Verb Patterns

The structure of the clause depends on the verb. For example:

An intransitive verb has the structure: N(=noun) + V(=verb): (John) + (smiled).

A transitive verb has the structure: N + V + N: (We) + (had been playing) + (football)
A link verb has the structure: N + V + Adj : (She) + (looked) + (happy)
A phrasal verb has the structure: N + V + p + N (She) + (gave) +(back) + (the money)
or
N + V + N + p (She) + (gave) + (the money) + (back)

Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs have the pattern N + V (noun + verb). The clause is complete without
anything else:
Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase
John smiled
Nothing happened
The baby was sleeping

(John) (smiled).
(Nothing) (has happened).
(The baby) (was sleeping).

Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs have a noun phrase as object:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase (Object)

John wanted a new bicycle.
We had been playing football.
Some of the children are learning English.

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

Link Verbs
Some verbs are followed by an adjective phrase. The adjective phrase is called the
complement:
Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Adjective phrase (complement)
I am feeling hungry
Everyone looked very happy
This soup tastes awful
The milk has gone sour

This pattern is N + V + Adj (noun + verb + adjective phrase).

These verbs are called link verbs.

Some link verbs (for example be; become; seem) can have a noun phrase as a complement:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase (complement)

Our neighbour was a strange man
He became a geologist
She seems a nice girl

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

Double Object Verbs

Some verbs, like give and bring can have two different patterns after them:
Noun Phrase Prepositional
Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase
(Direct object) phrase
She gave some money to the old man
They brought a lot of food for the animals
>>>> <<<<
Noun Phrase Noun Phrase
Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase
(Indirect object) (Direct object)
She gave the old man some money
They brought the animals a lot of food

These verbs are called double object verbs. When we have two noun phrases after the verb the
first noun phrase is the indirect object and the second noun phrase is the direct object.
Verbs with -ing forms
Some transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object:

Everybody likes good food.

George considered the problem.

or the ing form of the verb:

Everybody likes eating.

George considered starting again.

Verbs with to + infinitive

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive:

They agreed to help.

We decided to go.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive:

She told him to go home.

They advised us to wait.

Reporting verbs with that, wh- and if

clauses

Reporting verbs with that clauses:

Some verbs introduce a report, an idea or a summary. These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + (that) + clause

When we want to say what someone says or thinks we can use a clause with that;

He said that I had to see a doctor.

I thought that he was being silly.
We can leave out the word that:

He said I had to see a doctor.

I thought he was being silly.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She reminded him that it was time to go.

He told me he was a friend of yours.

These verbs have the pattern;

N + V + N + (that) + clause.

Reporting verbs with wh- and if clauses

Some verbs introduce summaries, reports, questions or problems:

She explained what we had to do.

He asked if I was ready
I didnt know what to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + wh- + clause:
She wondered where she was.

or

N + V + if + clause:
Ken asked if we wanted to go.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She asked me if I was ready.

He told me what I had to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + N + wh- + clause:
I told them what he was doing.

or

N + V + N + if + clause:
Ken asked us if we wanted to go.
Two- and three-part verbs
Two part verbs

Some verbs consist of two words a verb and a particle (p). These verbs have a number of
patterns:

Peter came in. (N + V + p)

He took out his diary. (N + V + p + N)
He gave the money back. (N + V + N + p)

Phrasal verbs

Some transitive two part verbs are phrasal verbs. They have two different patterns.

N+V+N+p

She gave the money back

He knocked the vase over
We will be leaving our friends behind

or

N+V+p+N

She gave back the money

He knocked over the vase
We will be leaving behind our friends.

When the object is a pronoun these verbs always have the first pattern N + V +N + p:

She gave it back

He knocked it over
We will be leaving them behind

Three part verbs

Some verbs are made up of three parts a verb and two particles. They have the pattern:

N + V + p + p + N:

His girl friend walked out on him.

She soon caught up with the other runners
Children should look up to their parents.
Verb patterns - adverbials
A clause often has one or more adverbial phrases:

The children laughed happily.

(N + V + Adv)
All the girls are learning English at school in the second year.
(N + V + Adv + Adv)
Last year Mary and the family were driving to Madrid in an old bus.
(Adv + N + V + Adv + Adv)
She put the flowers carefully in a vase.
(N + V + N + Adv + Adv)

Relative clauses
1. The relative pronouns:

The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possessive

who whom, who whose

which which whose

that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.
We use that for people or things.

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and
things.

2. Relative clauses to postmodify a noun

We use relative clauses to postmodify a noun - to make clear which person or thing we are
talking about. In these clauses we can have the relative pronoun who, which, whose or that

as subject (see Clauses Sentences and Phrases)

Isnt that the woman who lives across the road from you?
The police said the accident that happened last night was unavoidable
The newspaper reported that the tiger which killed its keeper has been put down.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
We do not repeat the subject:

*The woman who [she] lives across the road

*The tiger which [it] killed its keeper

as object of a clause (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

Have you seen those people who we met on holiday

You shouldnt believe everything that you read in the newspaper.
The house that we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing which I enjoyed most about our holiday.

