuse to take money from their wives.
8. I want to quit the baseball team.
9. Doctors recommend drinking lots of water after exercising.
10. Pete just decided to look for a job.
11. They seemed to enjoy the play.
12. Harry detests writing long papers.
13. John can't afford buy a new car.
14. My parents suggested waiting two weeks before I made my final decision.
15. Sarah expected to win the competition.
16. They demanded to be seated.
17. Martha considered calling her ex-boyfriend.
18. Billy promised to eat all of his spinach.
19. Louise finished running at 6:00.
20. They pretended to enjoy the music.

VERBS+ING/ VERBS+(TO)+INF
Put in the correct form of the verb in brackets:
e.g. Bob wants …………………………………… (help) them.
Bob wants to help them.
e.g. I can't imagine ………………………………. (live) in the countryside.
I can't imagine living in the countryside.
1. We've decided to go to the beach.
2. I stopped traveling when I got married.
3. Did you promise to take the children to the cinema?
4. Have the men finished fixing the roof yet?
5. I'd love to visit India.
6. Would you prefer to pay now or later?
7. Why does John keep talking about his mother?
8. I couldn't afford to live in Paris
9. You should give up smoking.
10. Bill hopes to go to Greece next month.
11. Cathy´s thinking of writing a book.
12. He learnt to speak by talking to his German friends.
13. She doesn´t mind cooking She really likes it.
14. You forgot to water the plants while she was on holiday.
15. They spend most of the morning reading the newspaper and eating pancakes.