VERB PATTERNS

WHAT IS A
PATTERN?
VERBS PATTERNS REFER TO WHAT FOLLOWS A
VERB. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME VERBS HAVE TO BE
FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER VERB IN THE
INFINITIVE, OTHERS ARE ONLY FOLLOWED BY A
VERB IN AN –ING FORM:

Jane decided to study Medicine

Bob enjoys going to the theatre a lot
 THERE ARE 5
VERB PATTERNS
1. MAIN VERB +
VERB -ING
Next time you go to Paris, consider
visiting the Rodin Museum, you´ll love
it.
 2. MAIN VERB +
VERB IN THE
INFINITIVE WITH TO
She seems to be lost.
 3. MAIN VERB+
OBJECT+VERB IN THE
INFINITIVE WITH TO
They allowed us to use the mobile
phones
 4. MAIN VERB+
OBJECT+INFINITIV
E WITHOUT TO
Jane is so funny, she always makes me laugh
 5. MAIN VERB+
OBJECT+VERB IN
THE PAST
PARTICIPLE
Yesterday I had my car repaired
HOW DO YOU KNOW THE
PATTERN A MAIN VERB
HAS? CHECK THE LIST
ON P.130 OF SOLUTIONS
VERBS THAT CAN
BE FOLLOWED BY
BOTH “INFINITIVE” OR
“-ING”
 WITHOUT
CHANGE IN
MEANING:
He started to talk / talking
WITH CHANGE IN
MEANING:
LET´S SEE A FEW CASES
WITH A DIFFERENT MEANING:
REMEMBER, FORGET
 + VERB IN INFINITIVE Future
 + VERB -ING  Past
Examples:
 “I remember attending to dance classes when I was a child”
 “Remember to revise the questions before handing out the
exam”
 STOP:
+ VB-ING  YOU DON’T DO THAT ACTION ANYMORE
+VB IN THE INFINITIVE  YOU START DOING THAT ACTION
EXAMPLES:
“YOU HAVE TO STOP WRITING AT 10 O’CLOCK.”
“AFTER FIVE HOURS OF HARD WORK WE STOPPED TO HAVE A REST”

TRY:
+VB-ING  “EXPERIMENT”
+VB IN THE INFINITIVE  “MAKE THE EFFORT”
EXAMPLES:
“I WAS TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR BUT I COULDN’T.”
“WHY DON’T YOU TRY USING THIS KEY?”
 MAIN VERBS WITH THEIR PATTERNS
VERB+VB-ING : AVOID, ENJOY, IMAGINE, FEEL LIKE, CONSIDER, CAN´T
STAND, RECOMMEND, SUGGEST, IT´S NOT WORTH…
I don´t feel like going to the cinema / It´s not worth reading that book.
VERB+ TO + VB IN THE INFINITIVE: AGREE, PROMISE, SEEM, EXPECT,
WANT, DECIDE, REFUSE, MANAGE, WOULD LIKE, WOULD PREFER…
They would like to go to the cinema / We agreed to travel to Amsterdam
VERB+OBJECT+INF WITH TO: FORCE, PERSUADE, ALLOW, INSPIRE,FORBID,
INVITE, TELL, WARN, WANT, WOULD LIKE, WOULD PREFER…
I would like them to study harder. They warned us to be punctual
VERB + OBJECT + INF. WITHOUT TO: HELP, MAKE, LET
They made us clean the room.
VERB+OBJECT+PARTICIPLE: GET, HAVE
I had my car repaired last week.