VERB PATTERNS – COMPLETE GUIDE WITH
EXAMPLES
1) VERBS + GERUND (-ing)
• admit → She admitted cheating on the exam.
• advise → I advise studying before the test.
• avoid → He avoided answering the question.
• consider → They are considering moving abroad.
• delay → We delayed leaving because of the rain.
• deny → She denied breaking the window.
• discuss → We discussed going on vacation.
• dislike → I dislike waking up early.
• enjoy → She enjoys reading novels.
• finish → He finished doing his homework.
• imagine → Imagine living in another country.
• keep → He keeps complaining about everything.
• mention → She mentioned seeing you yesterday.
• mind → Do you mind opening the window?
• miss → I miss talking to you.
• postpone → They postponed meeting the client.
• practice → She practices playing the piano.
• recommend → I recommend watching that movie.
• regret → I regret saying that.
• risk → He risked losing everything.
• suggest → She suggested going earlier.
2) VERBS + TO-INFINITIVE
• agree → She agreed to help me.
• appear → He appears to be tired.
• arrange → We arranged to meet at 6.
• ask → She asked to speak to the manager.
• attempt → He attempted to fix the car.
• choose → I chose to stay home.
• decide → They decided to leave.
• demand → He demanded to see the report.
• expect → I expect to finish soon.
• fail → She failed to understand the problem.
• forget → Don’t forget to call me.
• help → She helped to clean the house.
• hope → I hope to see you soon.
• learn → He learned to drive.
• manage → She managed to escape.
• need → I need to study.
• offer → He offered to carry the bag.
• plan → We plan to travel.
• prepare → She prepared to leave.
• pretend → He pretended to sleep.
• promise → She promised to come.
• refuse → He refused to answer.
• seem → She seems to understand.
• tend → He tends to worry too much.
• want → I want to learn English.
• wish → I wish to speak with you.
• would like → I would like to order pizza.
3) VERBS + OBJECT + TO-INFINITIVE
• advise → She advised me to study.
• allow → They allowed us to enter.
• ask → She asked him to help.
• cause → The storm caused the tree to fall.
• encourage → They encouraged me to apply.
• expect → I expect you to be on time.
• force → He forced me to apologize.
• help → She helped me to finish.
• invite → They invited us to stay.
• order → The officer ordered them to stop.
• permit → They permitted him to leave.
• persuade → She persuaded me to try.
• remind → Remind me to call her.
• teach → He taught me to swim.
• tell → She told him to wait.
• warn → They warned us to be careful.
4) VERBS + BARE INFINITIVE
• let → She let me go.
• make → He made me apologize.
• see → I saw him leave.
• hear → I heard her sing.
• feel → I felt the ground shake.
• watch → We watched them play.
• notice → I noticed him smile.
5) GERUND OR INFINITIVE (NO CHANGE)
• begin → She began to cry / She began crying.
• continue → He continued to speak / He continued speaking.
• hate → I hate to wait / I hate waiting.
• like → I like to read / I like reading.
• love → She loves to dance / She loves dancing.
• prefer → I prefer to stay / I prefer staying.
• start → They started to laugh / They started laughing.
6) CHANGE OF MEANING
• remember → I remembered to lock the door / I remember locking the door.
• forget → Don’t forget to call her / I’ll never forget meeting you.
• regret → I regret to inform you / I regret telling him the truth.
• stop → He stopped to smoke / He stopped smoking.
• try → Try to open the door / Try adding more salt.
• mean → I meant to call you / Being a teacher means working hard.
• go on → He went on to explain / He went on talking.