VERB COMPLEMENTS

What is a verb complement?

• Simply put, a complement is that, which follows a tensed (finite) verb
and is NOT an object (noun) or an adverbial (okolicznik). Consider
these examples:
• He wants to move out. He thinks that it’s the best idea.
finite verb verb complement finite verb verb complement (finite clause)

• They like us.

finite verb object
• They live in San Francisco.
finite verb adverbial

• In English, there are two basic ways to complement a verb:

• With non-finite verb forms: the infinitive and the –ing form
• With a finite clause (e.g. a that-clause)
• Complements can also follow other parts of speech such as adjectives:
• He is reluctant to help.
adjective complement
 VERB COMPLEMENTS
NON-FINITE FINITE
THE INFINITIVE THE –ING FORM A FINITE CLAUSE
*[6 forms – 4 active, 2 passive] *[4 forms – 2 active, 2 passive]

to- infinitive bare infinitive • I considered • I insisted that he

with/without object leaving the job. leave. (subjunctive clause)
• I asked her to • You can go. • I regretted his • I wondered why he
leave. • You’d better stop. leaving the job. left.
• I wanted to leave. • They decided on • She acknowledged
• I helped him to leaving. that she had left
leave. the job.
• I stopped for the • He didn’t know
child to cross the that she had left.
street. • She decided when
she would leave.

• These patterns are not necessarily obvious to non-native spekaers.

• One verb can have (and often does) more than one possible pattern.
• The dictionary marks these verb patterns in bold print followed by pattern sentences.
• These pattern sentences can help you decide how to arrange the words in a sentence.
• *All the infinitive and –ing forms are discussed in detail in the presentation on non-finite forms.
Take the example of forbid:
Non-Finite Complements
• In this presentation, we are going to focus on non-finite verb
complements, that is the use of the infinitive and the –ing
form.
• Unfortunately, there is no easy way to decide which verbs are
followed by –ing forms, and which are followed by infinitives.
• Moreover, nouns, adjectives and prepositions can also be
followed by non-finite complements, and this presentation also
features such examples.
TO-INFINITIVE
 The to-infinitive as a verb complement
• to express purpose He went out to get groceries.
They did that to survive.
• after certain verbs without or, in some cases, He promised to help us. (no object)
with an object: He expects to win.
• agree, afford, appear, claim, decide, He expects her to win. (+object)
expect, hope, plan, promise, refuse, The video appears to show a car driving through the
seem, want wall of a house. (no object)
• after certain verbs with an object; The police warned everyone to stay inside.
e.g. advise sb to do sth
• advise, allow, believe, cause,
command, enable, encourage, entitle,
force, invite, order, persuade, remind,
show, teach, tell, warn
*without an object these verbs can follow He allowed her to smoke in his apartment. (object,
different patterns to-inf)
He doesn’t allow smoking in his apartment. (no
object, -ing)
• after dare with an object in the sense of I dared him to cross the river.
“challenge”: dare sb to do sth
• after would like, would love and would I would like to apologize for any
prefer and to express a specific inconvenience.
preference
• verbs typically associated with –ing He likes to cook from time to time.
complements such as like, love and
hate can take the to-infinitive if they do
NOT describe a general preference

• after certain verbs/expressions followed He explained how to operate the machine.

by who, what, where, how: They didn’t know who to ask for help.
• ask, learn, find out, wonder, want
to know, decide, explain
* why is NOT followed by the to-inf
 The to-infinitive after adjectives and nouns

• after certain adjectives that express I was annoyed to hear that he had left.
feelings, willingness etc.: He is reluctant to help.
• happy, glad, eager, willing, unwilling, You were clever not to believe them.*
reluctant, anxious, clever, lucky, Both drivers are lucky to have escaped
fortunate unhurt.

* also possible: It was clever of you not to

believe them.
• after too/enough + adjective She is too young to stay out so late.
She isn’t old enough to stay out so late.
• after certain nouns It was a mistake to have bought that hi-fi
system.
 The to-infinitive: other cases
• to talk about an unexpected event that She came home to find him waiting for her.
can be unpleasant; usually with only They rushed to the airport only to find out
that the flight had been cancelled.
• after be + the first/second etc. or the He was the first one to arrive.
next/last/best
BARE INFINITIVE
 The bare infinitive as a verb complement
• after modal verbs: I can do it.
• will, would, can, could, shall, should, He should call her.
may, might, must They must have been here.
I should be going.
• after had better and would rather You had better go home.
I would rather stay home than go out tonight.