- Sometimes we use whom instead of who when the relative pronoun is the object:

Have you see those people whom we met on holiday

- When the relative pronoun is object of its clause we sometimes leave it out:

Have you seen those people we met on holiday

You shouldnt believe everything you read in the newspaper.
The house we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed most about our holiday.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

Have you seen those people who we met [them] on holiday.

The house that we rented [it] in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed [it] most about our holiday.

as object of a preposition. When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition we

usually put the preposition after the verb.:

You were talking to a woman >>> Who was the woman who you were talking to?
My parents live in that house >>> Thats the house that my parents live in.
You were talking about a book. I havent read it. >>> I havent read the book which you
were talking about.

- When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition we usually leave it out:

Who was the woman you were talking to?

Thats the house my parents live in.
- Sometimes we use whom instead of who:

Who was that woman whom you were talking about.

- When we use whom or which the preposition sometimes comes at the beginning of the
clause:

I havent read the book about which you were talking.

- We can use the possessive form, whose, in a relative clause:

I always forget that womans name >>> Thats the woman whose name I always forget.
I met a man whose brother works in Moscow.

3. Times and places

We also use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or place we
are talking about:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year when we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day when the tsunami happened.
Do you remember the place where we caught the train?
Stratford-upon-Avon is the town where Shakespeare was born.

... but we can leave out the word when:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the tsunami happened.

4. Giving additional information

We use who, whom, whose, and which (but not that) in relative clauses to tell us more about
a person or thing.

as subject (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

My uncle, who was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.
I have just read Orwells 1984, which is one of the most frightening books ever written.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
We do not repeat the subject:

My uncle, who [he] was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.
I have just read Orwells 1984, which [it] is one of the most frightening books ever written.

as object (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed.

My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw in On the Waterfront.
- we can use whom instead of who as object:

My favourite actor was Marlon Brando, whom I saw in On the Waterfront.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed [it].
My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw [him] in On the Waterfront.

as object of a clause :

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired.

We are going back to Venice, which we first visited thirty years ago.

We can also use who as the object.

He finally met Paul McCartney, who he had always admired.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired [him].

We are going back to Venice, which we first visited [it] thirty years ago.

as object of a preposition:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, who he had read about in the newspaper.
Thats the programme which we listened to last night.

- We sometimes use whom instead of who:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, whom he had read about in the newspaper.

- The preposition sometimes comes in front of the relative pronoun whom or which:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, about whom he had read in the newspaper.
Thats the programme to which we listened last night.

5. Quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns

We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns:

many of whom - most of whom - one of which - none of whom

some of which - lots of whom - two of which - etc.

We can use them as subject, object or object of a preposition.

She has three brothers two of whom are in the army.
I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.
There were some good programmes on the radio, none of which I listened to.

6. Using "which" to give more information

We often use the relative pronoun which to say something about a clause:

He was usually late, which always annoyed his father.

Weve missed our train, which means we may be late.

Reporting: reports and summaries

Many teachers and learners think that tense forms in reported speech are complex.

In fact, "reported speech" follows exactly the same rules as the rest of the language.

1. When we report what people say or think we use:

clauses with that:

Everybody knew that it was Henrys birthday tomorrow.

She explained that she would do as much as she could to help.

but we can leave out the word that:

Everybody knew it was Henrys birthday tomorrow.

She explained she would do as much as she could to help.

wh-clauses (see Wh-clauses) and clauses with if (see note in Wh-Clauses)

He was asked what he had been doing the previous night.

She explained why she went by train rather than by car.

to-infinitives:

We all agreed to do as much as we could.

Who told you to come?

2. We very rarely try to report exactly what someone has said. We usually give a summary:

Mary: Oh dear, weve been walking for hours. I am exhausted. I dont think I can go any
further. I really need to stop for a rest.
Peter: Dont worry. Im not surprised that youre tired. Im tired too. Ill tell you what. Ill see
if I can find a place to sit down, and then we can stop and have our picnic.
>>>
When Mary complained that she was tired out after walking so far, Peter said they could stop
for a picnic.

3. Tense forms in reports and summaries.

When we are reporting what people say or think in English we need to remember:

that the tense forms in reports and summaries are the same as in the rest of the
language:

This is a letter that Andrew Brown wrote ten years ago:

I am twenty-two years old and I am at University studying engineering. I
take my final exams next month and I will finish university in July.

I want to take a year off and travel round the world. I will need to make
some money while I am travelling so I would like to learn to teach English
as a second language so that I can make some money while I am abroad.
A friend of mine has recommended your course very highly. She also gave
me some details, but I would like to ask a few more questions.

