Verb Patterns

ENGLISH III

What are Verb Patterns?

Grammar snack: Little Italy

Patterns with -ing

-ing Verbs as Adjectives

-ing Verbs as Nouns

(Full) Infinitive

Definition

Verb Patterns

Other verbs are followed by objects + prepositions:Put it on the table. Or verbs in other forms: I hate waiting, I prefer to walk.

Some verbs can stand alone: They laughed.Others have to be followed by an object: They loved it.

For example

Or by a clause:He told us (that) we were wrong.

Verbs patterns refer to what follows a verb. The meaning of the verb is often in the whole pattern, not just in the verb.

We use Infinitive verbs (to + verb):

e.g. I am happy to see you. He was not ready to jump.

After certain adjectives

e.g. I want to be free. I would like to go to France.

After certain verbs

e.g.It is difficult to find a job. It was not easy to take online classes.

After the expression "IT+BE+ADJECTIVE"

info

e.g. A: Why do you go to school? B: I go to study French,

To express purpose

Full Infinitive

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• as the object of a preposition:

Some people are not interested in learning English.

-ing Verb as Noun

-ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns.They can be used:

• as the subject of a verb:

Learning English is not easy.

• as the object of a verb:

We enjoy learning English.

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• after a noun:

Who is that man standing over there?The boy talking to Angela is her younger brother

• after verbs of the senses like see, watch, hear, smell, etc.:

I heard someone playing the piano.I can smell something burning.

The -ing adjective can come:

• In front of a noun:

I read an interesting article today. We saw an exciting match on Sunday.

• After link verbs like be, look or sound:

Your new book sounds interesting. The children can be really annoying.

-ing Verbs as Adjectives

Because an -ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb, it can have any of the patterns which follow a verb.

For example:

• It can have an object:

I like playing tennis.I saw a dog chasing a cat.

• It can be followed by a clause:

I heard someone saying that he saw you.

Patterns with -ing