321. Types of “-ing” Verb after a Verb

.

There are  a variety of circumstances where a verb after another one has “-ing”

THE VARIETY OF POSSIBILITIES

A verb ending with -ing may be an adjective-like “participle” or a noun-like “gerund” (see 71. Gerund and Participle Uses of “-ing”). Either of these forms may combine closely with a verb placed just before them. They can do so in various ways, of which the main ones may be illustrated as follows:

(a) Doctors recommend taking a daily walk.

(b) Doctors foresee children becoming more obese.

(c) Children enjoy hearing (or adults telling) stories.

(d) Children like hearing (or adults telling) stories.

(e) Children can help friends struggling to learn.

(f) Parents should go walking with their children.

(g) A recommended form of exercise is walking.

In (a) here, taking directly follows the verb recommend and is understood as its grammatical object, making it noun-like and hence a gerund. In (b), becoming is separated from the verb foresee by the noun children, the gerund’s subject. Sentence (c) illustrates a verb (enjoy) that can go either directly before an -ing object (hearing) or before an intervening noun (adults telling). In the latter case, both words are the object but the primary meaning is still with the gerund (see 232. Verbs with an Object + “-ing”).

Sentence (d) above is similar to (c), but it illustrates a verb (like) that allows a following -ing verb (hearing, telling) to be replaced by a to (infinitive) verb carrying a slightly different meaning (to hear, to tell).

In (e), struggling follows the verb help and its noun object friends. Unlike in (b) and (c), however, this noun is the primary word in the object – it is only friends that receive the mentioned help, not their struggles. Thus, struggling is merely a description of the type of friends involved, making it adjective-like and hence a participle.

In (f), walking cannot be the object of go before it (because GO is an intransitive verb), but is instead a participle describing the subject of go (parents). In (g), walking is a complement of the verb BE, exactly identifying a recommended form of exercise, the subject of BE (see 117. Restating Generalizations More Specifically, #1). As such, it is a gerund.

The above sentences do not illustrate every possible way in which an -ing verb can follow another verb. One major excluded type is BE + participle, as in Children are playing. It is excluded because the participle is not sufficiently separate from BE, acting instead in partnership with it to make a single verb form, the present continuous tense of WALK. The other major excluded type is what I call “add-on” participles, which are not closely linked to the main verb in the sentence, but describe its subject, like this:

(h) The research ANALYSED markets PAYING particular attention to prices.

Here, the subject of paying is not markets, the object of analysed, but the research, its subject. For discussion of sentences like this, see 101. Add-on Participles.

.

VERBS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH TYPE

1. Verbs like RECOMMEND

There seem to be relatively few verbs after which an -ing verb is always an object/gerund without an intervening noun, as in (a). Common ones are ADVISE, CONSIDER (= decide whether to perform the -ing action), DENY, RECOMMEND, REGRET, REJECT, RESUME and SUGGEST. Of these, ADVISE is most able to have a noun before a following verb, but the verb then needs to be changed into the to form (see 250. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar 1, #3).

.

2. Verbs like FORESEE

Adding a noun before an -ing object, as in (b), is usually necessary after some cause-effect verbs of the prepositional kind, e.g. CONTRIBUTE TO, HOPE FOR, LEAD TO, LONG FOR, RESULT IN (see 32. Expressing Consequences) and WARN OF, plus a small number of other verbs, including DEMONSTRATE (= “present”), DISCOVER (= accidentally encounter”), FORECAST, FORESEE, PREDICT and SHOW (= “present”).

 

3. Verbs like ENJOY

Ability to be used equally with or without a noun before an -ing gerund is probably the most commonly found. Common verbs possessing it include ACCEPT, ANTICIPATE, APPRECIATE, AVOID, CATCH (= “observe … acting secretly”), ENDURE, ENJOY, ENTAIL, ENVISAGE, HINDER, IMAGINE, INSIST ON, INVOLVE, KEEP, LOOK FORWARD TO, MEAN (= entail), (NOT) MIND, MODEL, NECESSITATE, OBSERVE, PHOTOGRAPH, PREVENT, RECORD, RISK, STOP, STUDY and THINK OF (= picture).

.