What courses do you have in the summer and when do they start? How
much do the courses cost? Is there an examination at the end?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Andrew Brown.
If you were telling a story about Andrew might write something like this.:
When Andrew was 22 he was an engineering student in his last month at
the university. He wanted to travel abroad after he had finished his course
at the university, but he would need to earn some money while he was
abroad so he wanted to learn to teach English as a foreign language. A
friend had recommended a course but Andrew needed more information.
So he wrote to the school and asked them when their courses started and
how much they were. He also wanted to know if there was an examination
at the end of the course.
You would use past tense forms to talk about something that happened ten
years ago.

If you were reporting or summarising what Andrew wrote you might start
off by saying:
Andrew told me that when he was 22 he was an engineering student in his
last month
... and you could go on in the same way. You would use past tense forms
to talk about something which happened ten years ago. So tense forms in
reports and summaries in English are the same as in the rest of the
language.
 Sometimes you have to choose between a past tense form and a present tense form.

If you are talking about the past but you mention something that is still true you
could use a present tense form to show you agree that it is true:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it is the most comfortable hotel in town.
Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro is her favourite actor.
Helen said she loves visiting New York.

... or a past tense form:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it was the most comfortable hotel in town.
Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro was her favourite actor.
Helen said she loved visiting New York,

If we are talking about something that everybody knows is true we normally use a
present tense:

Michael said he had always wanted to climb Everest because it is the highest mountain in
the world.
Mary said she loved visiting New York because it is such an exciting city.

4. to-infinitives in reports and summaries:

We often use the to-infinitive after verbs of thinking and feeling to report or summarise
actions:

decide - hope - intend

I think I will start all over again >>>

He decided to start all over again.
I am going to write to the newspaper about it >>>
She intended to write to the newspaper about it.

and verbs of saying:

agree - promise - refuse

I can do the shopping for you if you like >>>

He agreed to do the shopping for me.
Im sorry. I would love to help you but Im afraid I cant >>>
She refused to help me.

After some verbs we use a direct object and the infinitive (see verbs followed by infinitive):

advise - ask - encourage - invite - order - remind - tell - warn -

expect - intend - want - would like - would prefer

I think you should turn the lights out now >>>

She reminded me to turn the lights out.
 Be very careful, children. The sea can be very dangerous so please dont go in the
water. >>>
She warned the children not to go in the water.

Verbs - questions and negatives

1. Yes/No questions

Yes/No questions are questions to which the answer is Yes or No

Look at these statements:

They are working hard.

They will be working hard.
They had worked hard.
They have been working hard.
They might have been working hard.

We make Yes/No questions by putting the subject, they, after the first part of the verb:

Are they working hard?

Will they be working hard?
Had they worked hard?
Have they been working hard?
Might they have been working hard?

2. Negatives

We make negatives by putting not after the first part of the verb:

They are not working hard

They will not be working hard
They had not worked hard
They have not been working hard
They might not have been working hard

In spoken English we often reduce not to nt:

They arent working hard.

They wont be working hard
They hadnt been working hard
etc.
Wh- clauses

Wh-words are what, when, where, who, which, why and how.

We use clauses with a wh- word:

In wh-questions (see Questions and Negatives):

What are you doing?

Who ate all the pies?
Why did you do that?

after verbs of thinking:

know - understand - suppose - remember - forget - wonder

I know where you live.

She couldnt remember who he was.
John wondered what was going to happen next.

NOTE: We also use clauses with if

I wonder if well see Peter.

She couldnt remember if she had posted the letter.

after verbs of saying:

ask - say - admit - argue - reply - agree - mention - explain - suggest

I asked what she wanted.

He tried to explain how the accident had happened.
She wouldnt admit what she had done.
Did he say when he would come?

tell and some other verbs of saying must always have a direct object (see clauses, sentences
and phrases):

tell - remind

We tried to tell them what they should do.

She reminded me where I had left the car.

after some verbs of thinking and saying we use wh-words and the to-infinitive:

We didnt know what to do.

We will ask when to set off.
Nobody told me what to do.
Can anyone suggest where to go for lunch?

NOTE: We use the to-infinitive:

-- When the subject of the to-infinitive is the same as the subject of the main verb:

He didnt know what to do >>> He didnt know what he should do

We will ask when to set off >>> We will ask when we should set off

-- When the subject of the to-infinitive is the same as the person spoken to:

Nobody told me what to do. >>> Nobody told me what I should do.
Can anyone suggest where to go for lunch? >>> Can anyone suggest [to us] where we should
go for lunch.

after some nouns to say more about the noun:

Is there any reason why I should stay?.

Do you remember the day when we went to Edinburgh.
That was the town where I grew up.

We often use a wh-clause after is:

I missed my bus. Thats why I was late.

This is where I live.
Thats what I thought.
Paris thats where we are going for our holidays.