Verbs and verb patterns

What follows a verb — gerunds, infinitives, objects, and the patterns that fix them.

• A1

  Be verb for age

  Use the 'be' verb to talk about age, not 'have' (I am 20 years old, not I have 20 years).

• A2

  Coordinated verbs share a tense

  Verbs joined by and stay in the same tense: We stayed at home and watched a movie, not and watch.

• A2

  Present Perfect with Since/For

  Use the present perfect continuous (have/has been doing) when using since or for to denote an ongoing action.

• A2

  Stative Verbs in Continuous

  Stative verbs (agree, know, believe) are not generally used in continuous (-ing) forms.

• B1

  Causatives: make/let/have + base verb

  Make, let, and have take object + base verb (made me cry). Get, force, and allow take object + to-infinitive (got me to help).

• B1

  Have + past participle

  After have/has/had, use the past participle (has written, had gone), not the base or past form.

• B1

  Passive: be + past participle

  In the passive, use be + the past participle (was eaten, is made), not the base or past form (was eat, was broke).

• B1

  Redundant Prepositions

  Certain transitive verbs (discuss, mention, contact, marry) do not take prepositions.

• B1

  Suggest / Recommend Structures

  Verbs like suggest and recommend cannot take an object + to-infinitive. Use a that-clause or gerund.

• B1

  Used to vs Be used to

  'Used to' (past habit) takes a base verb. 'Be used to' (accustomed) takes a gerund (-ing).

• B1

  Wishes: I wish / if only + past

  After 'I wish' or 'if only', use the past form for present wishes (I wish I had more time, not I wish I have).

• A1

  Do/does agreement and the base verb

  With ordinary verbs, use does with he, she or it, and do with I, you, we or they in present-simple questions and negatives. Use the base verb after do, does or did. Do not add do/does/did to be or modal verbs: She isn't tired. She can't swim.

• A1

  Missing do-support in negatives

  With most ordinary verbs, use don't or doesn't + base verb for present negatives, and didn't + base verb for past negatives. With be or a modal, add not without do: She is not tired. She cannot swim.

• A2

  Past Tense for Past Dates

  Use past tense when referring to a past date or year.

• A2

  Catenative verbs requiring to-infinitive

  Verbs like want, need, try, and decide require 'to' before the next verb (e.g. 'I want to eat', not 'I want eat').

• B1

  'To': infinitive marker or preposition

  'To' before a base verb marks an infinitive (to go). Before a noun or -ing form it is a preposition (to the park, to seeing).

• B1

  Verbs requiring to before indirect object

  When naming both a thing and its recipient with verbs like explain or describe, use thing + to + person: explain the rule to me. Introduce can also take a person directly: She introduced him to Anna.

• B1

  Want + object + to-infinitive

  Want takes an object plus a to-infinitive, never a "that" clause: I want you to help me, not I want that you help me.

• B1

  Gerund after to in phrasal expressions

  In expressions like 'look forward to' or 'object to', 'to' is a preposition and must be followed by a gerund (-ing).

• B1

  Gerund vs participle (-ing forms)

  An -ing form after 'be' is a participle (she is running). Elsewhere it often acts like a noun — a gerund (running is fun).

• B1

  Gerunds after certain verbs

  Verbs like enjoy, avoid, and finish are followed by the '-ing' form (enjoy working).

• B2

  Insist on + gerund

  Insist takes on + gerund: he insisted on finishing, not he insisted to finish. ("Insist that" + subjunctive is a separate, correct pattern.)