UNIT 2: VERBS

1.Verb forms
A. Auxiliaries + bare infinitive
Auxiliaries (will, would, shall, should, etc.) must be
followed by a bare infinitive.
 “Not” is added right after an auxiliary to form
negative sentences.
Auxiliary + not + bare infinitive
 The subject and the auxiliary are inverted to form
questions.
Auxiliary + subject + bare infinitive?
Example:
He went to school yesterday.
He did not go to school yesterday.
Did he go to school yesterday?
Where did he go yesterday?

- To make sure you have not left any blanks, you

should check the form once again.
- There will be major personnel shifts in the latter
half of the year.
- Should I go to your house?
- I will not go to school tomorrow.
 B. Be + present participle / past participle
 Present participles are used after the verb to be in
continuous tenses to express an active meaning.
He is going to the zoo.
 Past participles are used after the verb to be to
denote a passive meaning.
This exercise was done by him.
 Bare infinitives are never used after the verb to be.
I am go to the zoo.
Example:
- They are discussing the matter in the
conference room.
- No one was admitted to the seminar without an
invitation.
C. Have/ has/ had + past participle
 To form perfect tenses, past participle forms of
verbs are used after have/ has/ had.
Example:
The conference had started thirty minutes before
I reached the hall.
 MAIN VERBS:
transitive verb (ngoai dong tu)
intransitive verb (noi dong tu)

2. Types of intransitive verbs (nội động từ)

A. Complete intransitive verbs
A complete intransitive verb is complete in
meaning by itself; it doesn’t need any object or
complement at all.
Example:
The performance begins in 15 minutes.
B. Incomplete intransitive verbs
An incomplete intransitive verb is not complete in
meaning by itself. These verbs are followed by
complements, which can be a Noun or an Adjective in
most of the cases. A complement helps describe or give
information about the subject.
Example:
- Mr. Railey is the manager of the Sales Department.
(be is an incomplete intransitive verb; the noun manager
tells us who Mr. Railey is)
- We are proud to have been selected as members of the
club.
(The adjective proud gives information about how we
feel.)
C. Intransitive verbs with adjectives as subject
complements

He becomes/ comes/ turn intelligent

Keep/ remain/ stay/ stand/ hold fit
The “become” Become/ come/ fall/ get/ go/
group grow/ make/ run/ turn
 The “remain” Remain/ hold/ keep/ lie/ stand/
group stay
The “seem” group Seem + (to be)/ appear + (to be)/
turn out + (to be)
Verbs of Feel/ look/ see/ smell/
perception sound/hear/ taste/ touch

Example:
- Her face turned red when he pointed out her mistakes.
(the verb turned is a linking verb. It takes the
adjective red as a subject complement to denote the
state of the subject her face.)
- THis dish you made looked strange but tasted good.

3. Intransitive or transitive verbs?

 Intransitive verb + prep + object
 Some transitive verbs always take a fixed preposition
followed by an object. They may look like transitive
verbs in form; however, these are strictly intransitive
in nature.
 List of the intransitive verbs that are normally
followed by a preposition and an object
- Abide by: tuân theo, thực hiện theo, trung thành
- Agree with: đồng ý, tán thành
- Benefit from: được hưởng lợi từ
- Consent to sb/sth: tán thành, ưng thuận
Consent to do sth: đồng ý làm gì
- Deal with sth: giải quyết việc gì
Deal with sb: gặp gỡ ai (để bàn về công việc)
- Dissent from sth: bất đồng quan điểm
- Insist on sth/doing sth: khăng khăng đòi hỏi
- Look into: xem xét, nghiên cứu
- Proceed with sth: bắt đầu hoặc tiếp tục sth
- Proceed from sth: xuất phát, bắt nguồn từ
- Refer to sth: xem, tham khảo; ám chỉ, đề cập
đến
- Rely on/upon sb/sth: tin tưởng vào, dựa vào
- Subscribe to sth: tán thành
- Sympathize with: thông cảm với
- Think of: nghĩ về
- Account for sth: lý giải cho sth/ chiếm sth
- Apologize to sb for sth: xin lỗi ai về việc gì
- Compete with/against sb in sth: cạnh tranh với
ai về sth
- Contribute to sth: đóng góp vào sth
- Depend on sth: phụ thuộc vào sth
 Depend on sb/sth for sth: nhờ ai cho việc gì
Depend on/upon sb/sth: tin tưởng sb/sth
- Graduate from: tốt nghiêp từ
Graduate from sth to sth: chuyển từ sth sang sth
- Interfere with sb/sth: gây cản trở
- Look for
- Object to sb/sth: phản đối
- Participate in: tham gia vào = take part in = join
= attend
- Retrain from
- Respond to
- Succeed in
- Talk about
- Wait for
Example:
- We proceeded with our work after two-week break.
- Mr. Shell insists on the freshest produce for his
restaurant.
- We’re looking into the possibility of merging the two
departments.
4. Complete transitive verbs (ngoại động từ)