4. Verbs like LIKE

Verbs that can link with either -ing or to… after them, giving each a different meaning without changing themselves, are of two main types. With the more common, -ing (Children like hearing…) draws attention to its verb’s action through time, whereas an infinitive (Children like to hear…) presents the action as more instantaneous.

Verbs that can make this contrast fall into three meaning groups. LIKE is a like/dislike verb. Similar are LONG FOR, LOVE, PREFER, WANT, YEARN FOR and HATE. However, not all like/ dislike verbs allow the to/-ing choice: only -ing is possible after APPRECIATE, APPROVE OF, DISLIKE, ENJOY, WELCOME, ABHOR, DETEST, DISAGREE WITH and LOATH (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #b). Underlined verbs in both lists can also link with it that… (see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #4).

Next among verbs allowing the above -ing/to… choice are a few that express sensation. Examples are FEEL, HEAR, LISTEN TO, NOTICE, SEE, SENSE, SMELL and WATCH. With these, the choice is better said to involve an “infinitive” than a to verb because to must be dropped (see 148. Infinitive Verbs without “to”, #2).

The third choice-allowing group express dependency, with verbs like COUNT ON, DEPEND ON, NEED, RELY ON and REQUIRE. Outside of these three areas, HAVE meaning “cause” also allows the -ing/infinitive choice, the latter again without to (see the end of 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE).

The second broad type of verb that can link with a following verb ending in either -ing or to… also requires the choice to be made according to an aspect of the following verb’s meaning – but not the aspect outlined above.

The verbs FORGET and REMEMBER, for example, need -ing with past remembered events and to with future ones. They allow an intervening noun in the first case but not the second. BEGIN, CEASE and CONTINUE allow either –ing or to…, without any intervening noun. Often, there is no meaning difference, but sometimes there seems to be association with either a single extended action or multiple repeated ones.

TRY needs -ing to imply experimentation with a behaviour, and to… to imply that a preferred behaviour is being attempted with effort that may fail. PROPOSE means “suggest” with -ing and “intend” with to…. OMIT means “not mention” with -ing and “not do” with to…. For more on such distinctions, see 302. Verbs with a Partner Infinitive, #2.

.

5. Verbs with an “-ing” Participle

Any verb that can have a noun object is likely to be usable with a subsequent -ing participle, as in (e) above. Some verbs, such as HELP in (e), will not allow an -ing gerund instead, but some will. With the latter, a double meaning sometimes occurs. Consider this:

(i) Some experiments involve animals suffering pain.

If suffering here is a participle, the message is that suffering pain is not the focus of some experiments. Rather, the type of animals involved in the experiments – those already suffering pain – is being specified. By contrast, if suffering here is a gerund, the message is that animal pain is induced during the experiments (see 257. Structures with a Double Meaning 4, #2).

 

6. Verbs like GO

GO is unusual in allowing a following -ing participle without an intervening noun. The noun it describes is instead the subject of the GO verb. Its most typical meaning in such cases is “go out to enjoy…”. Commonly-used participles are driving, hiking, hunting, riding, running, shopping, swimming, visiting and walking (see 176. Ways of Using “Go”, #3).

Similar to GO -ing are COME -ing (see 290. Ways of Using COME), and TAKE someone -ing (see 264. Variations in the Use of TAKE, #17).

.

7. Verbs like BE

As mentioned above, BE may combine with an -ing participle to make a standard present continuous tense form. However, if the meaning does not fit this interpretation, as in sentence (g), an -ing form is likely to be a gerund (for a particularly interesting example, see 69. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong 2, sentence #b).

The reason for the existence of two possibilities after BE is that it is a verb typically needing a “complement”, a sentence component that may be either adjective-like, opening the way for participles, or noun-like, opening the way for gerunds (see 220. Features of Complements, #2).

Different complement-taking verbs have different requirements. REMAIN is very like BE, but BECOME and SEEM are unlikely to have a following participle (preferring a noun or adjective instead). TURN is unlikely to have either a participle or gerund, normally preferring an adjective. Some complement-taking verbs, moreover, including BE and BECOME, allow a noun before a partner -ing word:

(j) The saddest sight was children begging for food.

In these cases, the distinction between a participle and gerund seems blurred.

320. Special Participle Uses

.

Some participle uses involve only a small subset of participles as a whole

GENERAL AND SPECIAL PARTICIPLE USES

Participles – verbs with -ing or passive -ed acting like adjectives to describe a noun – have a variety of uses that might be termed “general”, for example as a replacement for who or which (see 52. Participles Placed Just after a Noun). Uses that I am calling “special”, on the other hand, are ones that require particular participles instead of allowing a free choice. Most help to form fixed expressions like depending on.

The aim of this post is to identify different types of special participle use, and to illustrate them with as wide a variety as possible of their associated participles. The post thus belongs among various others with “special” in their title, such as 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences,  190. Special Uses of “It”,  200. Special Uses of Relative Clauses and 235. Special Uses of “the”.

.

TYPES OF SPECIAL USE

1. Preposition Equivalents

Ability to paraphrase a preposition seems to be more usual among -ing participles than -ed ones (see 295. Options in Saying Where, #2). An example of a participle equating to a preposition is accompanying instead of with:

(a)  There will be a letter accompanying the parcel.

ACCOMPANY is a rare verb whose -ed form (+ by) can also replace with:

(b)  The parcel will come accompanied by a letter.

It is only some participles that can replace a preposition. One reason is that many participle meanings are too far away from a preposition meaning to represent one. Another is that usable participles must be made from object-requiring (“transitive”) verbs, so that their object can become the “object” noun that prepositions always need (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #1). Thus, participles from object-refusing verbs, such as SUFFICE, are ruled out.

Participles that commonly act like a preposition include the following:

comprising – of (see 136. Types of Description by Nouns, #12)
concerning – about
considering – in view of (see 296. Tricky Word Contrasts 12, #4)
containing – of (see 160. Uses of “Of”)
covering – over
excepting – except (see 215. Naming Exceptions)
facing – opposite
flanking – alongside, next to
following – after, behind
lacking – without
neighbouring – near
occupying – on
passing – past
piercing – through
preceding – before
regarding – with regard to
spanning – across
supporting – under
surrounding – around
using – with (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How)

.

2. In Compound Adjectives

Participles can easily combine with an adverb, adjective or noun to make a compound adjective. In a surprising number of cases, the compounds are common enough to be considered fixed.

Participles combined with an adverb are likely to be derived from an intransitive (object-less) verb (see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive). Fixed combinations include deep-thinking, fast-flowing, free-wheeling, hard-working, high-achieving, long-lasting, never-ending, obstinately-persisting, quick-acting, rapidly-deteriorating, slow-growing, slowly-receding and wildly-fluctuating.

By contrast, participles combined with an adjective are likely to be derived from a complement-taking verb (see 220. Features of Complements). Fixed combinations include bitter-tasting, foul-smelling, good-looking, innocent-seeming, positive-sounding and rough-feeling.

Participles combined with a noun are likely to be derived from a transitive (object-needing) verb. Fixed combinations include all-encompassing, awe-inspiring, breath-taking, disease-carrying, fun-loving, heart-stopping, law-breaking, meat-eating, money-grabbing, pleasure-seeking, record-breaking, self-supporting, time-consuming and trouble-causing. Some of these can drop their hyphen so as to become a noun phrase (see 223. Uses of Hyphens, #4C).

Various other examples do not fit any of these patterns, e.g. self-seeking (= seeking things for oneself), highly-regarded, house-trained (= trained for house living), oven-cooked (= cooked in an oven), water-borne (= carried in water), well-known and wind-assisted (= assisted by wind).

.

3. In Multi-Word Prepositions

Prepositions tend to be thought of as single words but can also be multi-word. Prepositions of two, three or even more words can be identified, though the last word will always be a familiar shorter preposition like to. Common examples are along with, according to, in front of and on the basis of.

The word according in according to is a participle. Other multi-word prepositions with one include based on, compared to, depending on, linked to and owing to. For their main uses, see 221. Multi-Word Prepositions, #3.

.

4. In Multi-Word Conjunctions

Conjunction-based participles are typically followed by that. Common examples are assuming that, considering that, given that, granted that, provided that, seeing that and supposing that. A typical use might be:

(c) Given that chemical fertilisers often harm the environment, how else can crop yields be maximised?

The two verbs that sentences with a conjunction generally require are underlined. For an in-depth overview of that conjunctions, see 230. Multi-Word Conjunctions, #1.

