Название: Business Grammar Builder. Деловой английский: грамматика (Л.В. Корухова Н.Н. Новосельцева)

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Unit 19 verb + -ing or infinitive 1

         Verb + -ing      A

         Some verbs are followed by an -ing form. Some of the commonest verbs follow below:

Auto manufacturers are concerned consumers will postpone buying cars

until after next July, when the current 22\% sales tax on autos is expected to fall.

Van der Hoeue, CEO of Royal Ahold, spends 50 per cent of his time travelling and getting onto the sales floor as much as possible. As he explains: ‘I usually get a good feel for the store as I walk around’.

saying and thinking

liking and disliking phrasal verbs

phrase with can’t

other common verbs common phrases

admit*, consider*, deny*, describe, imagine*, mention*, suggest*

dislike, enjoy, fancy, (not) mind*

carry on, give up, keep on, put off

can’t bear, can’t help, can’t resist, can’t face, can’t

stand

avoid, delay, finish, involve, keep, miss, postpone, practise, risk

It’s not worth ...,           spend/waste time/money...

It’s no use/good...,        There’s no point (in) ...,

         Some of the verbs in the list can also be followed by a noun. These include:

admit deny imagine, suggest, dislike, enjoy, fancy, keep, mind, practise. The Minister admitted taking a bribe.

and

The Minister admitted his mistake.

What do you fancy doing this evening?

and

I fancy a nice, соld beer.

The group of verbs with can’t can also be followed by a noun.

I can’t bear avant-garde jazz.

         We use mind in questions and negative sentences.

A: Do you mind waiting a moment?

B: No, I don’t mind.

         Go and come plus -ing form are often used for sports and outside activities.

I often go skiing in the winter.

Do you want to come shopping with me?

         Some verbs and verb phrases have to as a preposition. These include: look forward to, object to, be used to, get used to, respond to. Prepositions are always followed by the -ing form.

I’m looking forward to seeing you next week. (NOT to see)

After a few months in the UK I got used to driving on the left. (NOT to drive)

         Verb + to + infinitive     B

         Some verbs are followed by to + infinitive.

‘PCCW has openly stated that it wishes to become the biggest broadband

player in Asia,’ says Richard Ferguson, a telecom analyst in Hong Kong.

‘That means it cannot afford to stand still.’

‘And by working together with the guys at IBM, Kodak and so on, we’re actually managing to improve the local supply base for all of us.’ says Jaime Reyes, head of Hewlett-Packard’s printer operations.

plans and decisions expectations

promises and refusals other common verbs

aim, arrange, choose, decide*, intend, plan*, prepare

demand*, deserve, expect*, hope*, want, wish*, would like

fail, guarantee, offer, promise*, refuse, threaten agree*, can /can’t afford, learn*, manage, pretend*, seem*, tend, train, wait

         Note that verb + to + infinitive is also used in these cases:

1          To explain why we do something (the ‘infinitive of purpose’)

I’m calling to find out if you stock spare parts. (NOT for to find out)

2          After a question word

Can you show me how to get on to the Internet on this computer?

3          With used to, be going to, be able to, be allowed to, have to, need to and

ought to.

         Verb + object + tо + infinitive   C

         The following verbs are followed by an object + to + infinitive.

(= go into the air)

advise*, allow, ask, cause, encourage, expect, forbid, force, help, invite, order, pay, prefer, persuade, remind*, teach*, tell, train, want, warn* Russia will ask the Paris Club of creditors to postpone the signing of bilateral agreements like repayment of debt.

Li also persuaded four banks, including HSBC Holdings and Bank of

China, to lend him $1l billion, a record in Hong Kong.

         D Make and let            D

         After make and let we use the bare infinitive without to.

I made them check everything very carefully.     (NOT 1 mode thorn to chock)

They let us have all these free samples.  (NOT They lot us to have)

         Verb + that clause        E

         The verbs marked with an asterisk (*) in sections А, В and С can also be followed by a that clause. In everyday speech we can leave out the word that.

I suggested speaking to Eliza about it.    I suggested (that) we could

speak to Eliza about it.