• after let and make followed by an object He let them go.

She made him stay.
• after the verbs help and dare in the sense of We hope the campaign will help (to) raise
“be brave enough to do sth”; awareness of the problem.
to-inf can also be used in these cases They helped them (to) pack. (+object)
I was angry, but I didn’t dare (to) say anything.
He didn’t dare (to) say what he thought.
• after the verbs hear, listen to, notice, see, They listened to the band rehearse. (They saw the
watch, feel followed by an object to entire rehearsal.)
describe a complete action; that is to He saw two men enter the building.
emphasize that somebody saw/heard the
action from beginning to end
The bare infinitive – other cases

• after why (not) in questions about Why pay more at other shops? We have
purpose/reason the lowest prices.
Why not take a break?
Why not meet again some day?
The problem with passive constructions with bare infinitive
The following verbs that take the bare infinitive are found in the passive voice:
• see, hear, make
ACTIVE PASSIVE
bare inf changes into to-inf
They saw her talk to the manager. She was seen to talk to the manager.
She made him stay. He was made to stay.
He heard her talk on the phone. She was heard to talk on the phone.

Although let is transitive (has an object), it is not used in the passive voice.

*I won’t be let
-ING FORM
 The -ing form as a verb complement
• after certain verbs: They considered moving abroad.
• admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, He avoided answering my question.
consider, continue, delay, deny, discuss,
enjoy, escape, excuse, fancy, finish,
forgive, go (for activities, e.g. go
swimming), imagine, involve, keep
(=continue), mention, mind, miss,
postpone, practise, prevent, quit, recall,
recollect, report, resent, resist, risk, save,
stand, suggest, tolerate, understand
• to express general preference after dislike, She likes painting.
enjoy, hate, like, love, prefer He prefers travelling by train to flying.

• after certain verbs followed by a I resented Tom’s winning the prize. (formal,
possessive (about people) or an object to written)
talk about a past situation: Mia recalled his buying the book.
• detest, (dis)approve of, (dis)like, hate, I resented Tom winning the prize. (informal,
love, object to, resent, forget, imagine, spoken, an object used instead of a possessive)
recall, remember, think of Mia recalled him buying the book.

I remember the horse winning the race.

(object)
• after the verbs hear, listen to, notice, see, They listened to the band rehearsing. (the
watch, feel followed by an object to band was in the middle of a rehearsal; they didn’t
describe an incomplete action; that is to listen to the entire rehearsal)
emphasize that somebody saw/heard only He saw the kids playing outside.
part of the action
• In the passive voice, the –ing form The kids were seen playing outside.
remains.
• after can/could see/hear followed by an They could see the smoke coming out of the
object building.
I can hear them coming.
 The –ing form after prepositions
• after prepositions (has a function of a He was found guilty of lying in court.
noun) They were accused of shoplifting.
• after the preposition to with the She objects to working on Sundays.
following verbs and expressions: I look forward to meeting them.
• look forward to, be/get used to, get
round to, object to, prefer (doing
sth) to (doing sth else), in addition
to
• after certain expressions: They are busy writing the wedding
• be busy, it’s no use, it’s (no) good, invitations.
it’s (not) worth, what’s the use of, It’s no use complaining.
can’t help, there’s no point (in),
can’t stand, have difficulty (in),
have trouble, have a hard/difficult
time
EXERCISES: to-infinitive, bare infinitive and –ing form
OTHER PATTERNS
 The pattern for + object + to-infinitive
The preposition for is used after certain verbs and adjectives
• after certain verbs: They arranged for Ann to stay in a hotel.
• advertise, arrange, hope, We’ve arranged for the plumber to come tomorrow.
long, wait They hope for the film to open to rave reviews.
She longed for him to return.
She has been longing for the chance to speak to him in
private.
• after apply and campaign in They applied for the court appearance to be
the passive voice postponed. (passive infinitive)
They are campaigning for the commercial to be taken
down. (passive infinitve)
• after certain adjectives It’s difficult for them to understand what’s going on.
• anxious, convenient,
dangerous, difficult,
important, necessary
• after certain nouns It was a mistake for you to lend him the money.
• advantage, disadvantage,
demand, disaster, idea,
mistake
 The pattern for + object + to-infinitive cont.
• to express purpose, often after There are benches for people to sit on in the park.
be and have; often with a
dangling preposition
 Variation: the pattern [preposition] + object + to-infinitive
Preposition Example
at He shouted at the man to open the door.
common verbs: She is continually going on at him to flush
• shout, scream, yell the toilet.
• (BrE) keep on (at sb = nag) They kept on at me to finish.
• (BrE) go on (at sb = pressure, criticize)
on We’re depending on you to find a solution
common verbs: soon.
• count, depend,rely
• prevail (on sb to do sth = persuade; formal) I'm sure he could be prevailed on to give a
talk. (passive)
to He closed the door and signalled to the
common verbs: pilot to take off.
• appeal, gesture, motion, signal
VERBS TAKING THE TO-INFINITIVE OR THE-ING FORM
WITH A CHANGE IN MEANING
verb to-inf -ing
forget not remember about an unforgettable past event
I forgot to buy milk. I’ll never forget travelling by plane
for the first time.
remember not forget recall
Did you remember to tell them I remember talking to him before.
about the meeting? + object: I remember his/him talking
about it before.
go on stop one action and move on to continue
another He went on doing the paperwork
She introduced herself and went until midnight.
on to talk about her new book.
mean intend involve
She means to buy a new car. She’ll get a ticket even if it means
paying a lot of money.
regret be sorry about giving sb bad past regret
news He regrets selling the house.
We regret to inform you that the
flight has been cancelled.
verb to-inf -ing
try make an attempt at sth do sth as an experiment
She tried to move the wardrobe, Try calling him if he doesn’t answer
but it was too heavy. your text messages.
stop interrupt an action to do sth else give up
We stopped to fill the tank and He stopped drinking coffee because
get hot dogs. it upset his stomach.
be sorry apologize for a present action [+ for] apologize for a past action
I’m sorry to say this, but your We’re sorry for keeping you waiting.
essay is poor.
be afraid you are afraid of sth you are [+ of] you fear that the action might
about to do sth happen and you don’t want to do it
He was afraid to enter, because She doesn’t want to borrow her
he could hear a dog barking. father’s car, because she is afraid of
crashing it.
VERBS TAKING THE TO-INFINITIVE OR THE -ING FORM
WITHOUT A CHANGE IN MEANING