.

5. In a Starting Parenthetical Statement

Information that is not the main message of a sentence is often located at the start by means of an -ing participle and following comma. Most participles are usable in this way, but special ones do more. They tend to indicate that the main part of the sentence expresses the writer’s own belief:

(d) Speaking as economists, we have to disagree.

Such participles are usually ones of speaking or thinking. They often lack an object noun, but then need an as phrase (as economists) or adverb, e.g. honestly. Common verbs besides speaking include arguing, reasoning, thinking and writing. Two frequent verbs that need an object are considering and ignoring.

A further feature of special participles in a parenthetical statement at the start of a sentence is that they tend to be more usable there than ordinary participles when the subject of the main verb differs from their own, like inflation in the following:

(e) Speaking honestly, inflation has to be controlled.

For details of why ordinary participles often cannot be used like this, see 75. How to Avoid “Dangling” Participles.

A complete participle-based parenthetical statement often resembles what I call “communication-describing” adverbs like bluntly, which say how their user is speaking (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs #2). Indeed, some of the adverbs that can accompany speaking etc. – e.g. bluntly, clearly, frankly, honestly, plainly – are also usable alone.

Occasionally, the verb in a parenthetical statement like (d) or (e) is an infinitive (with to) rather than participle. For details, see the end of 183. Statements between Commas.

.

6. With GO, COME and TAKE

These verbs can all be followed by an object-less -ing participle expressing a non-domestic leisure activity, such as boating camping, dancing, driving, fishing, hiking, hunting, riding, running, sailing, shopping, sightseeing, skiing, surfing, swimming, touring, travelling, visiting and walking.

GO and COME mean “go/come out to enjoy” (see the introduction to 290. Ways of Using COME). TAKE needs an object noun representing someone co-enjoying the activity under the supervision of the main performer, e.g. take someone swimming (see 264. Variations in the Use of TAKE, #18).

A slight problem with this usage is a few participles that seem eligible for it but are actually not, such as dining, eating, holidaying and praying (see 176. Ways of Using GO, #3).

.

7. Describing a Following Noun

This general use of -ing participles becomes a more special one when the resultant noun phrase is a fixed, often idiomatic one (i.e. a collocation). Examples are:

burning desires
compelling evidence
defining moments
diminishing returns
distinguishing features
glaring omissions
helping hands
mounting debts
overwhelming urges
pressing matters
promising situations
running water
sickening regularity
sitting ducks
soaring profits
striking results
training courses
trying circumstances
winning strategies/smiles

Care is needed, in identifying such phrases, not to confuse them with identical-looking gerund-noun combinations like meeting rooms. For the difference, see 71. Gerund and Participle Uses of “-ing”.

319. Superficiality

.

Superficiality can take many different forms, causing English to have numerous words for it

DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE

To say that something – beauty, for example – is superficial is to suggest that its real nature is worse than its observable one. Unsurprisingly, this is a common kind of suggestion in analytic writing, where there is usually a keen concern for truth. The result of such common use is that English has developed a wide variety of ways to express the idea of superficiality, just as it has for other common meanings like illustration, consequence, possibility and importance.

Most of the options for indicating superficiality are vocabulary rather than grammar. For this reason, the focus here is on listing and explaining the meanings of key words and phrases. However, grammatical properties and requirements will be indicated and explained where that seems necessary.

.

WORD CATEGORIES

1. Verbs

SEEM, APPEAR, LOOK

The most obvious use of these verbs is to indicate uncertainty about the truth of a situation without actually establishing it as false (see 96 Making Statements More Uncertain 2, last section). However, in the right context they do often indicate falsehood:

(a) Horizons only seem to form straight lines.

If only here is understood to link with seem rather than with horizons, form or straight lines, it usually suggests falsehood. Other words that do the same include might and always.

.

PRETEND

This verb, normally used with a human subject, can be followed by to, that or a noun object. It mostly implies a conscious effort by its subject to convey something different from reality:

(b) The Greeks pretended their wooden horse was a parting gift.

.

FEIGN

Similar to PRETEND with a noun object, FEIGN means “suggest a non-existent characteristic of oneself (belief, weakness etc.) or a non-intended behaviour in order to deceive”:

(c) Feigned manoeuvres are often necessary in a team sport.

