Business English 2 Grammar

- some verbs are followed by an -ing form:

• have you considered postponing...; do you mind waiting...; we'll keep on cutting costs
• saying and thinking (admit, consider, deny, imagine, mention, suggest)
• liking and disliking (dislike, enjoy, fancy, mind, resent)
• phrasal verbs (carry on, give up, keep on, put off)
• other common verbs (avoid, delay, finish, involve, keep, miss, postpone, practise, risk)
• common phrases (spend/waste time/money, it's not worth, there's no point)
• most of these verbs can also be followed by a noun or pronoun (admitted taking a pill; admitted his mistake)

- go and come + -ing form are often used for sports and outdoor activities:

• go skiing; come shopping

- some verbs have to as a preposition:

• look forward to; object to; be used to; get used to; respond to
• prepositions are always followed by the -ing form (look forward to seeing you)

- some verbs are followed by to + infinitive:

• they wish to become...; we're managing to improve...
• plans and decisions (aim, arrange, choose, decide, intend, plan, prepare)
• expectations (demand, deserve, expect, hope, want, wish, would like)
• promises and refusals (fail, guarantee, offer, promise, refuse, threaten)
• other common verbs (can/can't afford, agree, learn, pretend, seem, tend, train, wait)

- most of these verbs can also be followed by a noun or ponoun:

• prepare to take; prepare a plan
• verb + to + infinitive ist also used in these cases: to find out; how to use; be going to, be able to, have to, need to

- some verbs are followed by an object + to + infinitive

• advise, allow, ask, cause, encourage, expect, force, help, invite, order, pay, prefer, persuade, remind, teach, tell, train, want, warn
• they told us to wait here; he persuaded the bank to lend him money

- after make and let we use the bare infinitive without to:

• i made them check...; the let us keep...

- some verbs can alsobe followed by a that, in everyday speech we can leave the word that:

• we decided to cancel the meeting = we decided that we would cancel the meeting

- some verbs can be followed by -ing or to + infinitive and the meaning of the verb changes:

• remember/forget: we use remember/forget doing for memories (i remember seeing...; i'll never forget making...)
• we use remember/forget to do for actions someone is supposed to do (i must remember to call her; i forgot to make...)
• regret: we use regret doing wehn we are sorry about smth. that happened in the past (i regret saying no)
• we use regret to do when we are sorry for smth. we are going to do, such as giving bad news
• try: we use try doing wehn we make an experiment (i'll try talking to him; i'll try to talk)
• stop: we use stop doing when we end an action (we stopped buying...)
• mean: we use mean doing when one thing results in or involves another (globalization means being...; i meant to let you know...)
• go on: we use go on doing when we continue doing smth. (they went on reading...; he went on to start...)

- verbs of perception include: feel, hear, listen to, notice, see, watch

- these verbs can be followed by either by an object + -ing or a bare infinitive (without to)

• if we see/hear only part of the action we use the -ing form:
• i saw her giving her presentation = i sar part of the presentation)
• i heard the maching making noises = i heard the noise and it continued afterwards
• if we see or hear the whole action from beginning to end we use the bare infinitive without to:
• i saw her give her presentation = i saw the whole presentation
• i heard the machinge make a noise = i heard the noise and it stopped

- some verbs can be followed by -ing or to + infinitive and there is little change in meaning, these include: begin, continue, intend, start

• what do you intend doing / to do about it?
• however, with these verbs we do not usualy have two -ing forms together:
• it was starting to get dark (not starting getting)
• the verbs like, love, prefer, hate can be followed by either form, to + infinitive suggests smth. is a good/bad idea, the -ing form shows your feelings:
• i like to do ..., but i don't like doing them