Verb patterns

Verb patterns

When we use two verbs together, the form of the second verb usually depends on the first verb. This is called a verb pattern:

The company has made people think differently, the number of customers keeps rising, the table wouldn't fit in this car.

keep, don't mind, begin, enjoy, finish, prefer, love, hate, continue, like, start	+ verb + ing (doing)
need, seem, try, begin, want, prefer, decide, love, hate, continue, like, start, would like, plan, forget, learn	+ infinitive with to (to do)
would, can, would rather, will, must, should, could	+ infinitive without to (do)
pay, ask, tell, help, want, would like, allow, teach	+ object + infinitive with to ( sb/sth to do)
make, help, let	+ object + infinitive (sb/sth do)

*keep=continue

*Let someone do something = allow someone to do something

*The verbs in red in the table have more than one verb pattern. Both verb patterns have the same meaning:

I started to write an email. = I started writing an email.

* In BE, like/love/hate + verb + ing is more common:

I like/love watching sport on TV.

In American English, like/love + infinitive with to is more common:

I like to watch sport on TV.