Verb + object + to + infinitive

Verb, object, to + infinitive

We use this structure to report requests, advice, encouragement and warning.

In today's challenge, Ehsan from Iran hears clips from a children's party and tells us what advice his parents gave him when he left Tehran...

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Verb, object, to + infinitive

Certain verbs may be followed by an object and then by an infinitive with to – I told you to do it. The negative infinitive is formed with not – I told you not to do it.

subject	verb	object	(not) to + infinitive
Marco's mother	ordered	him	to get into	the car.
Elena	told	the children	not to touch	the glasses.

The following verbs take this pattern:
advise allow ask beg command encourage	forbid force instruct invite oblige order	permit persuade remind tell want warn

In this exercise you will practise verbs which are followed by an object + to + infinitive structure. 

Verb + object + to + infinitive
After some verbs we use the object, followed byto + infinitive. Verbs which can be followed by this form include: advise, ask, allow, expect, encourage, force, help, invite, order, persuade, teach, tell.	They helped their neighbour to repair his car.
	She asked me to give her some advice.
	I told my assistant to send the letter. I advised my friend not to sell his house.

Instructions: The following sentences all have a verb + object + to + infinitive structure. Complete each sentence by putting the words in brackets into the correct form. 

VERB + OBJECT + TO-INFINITIVE OR GERUND.

1) Verb + object + to-infinitive

After the following verbs, we normally use the object before a to-infinitive. These verbs include force, persuade, ask, convince, get, expect, invite, teach, want, suggest, order, tell, assign, remind…

Example:

- They force him to go away.

- I expect you to come to my party.

- She suggests me to learn English.

2) Verb + object + ing-form

Some verbs must have an object before an ing-form. Other verbs like this include catch, discover, feel, hear, leave, notice, observe, see, spot, watch, find, overhear…

Example:

- The police found the man climbing the wall.

- She overheard them talking about the closure of the factory.

NOTE: However, this is not the case when these verbs are in the passive.

Example: The man was found climbing the wall.

3) Verb + (object) + ing-form

Some verbs can have an object or no object before an ing-form. Other verbs like this include detest, dislike, dread, envisage, hate, imagine, like, love, mind (in questions and negatives), miss, recall, regret, resent, risk, start, stop, stand, remember…

Example:

- They can’t stand (him) driving his old car.

- I remember (you) buying that jumper.

4) Verb + object + ing-form/bare infinitive

A few verbs such as feel, hear, notice, observe, overhear, see, and watch can be followed either by an ing-form or a bare infinitive, but the meaning may be slightly different.

COMPARE:

ç Verb + object + ing-form: We use verb + object + ing-form to suggest that the action is repeated or happens over a period of time.

Example: Did you hear those dogs barking most of the night?

ç Verb + object + bare infinitive: We use verb + object + bare infinitive to suggest that the action happens only once.

Example: I noticed him throw a sweet wrapper on the floor, so I asked him to pick it up.

ç Verb + object + ing-form: We use verb + object + ing-form to suggest that we watch, hear, etc. some of the action, but not from start to finish.

Example: I was able to watch them building the new car park from my office window.

ç Verb + object + bare infinitive: We use verb + object + bare infinitive to suggest that we watch, hear, etc. the whole action from its start to its finish.

Example: I watched him climb through the window, and then I called the police.

Some examples about adjectives

Gerunds and infinitives

Both gerunds and infinitives can be nouns, which means they can do just about anything that a noun can do. Although they name things, like other nouns, they normally name activities rather than people or objects. Here are five noun-uses of gerunds and infinitives (and one additional non-noun use, the adjective complement, that we throw in here, free of charge).

Gerunds and infintives can both function as the subject of a sentence:

1. Playing basketball takes up too much of her time.
2. To play basketball for UConn is her favorite fantasy.

It is not impossible for an infinitive to appear at the beginning of a sentence as the subject (as in Ib), but it is more common for an infinitive to appear as a Subject Complement:

1. Her favorite fantasy is to play basketball for UConn.
   The gerund can also play this role:
2. Her favorite fantasy is playing basketball for UConn.

Both of these verbal forms can further identify a noun when they play the role of Noun Complement and Appositive:

1. Her desire to play basketball for UConn became an obsession.
2. I could never understand her desire to play basketball for UConn.
3. Her one burning desire in life, playing basketball for UConn, seemed a goal within reach.

The infinitive is often a complement used to help define an abstract noun. Here is a very partial list of abstract nouns, enough to suggest their nature. Try following these adjectives with an infinitive phrase (their desire to play in the championship game, a motivation to pass all their courses, her permission to stay up late, a gentle reminder to do your work) to see how the phrase modifies and focuses the noun.

advice appeal command decision desire fact instruction motivation	opportunity order permission plan possibility preparation proposal recommendation	refusal reminder request requirement suggestion tendency wish

Infinitive phrases often follow certain adjectives. When this happens, the infinitive is said to play the role of Adjective Complement. (This is not a noun function, but we will include it here nonetheless.)

1. She was hesitant to tell the coach of her plan.
2. She was reluctant to tell her parents, also.
3. But she would not have been content to play high school ball forever.

USED TO

FORM

[used to + VERB]

Example:

• I used to go to the beach every day.

