Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Verb Patterns English Ok
Verb Patterns English Ok
Inglés
By Jo Robson
Do we say:
Verbs are followed by a particular form of the verb, either infinitive (with or without “to”), or
the +ing gerund form. Choosing which one to use is sometimes difficult.
In this article, I hope to give you a guide on how to use them by putting them into groups.
There are exceptions to these, of course, and some verbs can take both the infinitive or gerund
form.
First, we will look at some simple examples to help you to use the most common verbs in the
correct way. Then, we will look at some examples of the exceptions. At the end of this article
there are also some exercises to practice, and a video containing a song for you to listen to and
practice too.
VERBS THAT TAKE THE GERUND +ING FORM There are many common verbs that take the
+ing form. Here is a list of some of the most common ones, and some examples of gerunds we
can use with them.
VERB +ING
love
like
hate
going / playing / eating / helping / creating / doing / speaking /
enjoy
studying / listening to / running / talking / watching / passing
finish
miss
look forward to
VERBS THAT TAKE TO + INFINITIVE There are also many common verbs that take the infinitive
with “to”. For example, we always say “I chose to go to London”, and not “I chose go to
London”. Or “I hope to see you soon”, and not “I hope seeing you soon”. It is important to
remember to add “to” with these verbs. Here are some examples:
choose
decide
forget
to go / to play / to eat / to help / to create / to do / to speak / to
hope
study / to listen to / to run / to talk / to watch / to pass
try
want
need
MODAL VERBS Another group of verbs that follow the same pattern are modals. They take
the infinitive, but without “to”. Here is a list of some of the most common ones:
can
will
could
must
Some verbs can take either the infinitive or the gerund, but the meaning of them changes.
Look at the examples below: I will try to finish my homework tomorrow. Why don't you try
speaking to him about it?
Try + to + infinitive means to make an effort to do something. We could rephrase the sentence
above to say, I will make an effort to finish my homework tomorrow.
Try + gerund means to experiment, to find a solution to a problem. We could rephrase the
sentence above to say, I think it is a good idea to talk to him to resolve the problem.
Here's another example: I stopped going to the gym three years ago. I stopped to buy petrol on
my drive home.
Stop + gerund means to finish an action in progress. In the example above if you used to go to
the gym and then didn't continue doing it anymore, you stopping going to the gym.
Stop + to + infinitive means to interrupt one action to do another. In the example above, during
the action of driving home, you stopped the car for a few minutes to buy petrol and then
continued driving home.
These are just two examples of verbs that work in this way. Other examples are remind,
forget, mean and come.
Got it? Let's Practice! Use the tables above to complete the sentences. Choose a suitable
verb from the boxes, as well as the correct form of it for each sentence.
4. He will _______to Bali next year when he has saved some money.
How many did you get right? Remember, you can check the answers at the end of this article.
1. eating (to eat is also possible) 2. to study 3. to watch 4. go 5. playing / watching 6. to
do 7. talking 8. to study / to listen to / to speak 9. to pass 10. eat
Here are some examples of verbs followed by infinitives (with or without to) in the song:
Don't try to kid me. (to kid = to joke with me / to lie to me)
I'll rescue Mowgli. (I will) ...can learn to be like someone like me.
Etiquetas
Grammar
Compartir
8442
71
190
By Jo Robson
Enseña Inglés
I have been teaching English for ten years and have around 5000 hours of classroom
experience. I hold a TEFL Certificate and Diploma. I believe communication is the key to
learning a language, so let''s talk!