We decided to cancel the meeting.        We decided (that) we would cancel the meeting.

They told us to wait.     They told us (that) we should

wait.

(= get out of bed)

PRACTICE

VERB + -ING OR INFINITIVE

Exercise 1        (A, B)

Underline the correct words.

1          We can’t afford to miss / missing this opportunity.

2          Do you fancy tо go / going for a drink after work?

3          Are you waiting to use / using the phone?

4          It’s not worth to spend / spending any more time on this.

5          We decided to close down / closing down the factory in Belgium.

6          You promised to deliver / delivering by April, and it’s now May.

7          I considered to call / calling him, but I decided it was better to write.

8          If we don’t decide soon, we risk to lose / losing the whole contract.

9          She agreed to prepare / preparing some figures before the next meeting.

10 I’m sorry, there seems to be / being a misunderstanding here.

11 Is Mr Messier busy? OK, I don’t mind to wait / waiting for a few minutes.

12 He refused to sign / signing the contract until he’d spoken to his boss.

13 May I suggest to postpone / postponing the meeting until next week?

Exercise 2        (A, B)

Complete these sentences with the verbs from the list below. Choose either the

-ing form or to + infinitive.

1          They agreed ……………. us thirty more days to pay the invoice.

2          He pretended …………… me, but I don’t think he knew who I was.

3          There’s no point ……………. this brand on TV, it would cost too much.

4          We’re expecting ……………… some more stock early next week.

5          I’ll join you later. I need to finish ……………. this report.

6          I learnt ……………. Portuguese when I worked in Brazil.

7          I work in public relations. My job involves ……………. contact with the media.

8          I can’t help ……………. that something is going to go wrong.

9          I can’t afford ……………… business class all the time.

10 I can’t promise ……………… you with this problem, but I’ll do my best.

(= manage)

Exercise 3        (C)

Complete the following sentences with verbs from the list below. Include an object in every case.

advise   remind  persuade          expect  help      encourage         force

1          I’m sorry I missed work yesterday. The doctor .…. stay in bad.

2          I tried to ….. come with us tonight, but he said he was busy,

3          Could you ….. call Head Office later? I might forget.

4          If you employ a secretary, it will ….. deal with all the paperwork.

5          She hasn’t called yet, but I ….. contact me some time today.

6          I didn’t feel very confident, but she ….. apply for the job.

7          The fall in demand has ….. make some of our best workers redundant.

Exercise 4        (A, B, C)

Complete the mini-dialogue by putting the verbs in brackets into the correct form, using -ing or to + infinitive.

ISABEL:          Oh, no, not again.

FERNANDA:  What’s wrong?

ISABEL:          My computer’s crashed. It keeps (1) ..… (do) it. I have to save my documents every few minutes or I risk (2) ..… (lose) all the work I’ve

just done.

FERNANDA:  Have you got enough disk space?

ISABEL:          Yeah, I have. I really don’t know what’s causing it (3) ….. (crash) so often. Look you’re good at computers. What do you advise me (4) ….. (do)?

FERNANDA: Well, I don’t know. I haven’t been trained (5) ….. (fix) them. You’ll have to ask an IT technician (6) ….. (come) and have a look at it.

ISABEL:          Hah. You know, there’s no point (7) ….. (call) a technician – they’ll be ages and I ... I really can’t afford (8) ….. (wait) all day for someone to come, I’m really busy.

FERNANDA: Why don’t you phone the helpdesk then? They’ll advise you what

(9) ….. (do) over the phone.

ISABEL:          Oh, yeah. I suppose so.

FERNANDA: And if you’re really that busy, have you considered (10) ….. (ask) Sophie to help you, she hasn’t got a lot of work at the mom.

ISABEL.          Oh, hasn’t she? That’s great. I’ll ask her (11) ….. (type) up this report.

Jack is trying to cut down on smoking.

(= reduce)

Exercise 5        (A, B)

Complete this email that circulated in a company that makes mobile phones. Choose a verb from the list below and use the correct form, -ing or infinitive with to.