.

SIMULATE

Again carrying the idea of “act in the manner of something that it is not”, SIMULATE does not necessarily imply an intent to deceive. Typically used, like FEIGN, with a noun object, it may indicate a legitimate purpose such as service or research:

(d) Artificial intelligence simulates real-world thinking.

.

2. Adjectives

Superficiality adjectives tend to be usable with particular types of noun. For example, superficial can combine with quality-naming nouns like beauty, but not usually object-naming nouns like cup.

.

SUPERFICIAL

Like SEEM and SIMULATE, this adjective often lacks the suggestion of deception. It may merely indicate that its noun is on the surface of something, as in superficial burns or patterns, or it may suggest incompetence, as in superficial thinking. Common nouns that are, like beauty, more likely to carry the deception idea include acquiescence, impression, manner, success and willingness.

.

SKIN-DEEP

This mostly shares the ability of superficial to indicate position as easily as deception. In the latter case, it links with quality-naming nouns like beauty, affection and support.

.

SPECIOUS

It is mainly nouns naming a type of justification that this adjective can combine with, such as argument, case, excuse, justification, rationale, reasoning, theory and thinking. The suggestion is that the justification is deliberately misleading.

.

PLAUSIBLE

Justification types are common with this word, as they are with specious, but it also allows linkage with other speech and thought nouns, such as assumption, belief, explanation, idea, prediction and statement (see 287. Speech and Thought Nouns). Names and descriptions of people too are describable:

(e) A decision was based on the evidence of a plausible witness.

To describe someone’s name, it is necessary to place plausible after it with a link verb like BE in between:

(f) Schultz was plausible in explaining his absence.

.

MISLEADING

To mislead is to cause people to think that something is different – often better – than it really is. This outcome does not have to be intended, but it often is. Typical partner nouns of the adjective might be advice, argument, evidence, publicity, representation, statement and testimony.

.

SEEMING, APPARENT

These may express the same varying meanings of their related verbs (see #1 above). However, apparent is more restricted in its meaning if its noun is placed before it, separated by a link verb like BE. Compare how doing this below results in a different meaning from that of apparent success (= success that appears to have been achieved but has not really):

(g)  The success of the project was apparent.

Now, apparent means “obvious”. For a detailed explanation, see 132. Tricky Word Contrasts 4, #7.

.

SUPPOSED

The meaning of this -ed adjective resembles the passive one of its related participle derived from the verb SUPPOSE (see 81. Tricky Word Contrasts 2, #3). Sometimes, it simply adds the idea of “believed” to its partner noun, but often it also implies its user’s personal scepticism about the truth of the belief. For example, a supposed success is likely to indicate a success that most people believe is real but the speaker does not.

If used without a following to verb (infinitive), supposed must normally go directly before its noun rather than after it with a link verb in between. It seems able to combine with a wide variety of positive and negative nouns. Besides outcomes like success, it may, for example, describe people (a supposed villain), human and non-human qualities (supposed enthusiasm, depth) and positions (supposed status).

For more about participle versus adjective uses of -ed, see 250. Adjectives with a Participle Ending.

.

OFFICIAL

This word most commonly asserts the truth of an accompanying statement or idea by saying has been made or endorsed by an authoritative body such as a government or leading religious figure:

(h) The plans to raise taxes are official.

The suggestion of falsehood is most likely when official precedes a noun idea that most people know to be unreliable, like explanation, journey time or story:

(i) The official explanation of the move is poor weather.

.

THEORETICAL

Like official, theoretical occasionally questions the truth of an authoritative idea or statement. It is especially likely to refer to something in the future. The authority may again be an expert, but it could just be experience or logic:

(j) There is a theoretical chance of bad weather tomorrow.

This would often suggest that bad weather tomorrow had been indicated but for the speaker was unlikely.

.

3. Adverbs

Most of the above adjectives can be made into similar-meaning adverbs by adding -ly (apparently, misleadingly, officially, plausibly, seemingly, speciously, superficially, supposedly, theoretically). In addition, there are some colourful preposition phrases:

at first sight (= different from what later sights indicate)
on paper (= theoretically)
on the surface (= superficially)
to the untrained eye (= different from what experts see)

.

