Verbs patterns refer to what follows a verb. For example, some verbs can stand alone, (They laughed). Others have to be followed by an object (They loved it)
Sometimes in a sentence, one verb follows another. For example, I want to buy an electric car. The first verb is ‘want’, the second verb is ‘buy’.
In sentences like this, there are different possible patterns. For example:
(a) I want to buy an electric car.
(b) I hate driving.
In sentence A, the first verb is followed by an infinitive.
In sentence B, the first verb is followed by a gerund (-ing) form.
The verb patterns are dependent upon the first verb. There are several different types of pattern. When you learn a new verb, you need to learn the verb pattern. Unfortunately, some verbs have more than one possible pattern! Sometimes, if a verb has two patterns, each pattern can have a different meaning or use.
Here are examples of some of the patterns:
