English Verbs

 Verb Patterns
http://www.elateafrica.org/elate/english/verbs/verbpatternsintro.html

Developing communicative ability through using verb patterns in
Sentences with the to-infinitive and plain infinitive.

The infinitive form of the verb is the basic form of the verb (i.e. the form of a verb without reference to any changes according to it’s tense-e.g. sit, fall, walk). The infinitive has two main forms: the to-infinitive -e.g. to sit, to fall, to walk, where to comes before the verb, and the plain infinitive – e.g. let (something) go, make (someone) do something or see (someone) do something, where the main verb (let, make, see) is followed by an object (a person or thing). The to - infinitive can be used with or without an object. In the plain infinitive, an object is always expected after the main verb. These three aspects of the infinitive are dealt with.

(a) Subject + verb + to-infinitive (as object of the verb)

1	They	refused	to do the work
2	We	would like	to go out
3	He	prefers	to watch football
4	The prefects	offered	to resign

• Varying the subject and object
• Varying the main verb and its tense
• Varying the to-infinitive
• Completing appropriately with the to-infinitive.

(b) Subject + verb + object + to- infinitive

1	She	requested	him	to wait for her
2	We	expect	them	to attend the show
3	The herdsman	forced	his cattle	to drink the drug
4	Henry	is advising	Eboue	to calm down

• Varying the subject and object
• Varying the main verb and its tense
• Varying the to-infinitive
• Completing appropriately with the to-infinitive

(c) Subject + verb + object + plain infinitive.

1	The teacher	let	her	go out
2	The boy’s father	made	him	clean the walls
3	We	heard	the thief	enter the house
4	Everybody	saw	the policeman	Shoot the demonstrator.

• Varying the subject and object.
• Varying the main verb and its tense
• Varying the plain infinitive
• Completing appropriately with the plain infinitive.

Activity 1: Making sentences

(a) Make five sentences similar to those in the first table using any of the following Verbs: try, want, intend, expect, promise, decide, agree, delay, hurry, and choose.

(b) Make five sentences similar to those in the second table using any of the following Verbs: convince, urge, allow, warn, force, help, teach, encourage, persuade, and watch.

(c) Make five sentences similar to those in the third table using any of the following Verbs: feel, see, watch, let, help, make, notice, observe, catch, find.

Activity 2: Paragraph writing.

Write a paragraph describing how several groups of scouts went camping. They were to go in pairs and camp around a large tented camp used for training scouts. One pair left behind their cooking utensils where all the scouts had assembled before setting out. All the groups were to be awarded marks by their supervisor for their evening activities, including cooking their first meal. You can be sure that that evening the two scouts got zero for cooking activities! Add your own details to the ideas sketched in this introduction as you narrate what happened that evening. Include the sentences given in the table below. You may re-arrange the order of the sentences in your paragraph to give your ‘story’ a logical order of events.
Give your paragraph the title: ‘Not so prepared’.

The boys	forgot	to take their saucepans
Their rivals	refused	to lend them theirs
They	expected	to find spare ones
They	promised	to return it washed
Their friends	offered	to share their food instead
They	hoped	to borrow one of their pots.

Activity 3: Writing out sentences.

Write out in full sentences each of the group of words numbered 1 to 5 according to the structure of each example sentence for (a) (b) and (c) below. To make full and correct sentences you will need to add other words like prepositions, articles and pronouns and change the verb tenses.

(a) Subject + verb + to-infinitive.

Example: He/agree/write/apology

              He agreed to write an apology.

1. Girls /determine/finish/long race.
2. High jumper/attempt/break/national record.
3. Angry workers /refuse/return/work
4. She /decide/go/Jinja /at once
5. team/deserve/win/match

(b) Subject + verb + object + to-infinitive.

Example: Teacher/advise/students/revise/set books.

              The teacher advised the students to revise the set books.

1. They/permit/children/enter/showground
2. Parents /teach/their children/play/games fairly
3. Who/tell/you/open/parcel?
4. Philip/request/Jane/introduce/topic
5. Slow train/cause/them/arrive/late.

(c) Subject + verb +object + plain infinitive
 
Example: James/help/old man/cross/road

              James is helping the old man cross the road.

1. His mother/let/small boy/ play/neighbor’s dog
2. You/hear/someone/whistle/outside?
3. He/listen/grandson/sing/concert
4. They /watch/moon/rise/slowly
5. Class/observe/changes/happen /experiment.

Activity.4: Pattern Practice

(a) Subject +verb +to-infinitive (as object of the verb)

Examples: - She wants to go.

               - I forgot to post the letter

• Mr. Wanyama wants ------------- to Alice. (propose)
• He managed ----------------- the song before he went home. (learn)
• He promised ----------------- after work. (call)
• I chose -------------------- instead of taking a taxi. (walk)
• We agreed----------------- people in the camps. (help)
• Her boss knew that she was pretending -------------- ill. (be)
• She prefers------------- with the project until the end, instead of having a break in between. (continue)
• I have agreed--------------- that difficult Algebra number. (attempt)
• Namukasa deserves --------------- that proposal. (refuse)
• Okello used ---------------- in town, but now he lives in the village. (live).

Answers:

• to propose
• to lean
• to call
• to walk
• to help
• to be
• to continue
• to attempt
• to refuse
• to live

(b) Subject + verb + object + to- infinitive.
      Examples:  - I would like you to stay.

                      - He helped me to carry the bag.

• The traffic policeman --------------- him to stop. (command)
• My parents-------------- me to do Medicine at Makerere University not Mbarara university. (intend)
• She --------- her for telling lies. (hate)
• I do not ------------ you to do your PhD from here. (encourage)
• How ------------ you come at this time! (dare)

      Answers:

1. commanded,   2.  intended,   3.  hates,    4.  encourage,    5. dare.

(c) Subject + verb + plain infinitive.

    Examples: - I saw him go out.

                   - She helped him escape.

1. He ----------------- the visitor fell at home until I arrived. (make)
2. I -------------------- the kite snatch the chick from the helpless mother hen (watch)
3. -------------------- me perform the experiment if you are to learn. (observe)
4. They ----------------- the bus pass by (hear)
5. The thugs -------------- their way into the crowd and threw the grenade. (make)
6. -------------- him farewell! We have to leave. (bid)
7. She --------------- the child’s temperature rise due to the high fever. (feel)
8. I --------------------- Mr. Nsubuga’s presence at the party, but did not get time to chat with him. (notice)
9. Do not delay her. --------------her go! (let)
10. I ----------------- the choir sing and was touched. (observe)

Answers

1. made 2.watched   3.observe 4. heard  5.made  6. bid   7.felt 8.   noticed   9.let   10. observed

Developing communicative ability through using verb patterns in sentences with the gerund from (i.e. -ing) and the to-infinitive.
The gerund form of the verb ends in –ing and denotes the use of the verb as a noun. The two forms of the infinitive are demonstrated in the preceding subtopic. Contrasting the use of these verb forms helps to illustrate how some verbs use one form (gerund or infinitive), how some use both forms with changes in meaning in the sentences and how sentence structures can be varied.

Main content and concepts

(a) Subject + verb + gerund

1	They	Love	swimming
2	My uncle	doesn't like	eating cabbage
3	We	have finished	writing our notes
4	She	Left	teaching last year.

(b) Subject + verb + to infinitive

1	I	love	to eat fried fish
2	He	doesn’t like	to swim
3	She	was expected	to win the race
4	We	have finished	to write our notes.

Activity 1: Making sentences

(a) Make five sentences similar to those in the first table using any of the
      following verbs: be, like, complete, prefer, love, hate, enjoy, regret, mind
      ,begin.

(b) Make five sentences similar to those in the second table using any of the
      following verbs: learn, agree, want, finish, practice, refuse, decide, and start,
      continue, stop.

(c) Complete the following sentences by putting the correct form of the verb in brackets in the blank space.

Have the girls finished………..the plates? (wash)
Jacob now regrets………school before he was eighteen (leave)
Do you intend………….your car this afternoon?(drive)
That factory has stopped………baby food because of lack of milk (make).
We stopped …….on the way (rest)
He gave up……….two years ago(drink)
Susan expects…………..in two years (graduate)
They missed……….the exciting football match yesterday(watch)
The carpenter determined………..the work by the weekend (finish)
The centre-forward hesitated……….the ball into the net (shoot)

Activity 2: Writing out sentences

(a) Subject + verb + gerund.

   Example: The goalkeeper stopped making fun.

Write out in full sentences each of the following groups of words numbered 1 to 10 according to the structure of each example sentence for (a) and (b) below. To make correct sentences you will need to add other words like prepositions, articles and pronouns and change the verb tenses.

1. We/begin /feel/hot/room.
2. He/give up/smoke/at last
3. I/remember/see/him/party
4. (Why) you /avoid /meet /her?
5. We/admit/make/mistake.
6. She/regret/attack/him/public
7. They/not mind/re-write/their compositions
8. (When) you /consider/visit/uncle?
9. Teachers/suggest/invite/parents/meeting.
10. Who/miss/drink/soda/?

(b) Subject + verb + object + to - infinitive or plain infinitive.

• You/expect/temperature/rise /afternoon?
• They/let/us/go home soon?
• Refugees /build/temporary huts/shelter in
• Couple/adopt/two babies/look after.
• Village women/help/one another/harvest crops.
• It/be pleasure/visit/ Murchison falls.
• Teacher/allow/them/ask questions.
• We/ not hear/ band/play/music last night.
• She/see/him/steal /watch?
• I/not notice/head teacher/enter/hall.

Activity 3: Dialogue and pattern practice

(a) In pairs, read and act out this short dialogue.

Fred:         Hello, Geoffrey! Where are the others? Haven’t they come yet?

Geoffrey: No, they ‘re not coming. They’ve changed their mind.

Fred:       I wonder what they intend to do.

Geoffrey: They’re going swimming.

Fred:        I don’t understand what people like about swimming when you can have
                 fun watching live car-racing on a Sunday afternoon.

Geoffrey: That’s rather like watching a film on T.V, isn’t it? What’s the use of just
                 watching, anyway?

Fred:        But what you see is real action! It’s like being in it.

Geoffrey: You might as well say you prefer smelling coffee to drinking it!

Fred:        Ah! Enough of your arguments. Looks like you’d rather join them.

Geoffrey: As a matter of fact, yes! I’m going swimming.

Fred:        Good luck in your dull sport. I’m going car-racing watching!
 

(b) Look at these examples from the dialogue:

• 1 wonder what they intend to do.
• They’re going swimming.
• You prefer smelling coffee to drinking it.

The dialogue has several examples of verbs that take both the gerund and the to -infinitive after them.

 Examples:

       go swimming                     like swimming          prefer swimming

       go to swim                        like to swim             prefer to swim

• They are going swimming
     
• They are going to swim.    

• I like swimming     

• I’d like to swim    
• I’d prefer swimming to watching car – racing.
•  I prefer to swim this afternoon.

Some verbs are only followed by the gerund (ing)

Examples:

have fun (enjoy) swimming          

• We had fun (or enjoyed)swimming (not ‘enjoy to swim)
  
• I suggest going to the museum (not ‘suggest to go’)

mind-walking   

• Do you mind walking to the lake? (not ‘mind to walk’)

     
give up smoking

• John has given up smoking  (not ‘given up to smoke’)

(c) Make sentences similar to the examples above using verbs in the gerund or
      to-infinitive.

• have fun (enjoy) (…ing)
  
• suggest  (…ing)
  
• mind (…ing)
  
• give up (…ing)
  
• go (to…)
  
• go (….ing)
  
• like (to…)
  
• like (…ing)
  
• prefer (to…)
  
• prefer(…ing)

Activity 4: Reading and Writing.

Read the following passage. There are several sentences with the infinitive. Copy down those sentences (or the main parts of long sentences) that contain the infinitive. After that, use the words given below the passage to make your own sentences with the infinitive.

They could be described as African’s most hard-working engines. They are hard –worked beasts of burden, like their village mates working in the fields, who go out of their homes every day to labour all day. They go hoping to make just about a dollar a day for their families. In every town they converge from all directions through grass –lined village paths to the dusty murram roads, and finally slap the little tarmac there is with their bare, restless feet before reaching their destinations in the middle of town.

These market women walk for miles to sell their meagre farm produce, or simple handiworks and traditional cuisine. The range of their produce is amazing: sorghum, millet or maize; simsim or groundnuts; beans or peas; bananas, pineapples, oranges tamarind or mangoes; cassava, sweet potatoes or yams; local vegetables, cabbage or tomatoes. They cater for every kind of basic application in the home by selling simple tools and items like grass brooms, sisal and other fibre ropes, wicker baskets, reed trays or palm leaf mats. They sell an assortment of cooked local food, fruit juices and potent brews. They let themselves suffer for the sake of their families.

Their daily journeys take them across different kinds of settlements. From their own rural setting they pass through gardens and fallow fields, shaking down or trampling early morning beads of dew from tufts of grass before the sun breaks out. Wet with dew, they reach the clusters of small village shops on the murram road and stop to wipe themselves before heading for the town. They do this, daily, to survive.

Developing communicative ability through using verb patterns in
sentences with the present participle and past participle.

• Subj. + verb + noun + pronoun + present participle.

• Subj. + verb + noun /pronoun + past participle.

A verb has been defined in our previous unit as an action word. We have also further explained that there are words that define how and when these actions are done. The structuring /forming of these words is what is referred to as verb patterns. The patterns in this subtopic are commonly used with the following verbs: see, watch, observe, find, notice, get, hear, listen, catch, keep, smell, feel, want, wish, like, prefer and make.

(a) Subject      +         verb     +          object    + present participle.

1	I	kept	the dog	running around
2	The man	found	us	playing cards
3	Our professor	listened to	us	complaining

(b) Subject      +      verb     +       object    +    past participle.

1	He	saw	the house	closed
2	The king	wanted	him	killed
3	Our school	preferred	teachers	housed
4	The bus	got	us	stranded

This subtopic focuses on the area of rewrites in grammar where one ought to know the particular order of the structural words to adjust to. The students must therefore master the pattern so as to use them well in the place of other patterns.

Activity 1: Re-writing sentences.

(a) Rewrite the following sentences according to the verb patterns above.

• The boat is leaving. We are taking tea.
• Bwambale came in. We were writing on the board.
• The food was burning. I smelt it.
• The ship sailed away as we watched it.
• The examiners observed us as we sat our exams.
• There was no one at home when we came.
• We got the news as he left.
• Masaba’s watch fell off. He felt it fall.
• Someone crossed the compound and Namuli noticed it.
• He sang a lullaby and we listened.

Answers

• The boat left us taking tea.
• Bwambale found us writing on the board.
• I smelt the food burning.
• We watched the ship sailing away.
• The examiners observed us sitting our exams.
• Masaba felt his watch falling off.
• Namuli noticed someone crossing the compound.
• We listened to him singing a lullaby.

(b) Write out in full sentences each of the groups of words numbered 1 to 10 according to the structure of the verb pattern above. To make correct sentences you will need to add other words like prepositions, articles and pronouns and change the verb tense.

Activity-A

1. We/feel/temperature /rise
2. Master on duty/find/two boys/creep under fence
3. Twaha /smell/groundnuts/burn
4. Rose /leave/clothes/dry on line
5. Policeman/fine/taxi driver/speed.
6. You/mind/close/door?
7. Children/enjoy/listen/stories.
8. They/not help/laugh/what he said.
9. New spray/prevent/spread/ malaria
10. Many youths/avoid/work/home.

Activity-B

Read the passage entitled  ‘An officer and His men’ and pick out at least 2 sentences with any of the patterns in this topic and show by understanding them then write them out. Indicate also whether they are of the first pattern or the second.

                             AN OFFICER AND HIS MEN.
5

They came around a bend and found themselves gazing at a trench dug in the middle of the road. A saboteur had been and gone; and was possibly in the neighbourhood, holding his breath. It seemed to Joe a long way to come to trap soldiers. One should dig these things in the middle of the streets in the city, not out in the deserted . . .‘Ssh, what’s that?
‘The clouds again,’ Joe said. ‘Rain’.
‘No it isn't.’ It was drawing near, the menacing sound of a truck.