4. Nouns

Again, there are some derivatives from the adjectives: plausibility, speciousness, superficiality. From the verbs there are also appearance, look, pretence and simulation.

Outside of these, there is impression, usable very like appearance, but with more suggestion of associated (dis)belief. If it is the subject of a verb, it is likely to be along with either of + noun or that + statement, each placed either directly after or with a link verb in between, e.g. The impression that/of… grew greater; The impression was that/of… (see the end of 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”). If impression is the object of a verb, the verb is likely to be GIVE (= create) or HAVE (= possess), and a following that… or of… is again common.

Appearance and look are similarly usable with of (but not that). As a verb object, appearance again allows the GIVE/HAVE choice, but look tends to allow only HAVE.

.

5. “As if”

These words can sometimes question the truth of a statement by changing the tense of its verb. Consider this:

(k) Animals act as if they are machines.

The present tense of are suggests that the speaker believes in the stated idea that animals are machines. With past-tense were instead of are, by contrast, the suggestion would be of doubt.

As another example:

(l) The building looks as if an earthquake has/had hit it.

Here, has hit suggests acceptance that an earthquake may really have happened, while had hit does not.

In both of these examples, the verb before as if (act, looks) is in a present tense. If it were past instead, the acceptance distinction cannot be made. For a fuller explanation of as if, see 191. Exotic Grammar Structures 3, #3.

318. “It is…” + Noun and Another Verb

.

A noun is sometimes right after forward-referring “it is”, sometimes wrong and sometimes an option

FEATURES OF THIS STRUCTURE

There are various types of sentence that can start with It is… (see 190. Special Uses of “it”). They can be broadly divided into those where it refers to something obvious from previous words or the speech situation, and those where it refers forward to something mentioned later in its own sentence.

Here, the focus is on the second of these it types. What it refers forward to is a verb-based statement at the sentence end – the true subject of is:

(a) It is a challenge to maintain food supplies.

The underlined verb-based statement here is not in the starting position that is more typical of subjects because it is quite wordy, a feature that English speakers do not like at the start of a sentence. Such wordiness is typical of verb-based statements in general. The starting it is a “dummy” subject, needed to fill the space left by the transferred true subject (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”).

The wording between this kind of It… and the later verb-based statement (is a challenge above) occasionally comprises a verb + object (e.g. makes sense), but is more typically a verb + complement. The verb BE (= is above) is by far the commonest complement-taking verb, but not the only one, possible alternatives including BECOME, REMAIN and SEEM. The complement is able, like complements in general, to be either a noun or a verb. As the above title indicates, it is noun complements that are of particular interest here.

.

THE POTENTIAL FOR ERROR

The use of noun complements in the relevant kind of It is… sentence is complicated in two major respects. Firstly, there is the question of when a noun is able to be used. In some cases, it is the only means of expressing a particular meaning (e.g. It is a pity…); sometimes, it is not a possible means at all of doing so (e.g. It is strange…); and sometimes it is replaceable by a similarly-spelt adjective (e.g. It is a challenge/ challenging…).

The second complication is the variability of the wording directly after the noun complement, where the verb-based statement begins. In sentence (a) after challenge, there is a to verb (to maintain). Other nouns, however, may be followed by an -ing verb or by that (with an ordinary subject + verb), or by a question word.

The common feature of all these latter wording variations is that they mark the verb-based statement as a specification or identification of the general noun idea just before them. For example, to maintain… in (a) gives the exact nature of a challenge (see 117. Restating Generalizations More Specifically).

The usability of each variation depends on the choice of complement noun before it. Challenge allows to… but not that…; fact requires the reverse. Yet predicting the right choice is hampered by not just this variability but also the fact that some nouns combine with a following verb in a different way when they are outside the complement position. Placing the challenge, for example, at the start of a sentence before a specifying statement requires of -ing instead of to (The challenge of maintaining…); whereas the fact in this position still requires that.

As usual, the best way to acquire such a complicated area of knowledge is by communicating in English as much as possible. However, additional help may come from knowing some general noun meanings that seem to be associated with each option, and it is these that I wish to explore here.

.