VERBS FOLLOWED BY OBJECTS

verb to-inf or -ing
begin We began to discuss/discussing the matter.
start
continue We continued to discuss/discussing the matter.
propose (=intend) How do you propose to get/getting home?
bother Why bother to ask/asking if you’re not interested?
intend I don’t intend to stay/(BrE) staying long.

*if used in the progressive form, the verbs above are

followed by the to-infinitive:
It’s starting to get cold. not It’s starting getting cold.
verb to-inf (followed by an object) -ing
advise He advised us to book in He advised booking in advance.
advance. also: advise (sb) against sth
We were advised to book in His doctor advised him against
advance. (passive) smoking.
allow He allowed her to smoke in his He doesn’t allow smoking in his
apartment. apartment.
permit The security system will not The prison authorities permit
permit you to enter without visiting only once a month.
the correct password. *with permit, a noun is more common than
the –ing form
Visitors are not permitted to
take photographs. (passive) The prison authorities permit visits
only once a month.
encourage We encourage the victims to The city needs to encourage
talk freely about their creating more jobs.
experiences. *with encourage, a noun is more common
than the –ing form
The city needs to encourage job
creation.
recommend sth to sb The psychologist recommended
I recommend this book to writing her feelings down on paper.
anyone with an interest in
chemistry.
(passive) sb is reccommended
to do sth
Students are recommended to
make an appointment with a
counselor.
require (passive) be required to do sth Lentils do not require soaking
You are required by law to before cooking.
wear a seat belt.
 The –ing form + the passive infinitive possible
• in the sense that it’s necessary to repair/improve sth

verb -ing passive to-inf

need The carpet needs vacuuming. The carpet needs to be vacuumed.

but: It needs to be done. *It needs doing.

Fill in with the correct verb complement.

1. Don't bother (make) ______ the bed - I'll do it later.

2. We’re required (check) ______ your identification before
letting you in.
3. The doctor recommended (swim) ______ as the best all-round
exercise.
4. Does this shirt need (iron) ______ ?
5. The dog’s beginning (get) ______ impatient.
6. I'd strongly advise against (make) ______ a sudden decision.
7. I think I'd advise him (leave) ______ the company.
8. Students are not allowed (eat) ______ in class.
9. We don’t allow (dive) ______ in the pool.
10. Don’t allow your problems (dominate) ______ your life.
VERB PATTERNS - TABLES