There’s a writer, famous in English language teaching, called Scott Thornbury, who said that the grammar associated with a word, specifically its verb patterns ‘poses the greatest challenge for learners’.
At lower levels, these are less important because the order of pronouns and prepositions doesn’t matter for less sophisticated language. Unfortunately, at upper intermediate, these things do make a difference and the rules are not really shortcuts. What is important is that you understand that there are quite a lot of different patterns to learn.
Knowing a verb means knowing its pattern
You already know what these reporting verbs mean. Now look at the structures that follow them.
We say offered to help, but suggested helping. Learn the verb and its pattern together as a phrase.
| Pattern | Verbs from our activity | Examples from the stories |
| Verb + to + infinitive | agree, offer, promise, refuse, threaten | Morgan agreed to appear on a local news programme. Her friend refused to drive. |
| Verb + someone + to + infinitive | persuade | He persuaded her to give him until the following day to investigate. |
| Verb + -ing | admit, deny, suggest | Morgan admitted making the video with AI. Her classmate denied posting the clip. |
| Verb + preposition + -ing | apologise for, insist on | Morgan apologised for frightening local residents. She insisted on going ahead with the stunt. |
| Verb + someone + preposition + -ing | accuse someone of | A student accused a classmate of posting a fake video in her name. |
Watch the small words
- Include the person: persuaded her to wait.
- Include the preposition: accused him of lying.
- After a preposition, use -ing: apologised for sharing.
- To make the following action negative, put not before it: promised not to share or admitted not checking.
Now practise: Complete the sentence transformations. Use the tables to help you choose the correct pattern.