10

‘Come on, Joe, we’ve got to get out of here.’ Joe had no time to protest for Simon had grabbed and pulled him into the thick undergrowth to the right side of the road.
‘What are you doing . . .?’
‘Quite, we’re dead if they find us.’

15

Round the corner a truck full of soldiers appeared; it braked, and screeched to a stop right at the mouth of the gaping hole. Helmeted heads knocked against one another and cursed. Simon swallowed as he saw the truck safe by the trench. It was a disappointed gulp, like that of a man to whose mouth meat had been presented, and then withdrawn just as he was ready to savour it.

20

As the two men watched, a young officer jumped out of the vehicle and started giving fast crisp orders in English. Then he changed to another language, which he spoke with difficulty. He had a babyish face with slightly overemphasized lips and could not have been in the army for long; he was probably one of those who had been dropped into position from the heights of Sand Hurst. His subordinates were much older, and many of them must have seen battle under a few flags, including that of the U.N. they would have entered the forces from somewhere in mid-primary school. There after they would have sailed their way upwards until they hit the Sand Hurst barrier.

25

There they had probably stopped and turned bitter. The sand Hurst man was useful in as he could read maps where others found difficulty, but he remained an object of jealousy and intrigue. He knew it too. And it was this that made him wary underneath the tough officious exterior.

30

35

Was he out on a limb? Or had he succumbed to the temptations of office and the luxuries of independence? Or was he in fact not thinking about these things at all, just fighting as he was trained to, and leaving the moral decisions to others? Joe wondered from where he was crouched in the grass. For days now the soldiers had been in a fighting posture. One found it difficult to say they had been fighting, because though they had killed and mutilated, some of their victims could not have provided the opposition in a fight.

40

The young lieutenant had looked on with certain unease as his soldiers carried out their outrages but he had not intervened. Was he afraid? Or didn’t he care at all? Perhaps he cared, and could in fact see some cruel justification in it all. I mean, what does society expect of its soldiers? You take a group of young normal men and you give them a gun and a uniform. At the crack of dawn a bugle, the signal, and then all day you train them in the techniques of murder. You impart a dignity, a form of gallantry to the destruction of men who happen to be on the other side. To shoot, to kill, to maim and to survive.
(Adapted from: The Skills of English, An Integrated Course in English Language and Literature by Austin Bukenya  p.168)

Answers for activity-B

 …line 1

…line14

…line18
…line34

…line31

Activity 2. Making sentences

Re- arrange the following groups of words in the right order to make either pattern one (1) or pattern two (2) that are demonstrated in the tables.

• dog/his/performing/smelt/his.
• Akelo/punished/me/getting/saw.
• found/the/house/furnished/well/we.
• started /failing/his/to/pass/class/the.
• us/him/imitating/my/father/found.
• the/boat/watched/the/captain/sailing.
• Mr. Mugisha/crying/me/left.
• set/his/clock/our/teacher/ticking.
• Kapere’s /reasoning/the/ heard/lawyers.
• kept/him/a/policeman/walking.

Answers

• His dog smelt his perfuming.
• Akello saw me getting punished.
• We found the house well furnished.
• The class started his failing to pass.
• My father found us imitating him.
• The captain watched the boat sailing.
• Mr. Mugisha left me crying.
• Our teacher set his clock ticking.
• The lawyers heard Kapere’s reasoning.
• A policeman kept him walking.
  
  Developing communicative ability through using verb patterns in
  sentences with interrogative sub-clauses and interrogatives combined with the to -infinitive.
  In this sub-topic, the use of verbs in sentence structures in which there are interrogatives in sub-clauses and interrogatives combined with to- infinitives are demonstrated.
  
  Interrogatives are words like why, who, when, what, where, how. Although interrogatives are usually referred to as question-words, they are also used in sentences with interrogative clauses and with the to - infinitive.
  
  Interrogatives used in these verb patterns are important as link-words. They form the verb patterns that are common in both spoken and written English.
  
