11B.Verb patterns She hopes to go to university next year.

PatternsVerbs followed by a to-infinitive My mother never learnt to swim.

Did you remember to ring Nigel?
Some verbs can be followed immediately by a to-infinitive: See also:
 Help somebody (to) do
deman
afford like pretend  Want
d
 Verbs followed by a direct object and a to-infinitive

agree fail love promise

Verbs followed by -ing
arrange forget manage refuse -ing but not to-infinitive
Some verbs are normally followed by the -ing form, not the to-infinitive:
mean remembe
ask hate
(=intend) r admit deny finish mind

begin help need start avoid dislike give up miss

choose hope offer try practis

(can’t) help enjoy imagine
e

continu
intend plan want
e (can’t)
fancy involve put off
stand

decide learn prefer

feel keep
consider risk
like (on)
I can’t afford to go on holiday.
I always enjoy cooking.
It began to rain.
Not: I always enjoy to cook.
We haven’t finished eating yet.
Not: We haven’t finished to eat.
She keeps changing her mind about the wedding.

Compare
New subject before -ing
-ing form to-infinitive
Some of these verbs (e.g. can’t stand, dislike, imagine, involve,
mind, miss, put off and risk) can be used with a new subject
before the -ingform (underlined in the examples below). If the new I love cooking Indian I like to drink juice in the morning,
subject is a pronoun, it is in the object form (me, him, her, us, food. (emphasis on the process and tea at lunchtime. (emphasis
them): itself and enjoyment of it) more on the preference or habit)
We just couldn’t imagine Gerry singing in public.
She hates cleaningher I hate to be the only person to
Do you mind me being here while you’re working? room. (emphasis on the disagree. (emphasis more on the
I don’t want to risk him losing his job. process itself and no result: I would prefer not to be in
See also: enjoyment of it) that situation.)

 Verbs followed by -ing

We prefer to drive during the day
Most people prefer
whenever we can. (emphasis more
watching a film at the cinema
on the result and on the habit or
Verbs followed by a to-infinitive or -ing rather than on TV. (emphasis
on the process itself and
preference. The speaker doesn’t
necessarily enjoy the process of
Hate, like, love, prefer enjoyment of it)
driving at any time of day.)
Hate, like, love and prefer can be followed either by -ing or a to-
infinitive. The difference in meaning is often small. The -ing form
emphasises the verb itself. The to-infinitive puts the emphasis Hate, like, love, prefer with would or should
more on the preference for, or the results of, the action.
When hate, like, love and prefer are used with would or should,
only the to-infinitive is used, not the -ing form:
She’d love to get a job nearer home.
Not: She’d love getting a job nearer home.
Would you like to have dinner with us on Friday?
 the web to see what
information I could find.)

She stopped crying as soon We stopped to buy some water at the

as she saw her mother. (She motorway service area.(We were
To-infinitive or -ing form with a change in meaning was crying, and then she travelling and we stopped for a short
didn’t cry anymore.) time in order to buy some water.)
Some verbs can be followed by a to-infinitive or the -ing form, but
with a change in meaning: See also:
 Mean
go remembe  Need
need try
on r
 Remember or remind?
 Stop + -ing form or to-infinitive
mea regre wan
stop  Want
n t t

Compare Verbs followed by an infinitive without to

-ing form to-infinitive Let, make
Let and make are followed by an infinitive without to in active
Working in London means voice sentences. They always have an object (underlined) before
leaving home at 6.30. the infinitive:
I didn’t mean to make you cry. (I
(Because I work in London, Let me show you this DVD I’ve got.
didn’t intend to make you cry.)
this is the result or
consequence.) They made us wait while they checked our documents.
Not: They made us to wait …
He went on singing after
She recited a poem, then went on
everyone else had finished.
to sing a lovely folk song.(She recited Help
(He continued singing
the poem first, then she sang the song.)
without stopping.)
Help can be followed by an infinitive without to or a to-infinitive:
I tried searching the web I tried to email Simon but it bounced She helped me find a direction in life.
and finally found an back. (I tried/attempted to email him
Everyone can help to reduce carbon emissions by using public
address for him. (I searched but I did not succeed.)
transport.
See also:
 Help somebody (to) do -ing infinitive without to

 Let, let’s
officer saw him runningalong
 Make Sandra’s office.(emphasises the
the street. (emphasises the
whole event from start to finish)
running as it was happening)

Verbs followed by -ing or an infinitive

without to
A group of verbs connected with feeling, hearing and seeing can
be used with -ing or with an infinitive without to:
Verbs followed by a direct object and
feel notice see a to-infinitive
Some verbs are used with a direct object (underlined) followed by
a to-infinitive. These verbs include:
hea overhea watc
r r h
reques
advise hate like persuade
t
When they are used with -ing, these verbs emphasise the action
or event in progress. When they are used with an infinitive
without to, they emphasise the action or event seen as a whole, or
as completed. ask help love prefer teach

Compare
challeng instruc recommen
-ing infinitive without to need tell
e t d

She heard people shouting in

I heard someone shout‘Help!’, orde
the street below and looked out of choose intend remind want
so I ran to the river. (emphasises r
the window. (emphasises that the
the whole event: the person
shouting probably continued or
probably shouted only once)
was repeated)
forbid invite
A police Emily saw Philip run out of
I advised him to get a job as soon as possible.
Did Martin teach Gary to play squash?
They want me to go to Germany with them