What comes after a verb? “To do”, “do,” or “doing”? (Part 2)

Be sure that you read the first post in this series!  You can find it at What comes after a verb? “To do”, “do,” or “doing”? (Part 1)

Ducklings following their mother
Ducklings following their mother

Students regularly ask me, “How do I know what comes after a verb?” There is no simple answer to this question, but there are some guidelines.  Some of the trickiest kinds of verbs are those that have other verbs as complements.  When a verb is a complement, it can be in one of three forms — a full infinitive (like “to do”), a bare infinitive (like “do”), or a gerund (like “doing”).

If a verb takes another verb as a complement, it is usually either a full infinitive or a gerund.  Bare infinitives can only be complements for a small number of verbs, but these verbs are very common.  Let’s look at some verbs that take bare infinitives as complements. 

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs express:

  • the speaker’s beliefs.
  • the speaker’s attitude about whether something is possible.
  • the speaker’s ideas about a potential activity.

The following modal verbs take bare infinitives as objects:

  • can, could
  • will, shall
  • must
  • may, might
  • should
  • would (if we are talking about a habit in the past)

Remember that, unlike other verbs, modal verbs do not show subject-verb agreement.  Here are some examples:

  1. The test may be (It is possible that the test will be difficult.)
  2. Students may not use a calculator during the test. (Students are prohibited from using calculators.)
  3. I can study all night if necessary. (I have the potential to study all night.)
  4. You should study harder if you want to pass the test. (I believe that you are not studying enough.)

Some verbs are followed by a clause that has a bare infinitive.  A clause, at the very least, has a subject and a verb. It can be independent or dependent.  All the examples that I will show below are dependent clauses.

Causative Constructions with “Have” and “Make”

When we use “have,” and “make” in causative constructions, they must be followed by a clause with a bare infinitive.  A causative construction shows one agent causing another agent to do an action. For example:

  • I had the barber cut my hair. (The barber cut my hair because I wanted him to do it.)
  • The complement of the verb “have” is “the barber cut my hair.”
  • I made my daughter take a bath. (My daughter took a bath because I wanted her to do it.)
    • The complement of the verb “make” is “my daughter take a bath.”

Causative constructions with “have” and “make” are very common in spoken English.  Remember that English-speaking people tend to be specific about who did an action.  If you say, “I cut my hair,” native speakers will assume that you did the action, not a barber or hairdresser.

Let and Help

“Let” and “help” follow the same pattern as “have” and “make.”  They are followed by a clause with a bare infinitive. For example:

  • The teacher let the students take a break.
    • The complement of “let” is “the students take a break.”
  • My friend helped me repair my car.
    • The complement of “help” is “me repair my car.”

Verbs of Perception

In American English, the following verbs of perception take bare-infinitive clauses as complements:  see, watch, feel, and hear. For example:

  • I saw him leave the building.
  • I see him leave the building every afternoon.
  • Mary heard her sister close the door.
  • I watch my daughter get on the school bus every day.
  • I felt the floor shake during the earthquake.

These verbs are different from the earlier examples because it is also possible to have a gerund clause as a complement. For example:

  • I saw him leaving the building.
  • Mary heard her sister closing the door.

If we use a bare infinitive as we did in the first set of examples, it means that we think of the action as a single event.  If we use a gerund, there is a subtle difference in meaning.  If the main verb is in the past tense, it means that we think of the action as something that happened over a period of time. Gerunds show actions that are ongoing and/or incomplete.

If we use the verbs “see” and “hear” in the simple present tense, and the action is happening now, the gerund is mandatory. 

  • Look! I see them entering the building.

In this case, the gerund is showing an incomplete action. 

To recap, there are a limited number of verbs that take a bare infinitive as a complement.  The modal verbs that I covered take a bare infinitive verb as an object.  The others take a clause with a bare infinitive verb as an object.

References

Endley, Martin J. (2010) Linguistic Perspectives on English Grammar: a guide for EFL teachers. Information Age Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Huddleston, R. D. & Pullum, G. K. (2002) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Larsen-Freeman, D. & Celce-Murcia, M. (2016) The Grammar Book:  Form, Meaning, and Use for English Language Teachers, Third Edition.  National Geographic Learning, Boston, MA, USA

The Britannica Dictionary, https://britannica.com/dictionary

Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ (Accessed Feb. 20, 2023)

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