  Interrogatives in sentence constructions mentioned above usually follow any of the following patterns:
  (a) Subject + verb + interrogative + clause as in:

  1	I	can’t imagine	why she behaved	like that
  2	No body	knows	when he will	Arrive
  3	Mukasa	forgot	what he would	Say

  (b) Subject + verb +noun/pronoun + interrogative + clause as in:

  1	He	showed	me	how they could	It
  2	(Can) you	tell	her	where her sister	Lives
  3	We	asked	him	which road to	Take

  (c) Subject + verb + interrogative + to - infinitive as in:
     

  1	You	must find out	where to put it
  2	She	forgot	when to turn it off
  3	(Do) you	remember	what to say	?

  (d) Subject + verb +noun/pronoun + interrogative + to – infinitive as in:
     

  1	He	will show	you	how to do it
  2	John	taught	me	how to drive
  3	Please	direct	us	where to go

  Activity 1: Making sentences
  1. Make five sentences similar to those in the first table using any of the following verbs: ask, believe, decide, find out, wonder, discuss, suggest, reveal.
  2. Make five sentences similpar to those in the second table using any of the following verbs: tell, firm, advise, show, teach, instruct, direct.
  3. Make five sentences similar to those in the third table using any of the following verbs: remember, decide, require, see, explain, wonder, guess, learn, know, consider.
  4. Make five sentences similar to those in the fourth table using any of the following verbs: show, teach, advise, inform, tell, ask, direct, instruct.
  Activity 2
  Re-write the following sentences following the instructions in brackets.
• She doesn’t understand …….to do the exercise.(Add the missing interrogative)
• I am wondering ……to do with my old clothes. (Add the missing interrogative)
• They have not yet decided on………room to give her. (Add the missing interrogative)
• Did they explain…….she did not return this term?(Add the missing interrogative)
• “How many trees did you plant last year?” she asked him. (Rewrite beginning: ‘She asked…..)
• What do you expect me to do about it? (Rewrite beginning: Susan asked Peter…..)
• How did you know I had a car? (Re write beginning: ‘He asked… …..)
• He’s gone I don’t know how far. (Re-write beginning: ‘I don’t know….)
• He had to dig it up; I don’t know how deep. (Re-write beginning: I don’t know….’).
• Tell him the way. He doesn't’t know (Re-write ending: ‘…..to go?).

Answers to activity 1.

1. She doesn't’t understand how to do the exercise.
   
2. I am wondering what to do with my old clothes
   
3. They have not yet decided on what (or which) room to give her.
   
4. Did you explain why she did not return this term?
   
5. She asked how many trees I planted last year.

• Susan asked Peter what he expected her to do about it.
• He asked me how I knew he had a car.
• I don’t know how far he has gone.
• I don’t know how deep he had to dig it.
• Tell him where to go (or which way to go).
References:
1. Grammar and vocabulary, for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency by Richard Side and Guy Wellman.
   
2. Political English Book 2 by Ogundipe.
   
3. Living English Structure, A practice book for foreign students by N. Stannard Allen.
   
4. Practical English Usage, Third Edition by Michael Swan.
   
5. Revision English, New Edition by Ronald Forrest.
   
6. English Grammar in Use, A self study reference and practice book for intermediate students. By Raymond Murphy.
   
7. Integrated English Syllabus, National Curriculum Development Center.
   
8. Integrated English, A course for Ugandan Secondary Schools Book2.National Curriculum Development Center.
   
9. Living English structure by stannard Allen, Long man, Green and Co. ltd. New Impression, 1964.
   
10. Practical English by Ogundipe.
    
11. High school English Grammar and composition, by Wren and Martin chard and company ltd, 1998
    
12. Sesnan, B. (1997). How to Teach English. Oxford University Press.Oxford Ox2 6DP.
    
13. National Curriculum development Centre. (2003). The Integrated English syllabus and Teacher’s Guide. S.1 to SIV. National Curriculum Development Centre. Kampala, Uganda.
    
14. Forrest, R. (2005). Revision English. New Edition. Longman Group Limited. Pearson Education Limited. Essex CM20 2JE, England.
    
15. Murphy, R. (1995). English Grammar in Use. A self-study reference and practice book for intermediate students. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge CB@ 1 RP. Mussel Burgh, Scotland.