It is better not to use "used to" in questions or negative forms; however, this is sometimes done in informal spoken English. It is better to ask questions and create negative sentences using Simple Past.

USE 1 Habit in the Past

"Used to" expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:

• Jerry used to study English.
• Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the summer.
• I used to start work at 9 o'clock.
• Christine used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.

FORM

[used to + VERB]

Example:

• I used to go to the beach every day.

It is better not to use "used to" in questions or negative forms; however, this is sometimes done in informal spoken English. It is better to ask questions and create negative sentences using Simple Past.

USE 1 Habit in the Past

"Used to" expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:

• Jerry used to study English.
• Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the summer.
• I used to start work at 9 o'clock.
• Christine used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.

Prepositions at the end of questions

When a question word is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the clause, especially in an informal style.

What are you looking for? (More natural than ‘For what are looking?’)
Who is this present for? (For whom is this present? is extremely formal.)
Who were you speaking to? (NOT To whom were you speaking?)
Which pictures are you talking about?
What are you laughing at?
Who put the cat in?
Who turned the lights off?

Prepositions come at the end of clauses in indirect wh-questions and what-clauses which are not questions.

Tell me what you are looking for. (NOT Tell me for what you are looking.)
What a lot of trouble I have gotten into! (NOT Into what a lot of trouble I have gotten.)

Some questions consist of simply a question word and preposition.

What with?
Who for?
What about?

Note that this structure is unusual when there is a noun with the question word.

Read more at http://www.englishpractice.com/grammar/prepositions-questions/#xJhuzfwQMlbevaAd.99

WH Question Words

We use question words to ask certain types of questions (question word questions). We often refer to them as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example WHy, HoW).

Question Word	Function	Example
what	asking for information about something	What is your name?
	asking for repetition or confirmation	What? I can't hear you. You did what?
what...for	asking for a reason, asking why	What did you do that for?
when	asking about time	When did he leave?
where	asking in or at what place or position	Where do they live?
which	asking about choice	Which colour do you want?
who	asking what or which person or people (subject)	Who opened the door?
whom	asking what or which person or people (object)	Whom did you see?
whose	asking about ownership	Whose are these keys? Whose turn is it?
why	asking for reason, asking what...for	Why do you say that?
why don't	making a suggestion	Why don't I help you?
how	asking about manner	How does this work?
	asking about condition or quality	How was your exam?
how + adj/adv	asking about extent or degree	see examples below
how far	distance	How far is Pattaya from Bangkok?
how long	length (time or space)	How long will it take?
how many	quantity (countable)	How many cars are there?
how much	quantity (uncountable)	How much money do you have?
how old	age	How old are you?
how come (informal)	asking for reason, asking why	How come I can't see her?

TAG QUESTIONS

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure is:

statement	question tag
+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb whenbe) from the statement and changes it to negative or positive.

Examples of HARDLY

Examples of HARDLY

1. It hardly matters what I think.
2. The changes in service have hardly been noticed.
3. There are hardly any new features in this software.
4. Hardly anyone showed up for the meeting.
5. Hardly a day goes by when I don't think about you.
6. This is hardly a new idea for a movie.
7. “Is this a new idea for a movie?” “Hardly! I've seen dozens of movies just like it.”

8. Hardly had I arrived home when the telephone rang.

   
    

Nothing Sentence Examples

Nothing Sentence Examples

• It seemed there was nothing he couldn't do better than her, and he was always taking command of things.
• Maybe lifting had nothing to do with it.
• There's nothing wrong with your cooking.
• But logic had nothing to do with emotion.
• If God thought it was wrong, nothing we could have done would have been successful.
• Nothing could be gained by dwelling on such thoughts.
• It was going to be nice having nothing to do but enjoy their little family for the next two weeks.
• The fact that there was nothing to protect her from was irrelevant.
• Dulce looked nothing like Alex.
• There's nothing much to tell.
• Alex said nothing, his stoic features giving no suggestion of what was on his mind.
• There was nothing to say.
• With nothing more to do, she wandered in to watch him shave.
• She contributed nothing to their income.
• Felipa said nothing as she wrapped the last present.
• Even as she thought it, she knew her anger had nothing to do with their heritage.

Examples of negatives with nobody, never and so on...

Examples of negatives with nobody, never and so on...

    That won’t do you no good.
    I ain’t got no time for supper.
    Nobody with any sense isn’t going.
    I can’t find my keys nowhere.
    She never goes with nobody.
    John says he has not seen neither Alice or Susan all day.
    You can’t see no one in this crowd.
    There aren’t no presents left to open.
    The secret cave did not have none of the treasures they wanted.
    All the witnesses claimed that didn’t see nothing.
    The pilot can’t find no place to land.
    He did not mention neither the deposit nor the rate.
    There is no way you can do nothing about this.
    He doesn’t have nothing but the clothes on his back.
    We haven’t never seen a tornado that big.
    It ain’t right to not paint the house.
    You shouldn’t do nothing to the house.
    The hospital won’t allow no more visitors.
    I don’t have nobody to mow my lawn.
    That attitude won't get you nowhere.
    After the nose job, she didn’t want no one to see her.
    The star couldn’t sing no more after the matinee performance.