A complete transitive verb normally takes an object.

Certain transitive verbs can take two objects.
Please give him a gift.
Please tell me the secret.

A. Complete transitive verbs with one object

 Be careful not to use two objects with verbs that
can take only one.
Example:
- Ms. Benson explained the new schedule to the
staff members.

The following verbs can take only one object:

Announce => announce (+ to + object) + that-clause
Introduce => introduce (+ to + object) + that-clause
Mention => mention (+ to + object) + that-clause
Suggest => suggest (+ to + object) + that-clause
B. Complete transitive verbs with two objects
Some verbs can take two objects: a direct object that
refers to things and an indirect object that refers to
people. These verbs are called ditransitive verbs.
Example:
Please pass me the salad bowl.
(me: the indirect object; the salad bowl: the direct
object.)

Below is a list of common verbs that can take two objects.

- Bring (he brings me a cup of tea)

- Give (my mother gave me a cardigan for my
birthday)
- Inform (he informed the police (about) a car
accident)
- Lend (Can you lend me some money?)
- Offer (he offered me a present on my birthday)
- Owe (he owes his father $500)
- Pay (The staff paid their boss a compliment: ca
ngợi)
 - Pass (She passed me a letter)
- Send (They sent their boy a good school)
- Show (He showed me the way to post office)
- Take (I’ll take him your message)
- Teach (My mother teaches me English)
- Tell (She told me the secret)

5. Incomplete transitive verbs

An incomplete transitive verb has an object and an
objective complement. The complement can be a
noun, a to-infinitive, a bare infinitive, or a participle.
Example:
The president appointed her assistant manager.
(her is the object of appointed. Assistant manager is
the objective complement)
Verb + O + Complement
Complement: N/ to-inf/ bare V/Ved/V-ing

A. Incomplete transitive verbs that take bare

infinitives as objective complements.
V + O + bare infinitive
 Have/ let/ make/ bid/get + Object + bare infinitive
(Causative)
 Let sb do sth
Have/Make sb do sth
My sister made me wash dishes.
 See/ look/ watch/ hear/ listen to/ feel/ smell +
Object + bare infinitive
Have sth done: He has his hair cut.
I have my computer repaired.
Make sth do sth
My father made me wash the dishes.
Example:
Mr. Wright had his workers sort through the documents.
 Had is a causative verb (meaning to make somebody
do something), so the objective complement is a bare
infinitive (i.e. sort).
B. Incomplete transitive verbs that take to-infinitives
as objective complements.
V + O + to-infinitive
Advise/ allow/ appoint/ ask/ encourage
Expect/ force/ recommend/ remind/ invite + Object + to-infinitive
Persuade/ request/ tell/ want/ warn
Example:
 The manager reminded the secretary to make calls to
the VIP customers.
(to make is the objective complement of the verb
reminded)
C. Incomplete transitive verbs that take participles as
objective complements
Objective complements can be present participles or past
participles depending on the relationship between the
object and the action denoted by the complement.

