Unit 5: English You Need
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መወከስ ስዋስው
Verb patterns
In English when two verbs are used back to back, the first verb tells the second verb what form to be. This is called a verb pattern
3 types
There are three basic types of verb pattern:
1. The full infinitive (with to): to + verb
2. The bare infinitive (no to): verb
3. –ING form: verbing
e.g.
1. to play
2. play
3. playing
Some verbs
There are many verbs in English which have to be followed by a full infinitive:
Agree, want, hope, expect, refuse.
- I agree to go
- I wanted to go
- I will refuse to go
There are many verbs in English which have to be followed by a bare infinitive. A large number are called modal verbs:
Can, can't, will, won't, must, mustn't, should, shouldn't, would, wouldn't, may, might, have to, don't have to.
- I must go
- She will go
- He may go
In both cases these verb patterns cannot be changed and must be learnt as they are.
After adjectives
generally, if we wish to use a verb after an adjective, we use a full infinitive:
- It's good to see you
- It's important to remember your keys
Infinitive of purpose
We can use a full infinitive at the end of a clause to explain why we are doing the thing we are doing:
- I'm going home to sleep
- I want a dog to play with
