Learn English to Earn – Adults

About Lesson

Verbs

It often happens, when writing or speaking in English,
that you need two or more verbs, one after another.
When this is the case, there are often questions about
the form of the second (third, etc.) verb.

Should it be an infinitive (to + simple form)? Should it be a gerund
(-ing form)? Should it be a base (simple) form? If there
is an object, where does the object go? etc.

We hope to provide some answers for these questions
in the next several Hints of the Day.

______________________________________________Verb + to + Verb

In English, verbs often connect to other verbs by using to:

I need to try to continue to work very hard.

In the sentence above, three verbs–try, continue, and
work–connect to need by using to.

There are many English verbs that connect to other verbs in this way.
Here are some of the the most common ones:

afford
agree
appear
arrange
ask
attempt
be
beg
can’t bear
can’t stand
beg
begin
care
choose
claim
consent
continue
decide
demand
deserve
desire

expect
fail
forget
get
hate
hesitate
hope
intend
learn
like
love
manage
mean
need
offer
opt
plan
prefer
prepare
pretend
profess
promise

refuse
regret
remember
seem
start
stop
strive
struggle
swear
tend
threaten
try
venture
volunteer
wait
want
wish
would like
yearn

Special Notes:

All of the verbs above may be followed by to +
another verb. Some of them (attempt, can’t bear,
begin, continue, forget, hate, like, love, prefer,
regret, remember, can’t stand, start, try) may also
be followed by a gerund (an -ing form).

To make verbs connected by to negative, use an
auxiliary + not for the first verb, but make the
“connected” verbs negative by using only not:

Examples:

He doesn’t (didn’t, won’t) need to try to
continue to work so hard. / He hasn’t(hadn’t)
needed to try to continue to work so hard.

He needs to try not to continue to work so hard.

He needs to try to continue not to work so hard.

When verbs are connected with to, the first verb
can be in any tense, but the others are in simple
form because they follow to:

Examples:

I’m planning to arrange to take some time off.

I plan to to arrange to take some time off.

Some of the verbs above have special meanings
or uses when they follow to:

be to ( + verb) = be expected to + verb;
get to ( + verb) = be permitted to + verb;
opt to ( + verb) = choose to + verb.

Examples:

You’re to be here no later than 10:30 AM.

It’s too bad that you didn’t get to go to the party

Some of the verbs above have different meanings
when they are followed by to + verb and when
they are followed by a verb + -ing:

regret to (verb) = be sorry to (verb), but
regret (verb + -ing) = be sorry about (verbing);

remember to (verb) = not forget to (verb), but
remember (verb + -ing) = have a memory of
(verb + -ing).

stop to (verb) = stop in order to (verb), but
stop (verb + -ing) = quit (verbing) / no longer (verb).

Read the following sentences and select the correct form of the verb given in brackets.

Rita ___ a mile every day. (run/runs)
The dogs ___ all night. (barks/bark)
The cat ___ the snake. (catch/caught)
We ___ in the park in the evenings. (play/plays)
Mia __ school yesterday. (went/go)
Sheela ___ to be a Police Officer when she grows up. (want/wants)
Mahesh ___ back to his mother. (ran/run)
Amy ___ very fast. (walk/walks)
You can ___ with us. (come/came)
They ___ to a picnic together. (went/go)
Have you ___ the baby? (see/seen)
Hannah Montana ___ so well. (sing/sung)
The bird ___ away from the cage. (flew/flown)
I __ a letter for my friend. (write/wrote)
The friends ___ back from the trip. (drove/drive)
Did you ___ anything? (do/done)
They ___ till late evening. (plays/played)
Can you __ well? (swim/swam)
Cheetahs ___ very fast. (run/ran)
My brother and I ___ every day. (talk/talks)

Read the following sentences and use has/have/had appropriately.

Bernie ___ a meeting yesterday.
Do you want to ___ an ice cream?
The lion ___ a big mane.
My parents __ gone to a party a few days back.
___ you seen Reema?
__ he not moved to a new city he wouldn’t be sick.
All the members of the committee ___ arrived now.
__ you seen my new scooter?
Raj __ to go back home.
My sister ___ her final exam tomorrow.
I ___ a Husky.
They do not __ a bicycle.
We ___ not visited the new park yet.
Lady Macbeth __ a lust for power.
Rita ___ a seminar before.

Insert appropriate verb forms in the blanks.

1. It was John who …………………… the police.

alert ,alerts ,alerted

2. We ………………….. for ages.

are waiting , have been waiting

3. I …………………. her for a long time.

know , knew ,have known

4. The box …………………… so heavy that I could not lift it.

was ,has been , is

5. One of my friends ………………… to Zambia recently.

has gone , went , goes

6. He ……………………… a novel since October , and now he is about to ?nish it.

was writing , has been writing , ,,,, is writing

7. I will call you when the guests ……………………

will arrive ,would arrive , arrive

8. Age and experience …………………………..

wisdom to man.

bring ,brings ,brought

9. The prize was ……………………… away by our team.

borne , born , bore

10. They were……………………… questioned.

be ,been , being ,

Underline the non-?nite verbs in the following sentences.

She stopped to say Hi.

I don’t want to quit.

I don’t. know what I am supposed to do.

Not knowing what to do, he went to bed.

Shouting at the top of his voice, he. demanded admission.

She enjoy traveling.

I would like to travel a lot.

I am interested in learning to ?y.

They asked me to wait outside.

Trespassing is prohibited.

She ran into my room crying.

They weren’t able to solve the problem.