Grammar in EAP

Verbs

5. Verb complementation – examples.

In English, verbs occur in different patterns. For example:

1	V -ing	The person is better able to start tackling his problems.
2	V to infinitive	Women in both categories have wanted to protect traditional professionalism.
3	V infinitive	The computer can help solve the problem.
4	V (that) sentence	The professor agreed (that) the project had possibilities.
5	V n -ing	My supervisor hates me using that computer.
6	V n to infinitive	The court ordered the judge to accept the plea.
7	V n infinitive	Last month saw inflation rise to 8%.
8	V n (that) sentence	She told me (that) he planned to be away all night.
9	V n -ed	He had to have the tooth extracted.

Examples of words which occur in these patterns.

1. V -ing

“She started walking.”

admit, allow, appreciate, attempt, avoid, begin, can’t bear, can’t help, can’t stand, carry on, cease, consider, continue, delay, deny, detest, dislike, enjoy, fancy, finish, forget, give up, go on, hate, imagine, intend, involve, keep, keep on, like, love, mind, miss, postpone, practise, prefer, propose, put off, recommend, regret, remember, resent, resist, risk, start, stop, suggest, try

2. V to infinitive

“He expects to fly to Beijing soon”.

agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, begin, can’t afford, can’t bear, care, choose, continue, dare, decide, expect, fail, forget, go on, happen, hate, hesitate, hope, intend, learn, like, love, manage, mean, need, neglect, offer, omit, plan, prefer, prepare, pretend, promise, propose, refuse, regret, remember, seem, start, stop, threaten, try, wait, want, wish, would like

3. V infinitive

“You can help solve the problem”.

“He did not dare approach the great man”.

dare, help, need

4. V that sentence

“The president agreed that the project had possibilities.”

admit, assume, believe, bet, consider, decide, deny, doubt, dream, expect, feel, find out, guess, hear, hope, know, pretend, realise, recommend, regret, say, suggest, suppose, think, understand

5. V n -ing

“My husband hates me being a business woman”.

anticipate, appreciate, avoid, catch, feel, find, hate, hear, imagine, leave, like, notice, observe, prevent, recall, resist, save, see, show, stop, watch

6. V n to infinitive

“She persuaded him to leave”.

advise, allow, ask, beg, challenge, can’t bear, cause, enable, encourage, expect, force, get, hate, help, invite, like, mean, nag, need, need, order, persuade, prefer, recommend, remind, teach, tell, want, warn, wish, would hate, would like

7. V n infinitive

“She heard the man laugh.”

“You can make it happen”.

feel, hear, let, make, notice, observe, see, watch

8. V n (that) sentence

“She told me (that) he planned to be away all that night.”

assure, bet, convince, guarantee, inform, persuade, promise, reassure, remind, satisfy, show, teach, tell, warn

9. V n -ed

“He needed to have his tooth extracted.”

“I must get the car serviced.”

feel, find, get, hear, keep, make, need, order, report, see, watch, want, would like