V + O + (present/past) participle

Find/ keep/ see

Feel/ smell/Watch + Object + Participle
Hear/ listen to
Example:
People found the performance interesting.
 Present participle interesting is used because the
combination (object + complement) has an active
meaning. (i.e. The performance interested people.)
6. Transitive or intransitive verbs?
 Be careful not to use prepositions after transitive
verbs even though in some cases it may seem
reasonable to do so.
 Some transitive verbs that are often mistakenly
used as intransitive verbs, especially by
Vietnamese learners:
- Approve for - Explain about
- Accompany with - Inspect into
- Attend at - Provide with
- Alert to - Leave from
- Contact to - Mention about
- Answer to - Reach at
- Discuss about - Resemble with
- Enter into - Visit to
- Approach to
Example:
- Mr. Jenson answered to the phone when I called the office.
- The manager will mention about the problem to his staff
tomorrow.
- If you are interested in the position, please contact to us by
e-mail.
- Visitors need an admission ticket to enter into the building.
GRAMMAR PRACTICE
I. Choose the appropriate words in the brackets.
1. The customers were (wait/waiting) in line to exchange their
receipts for the gift certificates.
2. We need to (look/watch) carefully at the advantages and
disadvantages of the new system.
3. It remains to be seen whether the cancer will respond (to/at)
the treatment.
4. The CEOs of manufacturing-related companies will
(attend/attending) the international trade fair.
II. Correct the underlined words or phrases.
5. The floor was sweep when I arrived in the morning.
6. The employees tried to think an alternative way to encourage
sales among teenagers.
7. Mr. Spaniel invited me coming to his house for dinner.
8. This booklet provides useful information about local services.
III. Select the best answer that completes each sentence.
9. The users of this machine must …………. The instructions
carefully before operating it.
A.Reads B. read C. reading D. to read
10. All of the board members ………….to the plan.
A.Objected B. opposed C. contrasted D. conflicted
11. Passive smoking ………….to the development of lung cancer.
A.Brings B. causes C. contributes D. carries
12. After looking over this resume, we have ………….the
conclusion that Michael Moore is suitable for the position.
A.reached B. accessed to C. arrived at D. came to
CHECK-UP TEST
Select the best answer that completes each sentence.

1. Analysts say that the price of oil is likely to …………high in

the coming months and could rise further.
A.remain B. maintain C. sustain D. continue
2. We are having a meeting this Friday to …………what to
prepare for Mr. Peterson’s farewell party.
A. discuss B. talk C. converse with D. confer
with
3. We provide consumers with all the information to enable them
…………informed purchasing choices about the goods we
supply.
A. making B. make C. to make D. made
4. Failure to ………… with the regulations may lead to $500
fine.
A.Follow B. observe C. conform D. comply
5. We recommend having the breaks of your car ………… every
20.000 km, or once a year.
A.Check B. checking C. checked D. to check
6. We …………each item before shipping to ensure the quality
of our products.
A.Look B. refer C. inspect D. give
7. The superintendent …………the five candidates
recommended by the screening committee.
 A.Interviewed B. spoke to C. told D. talked about
8. A good manager creates a work environment that encourages
all employees …………their creative talents.
A.Utilize B. Utilization C. to utilize D. utility
9. As soon as we have ………… the report, we will bring it to
the manager so that it can be approved.
A.Completes B. completion C. completed D. to complete
10. Library employees are not responsible for personal belongings
left …………
A.Unattended B. untouchable C. disable D. dissatisfied
11. A cotton shirt may ………… when washed or dried at high
temperatures.
A. Narrow B. lessen C. shrink D. reduce
12. The company …………its international market share by
forming a strategic partnership with Power-Tech Incorporated.
A.Included B. inclined C. exhibited D. expanded
13. The audience found the documentary film on the extinction of
dinosaurs to be …………
A.Fascinating B. fascinated C. fascinate D. fascination
14. After carefully reviewing the submitted …………, the
manager picked 20 candidates to interview.
A.Applicants B. applications C. applicator D. applicable
15. We are dedicated to …………our customers the best level of
service.
A.Making B. restoring C. offering D. controlling
16. Please inform your supervisor …………if there are any
changes in the plan.
A.Prompt B. promptly C. prompting D. promptness