Verb patterns —————————————
1. TRANSITIVITY
a) verb (+object)
1) transitive verbs
- Verbs which need a direct object
—> e.g. I bought croissants this morning (you always buy something)
We spent all of our money
2) intransitive verbs
- Verbs which do not need an object
—> e.g. The children sleep
The dog barks
3) both transitive and intransitive
- Verbs that can become (in)transitive when changing the object
- Verbs as: begin, break, change, close, continue, dry, finish, hang, hurt, …
—> e.g. The door opened (intransitive)
He opened the door (transitive)
b) verbs + 2 objects
- Ditransitive verbs: verbs which take 2 objects (1 direct + 1 indirect subject)
- Verbs as: give, bring, buy, show
- Possible to reverse order of objects by adding ‘to’ before the indirect object (direct obj.=
pronoun/when focus is on the object or indirect obj. is very long)
—> e.g. The judges gave Jason’s painting the first prize
SUB V INDIRECT OBJ. DIRECT OBJ.
The judges gave the first prize TO Jason’s painting
c) verb + complement
- Some verbs are followed by complements rather than objects
- Copular verbs = verbs describing states (be, appear,…) or changing states (grow, become,…)
- Complement = NP or Adj.P that identifies, describes or gives information about the subject
—> e.g. The students are courageous
Linda has become a more fluent speaker of English
The whole group seemed very keen (Adj.P)
d) verb + clause
- After verbs of speaking and thinking: often that-clauses
—> e.g. The students agreed they wanted more pictures of cute animals in the slides
I said that we’d better not use too many
,Infinitive patterns ——————————
1. INFINITIVE FORMS AS SUBJECTS, OBJECTS, OR COMPLEMENTS
- Infinitives can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb
- In informal language the infinitive can be replaced with -ing-form
—> e.g. To give is better than to receive.
Giving is better than receiving.
⚠ -ing-forms look like present participles but are actually gerunds (= verb form ending in -ing,
used as a N, e.g. as subject or object). To know if an -ing-form is a gerund, replace with N.
—> e.g. giving is better than receiving > a gift is better than a party
2. VERB + BARE INFINITIVE
- Bare infinitive = infinitive form without ‘to’
- After modal auxiliary verbs and semi-modals dare and need* an infinitive without ‘to’ is used
—> e.g. He didn’t dare (to) leave the house early without my permission
The instructor can reach the screen
3. INFINITIVES OF PURPOSE AND RESULT
- The infinitive form often describes the purpose or reason for an action
—> e.g. The turkey is covered in foil to keep the meat moist.
⚠ dangling infinitives:
—> e.g. She went to Walmart to get some groceries.
(She got groceries)
We bought a cage to keep his hamster in.
(We got the cage but we don’t keep the hamster —> dangling inf., can be solved bu using
‘for’ —> e.g. We bought a cage for John to keep his hamster in)
dangling modifier:
- Is a word of phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence, a modifier
describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept
4. INFINITIVES AFTER ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS
- Self-study p195.
—> e.g. I am (un)able, afraid, anxious, ashamed, bound, careful, certain to fail the exam
A(n) attempt, bid, decision, desire, fool, incentive, to believe in such lies
, -ing forms; verb + ing-form or infinitive? ——
1. -ING FORMS
- -ing forms can have their own subjects or objects
- In a formal context, even possessive pronouns can be used, rather than object pronouns,
before -ing forms
—> e.g. The children were looking forward to Peppa Pig returning.
Exorbitant classes led to him leaving university.
2. VERB + -ING FORM
- Self-study p198
- Verbs can be followed by an -ing form
—> e.g. We burst out laughing when he told the joke
I couldn’t help staring at her
3. VERB + -ING FORM/INFINITIVE
- Some verbs can be followed by an -ing form or an infinitive without any difference in meaning
—> e.g. Aïcha attempted studying/to study with music on
Indra began feeling/to feel a little worried about the exam
4. VERB + -ING FORM OR INFINITIVE
- Self-study p199
—> e.g. Chloé stopped looking at her phone when she noticed the professor’s stare
Fatima stopped to look at a sign
- In these sentences, the verb stop has two patterns:
1) to stop to do something
2) to stop doing something
There is a difference between stop doing something and stop to do something. We stopped
taking pictures means ‘We were no longer taking pictures’. We stopped to take pictures means ‘We
stopped what we were doing so that we could start taking pictures.’
The situation is similar for try. There is a difference between try to do something and try doing
something: 'You should try to eat more fruit' means ‘You should make an effort to eat more fruit.’;
'You should try eating more fruit' means ‘You should see if eating more fruit will help you’ (to feel
better, for example).
Here is another difference: 'try exercising before you start your day' means 'experiment, try this out'
but 'the firefighters tried to save the people from the burning building' means 'they put in a lot of
effort'.
—> However, in some cases there is no real difference in meaning: 'I tried to call a plumber' can
mean the same as 'I tried calling a plumber' both mean ‘I tried and failed to call a plumber.’
