Collins Cobuild English Grammar (87 page)

Some speakers consider this to be informal or incorrect.

Come
and
go
are often used in a similar way with
and
, in simple forms as well as in the base form. The verb after
and
can also inflect.

Come and see
me whenever you feel depressed.
I
went and fetched
another glass.

get
with an
-ed
participle

3.201
   In informal spoken English,
get
is sometimes used with an
-ed
participle directly after it, in a structure with a passive meaning.

Then he
got killed
in a plane crash.

     When
get
is used to form passives in the past and present perfect, American English normally uses the participle
gotten
, rather than
got
.

Her foot had
gotten caught
between some rocks. (Am)

Talking about two actions done by different people

3.202
  If you want to talk about two closely linked actions that are performed by different people, you follow the first verb with an object. This object then functions as the subject of the second verb. For example, in
She asked Ginny to collect the book
,
Ginny
is the person who is asked, and she is also the person who performs the action of collecting the book.

I
saw him looking
at my name on the door.
You can’t
stop me seeing
him!

use of possessive determiner

3.203
  Note that when the second verb is an
-ing
participle, a possessive determiner is sometimes used in front of it, instead of a pronoun. This is rather formal.

These professional ethics prevent
their
discussing their clients with the public.
She did not like
my
living in London.

Note that a possessive determiner is only used in this way when the second verb can have a human subject.

transitive verbs with an
-ing
participle

3.204
  Some verbs are used with an object and an
-ing
participle.

He
caught Hooper looking
at him.

Here is a list of verbs that are used with an object and an
-ing
participle:

catch

describe

feel

find

hear

imagine

keep

leave

like

notice

observe

picture

prevent

save

see

send

spot

stop

want

watch

Listen to
also belongs in this group. The object after it is the object of the preposition
to
.

I
listened to Kaspar talking
.

These verbs are sometimes used with a passive
-ing
form, but not usually with a perfect
-ing
form.

She felt herself
being spun around
.

verbs with an infinitive without
to

3.205
  Some of the verbs in the above paragraph can also be used with an infinitive without
to
.

She
felt her hair rise
on the back of her neck
Dr Hochstadt
heard her gasp
.

There is a slight change of meaning depending on which form is used. If you choose the
-ing
participle, you emphasize that the action continued happening for a period of time.

But I stayed there,
listening to her singing
.
I looked over and
saw Joe staring
at me.

If you choose the infinitive without
to
, you emphasize that the action was completed.

We
listened to Jenny finish
the sonnet.
It was the first time she
had heard him speak
of his life.

Here is a list of verbs that can be used with an
-ing
participle or an infinitive without
to
, with the change of meaning described above:

feel

hear

listen to

notice

observe

see

watch

Note that these verbs can be used in the active only when they are followed by an infinitive without
to
. See also paragraph
3.208
.

transitive verbs with a
to
-infinitive

3.206
  Other verbs are used with an object and a
to
-infinitive clause.

His sister
had taught him to sew
.
I
encourage students to do
these exercises at home.

Here is a list of verbs that are used with an object and a
to
-infinitive:

advise

allow

ask

beg

cause

challenge

choose

command

compel

dare

defy

enable

encourage

expect

forbid

force

get

help

induce

inspire

instruct

intend

invite

lead

leave

like

mean

move

oblige

order

pay

permit

persuade

prefer

press

programme

prompt

recruit

remind

teach

tell

train

trust

urge

use

want

warn

Note that some of the verbs in the above list are used for reporting orders, requests, and advice. For more information on this use, see paragraph
7.39
.

Here is a list of verbs that are always or usually used in the passive when followed by a
to
-infinitive:

allege

assume

believe

claim

consider

deem

discover

estimate

feel

find

know

learn

prove

reckon

report

require

rumour

say

see

think

understand

They refer to saying, thinking, or discovering. The
to
-infinitive that follows them is most commonly
be
or
have
, or a perfect infinitive.

The house
was believed to be
haunted.
He
was proved to be
wrong.