1. TRANSITIVITY
a) verb (+object)
1) transitive verbs
- Verbs which need a direct object
—> e.g. I bought croissants this morning (you always buy something)
We spent all of our money
2) intransitive verbs
- Verbs which do not need an object
—> e.g. The children sleep
The dog barks
3) both transitive and intransitive
- Verbs that can become (in)transitive when changing the object
- Verbs as: begin, break, change, close, continue, dry, finish, hang, hurt, …
—> e.g. The door opened (intransitive)
He opened the door (transitive)
b) verbs + 2 objects
- Ditransitive verbs: verbs which take 2 objects (1 direct + 1 indirect subject)
- Verbs as: give, bring, buy, show
- Possible to reverse order of objects by adding ‘to’ before the indirect object (direct obj.=
pronoun/when focus is on the object or indirect obj. is very long)
—> e.g. The judges gave Jason’s painting the first prize
SUB V INDIRECT OBJ. DIRECT OBJ.
The judges gave the first prize TO Jason’s painting
c) verb + complement
- Some verbs are followed by complements rather than objects
- Copular verbs = verbs describing states (be, appear,…) or changing states (grow, become,…)
- Complement = NP or Adj.P that identifies, describes or gives information about the subject
—> e.g. The students are courageous
Linda has become a more fluent speaker of English
The whole group seemed very keen (Adj.P)
d) verb + clause
- After verbs of speaking and thinking: often that-clauses
—> e.g. The students agreed they wanted more pictures of cute animals in the slides
I said that we’d better not use too many
,Infinitive patterns ——————————
1. INFINITIVE FORMS AS SUBJECTS, OBJECTS, OR COMPLEMENTS
- Infinitives can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb
- In informal language the infinitive can be replaced with -ing-form
—> e.g. To give is better than to receive.
Giving is better than receiving.
⚠ -ing-forms look like present participles but are actually gerunds (= verb form ending in -ing,
used as a N, e.g. as subject or object). To know if an -ing-form is a gerund, replace with N.
—> e.g. giving is better than receiving > a gift is better than a party
2. VERB + BARE INFINITIVE
- Bare infinitive = infinitive form without ‘to’
- After modal auxiliary verbs and semi-modals dare and need* an infinitive without ‘to’ is used
—> e.g. He didn’t dare (to) leave the house early without my permission
The instructor can reach the screen
3. INFINITIVES OF PURPOSE AND RESULT
- The infinitive form often describes the purpose or reason for an action
—> e.g. The turkey is covered in foil to keep the meat moist.
⚠ dangling infinitives:
—> e.g. She went to Walmart to get some groceries.
(She got groceries)
We bought a cage to keep his hamster in.
(We got the cage but we don’t keep the hamster —> dangling inf., can be solved bu using
‘for’ —> e.g. We bought a cage for John to keep his hamster in)
dangling modifier:
- Is a word of phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence, a modifier
describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept
4. INFINITIVES AFTER ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS
- Self-study p195.
—> e.g. I am (un)able, afraid, anxious, ashamed, bound, careful, certain to fail the exam
A(n) attempt, bid, decision, desire, fool, incentive, to believe in such lies
, -ing forms; verb + ing-form or infinitive? ——
1. -ING FORMS
- -ing forms can have their own subjects or objects
- In a formal context, even possessive pronouns can be used, rather than object pronouns,
before -ing forms
—> e.g. The children were looking forward to Peppa Pig returning.
Exorbitant classes led to him leaving university.
2. VERB + -ING FORM
- Self-study p198
- Verbs can be followed by an -ing form
—> e.g. We burst out laughing when he told the joke
I couldn’t help staring at her
3. VERB + -ING FORM/INFINITIVE
- Some verbs can be followed by an -ing form or an infinitive without any difference in meaning
—> e.g. Aïcha attempted studying/to study with music on
Indra began feeling/to feel a little worried about the exam
4. VERB + -ING FORM OR INFINITIVE
- Self-study p199
—> e.g. Chloé stopped looking at her phone when she noticed the professor’s stare
Fatima stopped to look at a sign
- In these sentences, the verb stop has two patterns:
1) to stop to do something
2) to stop doing something
There is a difference between stop doing something and stop to do something. We stopped
taking pictures means ‘We were no longer taking pictures’. We stopped to take pictures means ‘We
stopped what we were doing so that we could start taking pictures.’
The situation is similar for try. There is a difference between try to do something and try doing
something: 'You should try to eat more fruit' means ‘You should make an effort to eat more fruit.’;
'You should try eating more fruit' means ‘You should see if eating more fruit will help you’ (to feel
better, for example).
Here is another difference: 'try exercising before you start your day' means 'experiment, try this out'
but 'the firefighters tried to save the people from the burning building' means 'they put in a lot of
effort'.
—> However, in some cases there is no real difference in meaning: 'I tried to call a plumber' can
mean the same as 'I tried calling a plumber' both mean ‘I tried and failed to call a plumber.’