NOUN USAGE AFTER “IT IS”

It is not possible here to list all of the nouns that could follow the relevant kind of It is…, but a fairly extensive list may give some idea of what is possible:

NOUN ONLY

an achievement (to)
a bonus (to/that)
a conundrum (that/ wh-)
a disincentive (to/that)
a duty (to)
an experience (to)
a fact (that)
a failure (to)
a good question (wh-)
a joy (to)
a moot point (wh-)
a pity (that)
a priority (to)
a relief (to/that)
a requirement (to/that)
a shame (to/that)
a struggle (to)
common sense (to/that)
fun (to)
hard work (to)
standard practice (to)
time (to)

Most of these nouns owe their use, it seems, to the fact that they have no similarly-spelt adjective that could replace them without a clear meaning change. Some do actually have a similarly-spelt adjective (e.g. time/ timely, a joy/ joyous), but only one with a noticeably different meaning.

The meanings of the nouns perhaps form some distinct categories. A “good/bad” category includes bonus, failure, fun, joy, pity, pleasure, relief, shame, struggle and hard work. “Necessity” includes duty, priority and requirement. “Factual” might describe fact, common sense and standard practice. “Asking” includes conundrum, moot point and question.

NOUN OR ADJECTIVE

an advantage/ advantageous (to/that)
a burden/ burdensome (to/that)
a certainty/ certain (that)
a challenge/ challenging (to)
a consolation/ consoling (to/that)
a crime/ criminal (to/that )
a disappointment/ disappointing (that)
a disaster/ disastrous (that)
a help/ helpful (to/that)
a mystery/ mysterious (that)
a necessity/ necessary (to/that)
a novelty/ novel (to/that)
a possibility/ possible (that)
a probability/ probable (that)
#a problem/ problematic (that)
a puzzle/ puzzling (that)
a shock/ shocking (to/that)
a surprise/ surprising (to/that)
a trial/ trying (to)
the custom/ customary (to/that)
the fashion/ fashionable (to/that)
the truth/ true (that)

Pairs like these seem more numerous than nouns in the first list, which lack a derived adjective of similar-meaning. However, it should not be concluded that any adjective whose meaning and spelling exist in a corresponding noun can be replaced by it – there are plenty of such adjectives that must always be used. Often, their corresponding noun will be uncountable. Consider this:

(b) It is enjoyable to visit new places.

It would not be correct here to say an enjoyment to…. What would be possible, however, is an enjoyable experience. Other adjectives that have a noun of similar spelling and meaning without being replaceable by it include acceptable, appealing, typical, difficult, easy, futile, normal, premature, satisfying and painful.

However, some adjectives that cannot be replaced by their similarly-spelt noun after it is can actually be changed in this way in a sentence type that is practically a paraphrase of an it is sentence, namely one starting with there is. This is the case, for example, with appealing (corresponding noun = appeal). Appealing in the position of enjoyable in (b) would become appeal in a sentence like the following:

(c) There is appeal in visiting new places.

For more on this kind of correspondence, see 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences, #6.

The meaning categories represented in the second list are similar to those in the first.

For further aspects of noun/ adjective alternation, see 270. Paraphrasing Adjectives with Words of Other Kinds, #1.

.

WORD CHOICES AFTER THE NOUN

Most of the above nouns, it is clear, need their following verb to be introduced with to. This may be because of the kind of meaning that the verb expresses: something to be done by either the speaker or addressee or both. Consider this:

(d) It is a requirement to sign in on arrival.

Very typically, such a sentence will be telling the addressee to carry out the mentioned action. If to is replaced by that, by contrast, this would not be the case:

(e) It is a requirement that dogs are kept on a lead.

Similarly, the first sentence below refers to an action by the speaker, while the second does not:

(f) It is a relief to have completed the task.

(g) It is a relief that the bank have received payment.

Two alternatives to to and that are -ing and question words. Replacing to with -ing seems possible after “good/bad” nouns. In sentence (f), for example, to have could easily be the rare auxiliary gerund having.

The choice between to and -ing in such situations depends on how the action is viewed (what grammarians call “aspect”): to… presents actions as brief, while -ing presents them as extended – the same contrast that is possible after some adjectives outside it sentences ( see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it), and after some verbs (see 148. Infinitive Verbs without “to”, #2).

Replacement of that by a question word (how, when, who etc.) is sometimes necessary when the noun before is a question-implying one like a puzzle (see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #8):

(h) It is a puzzle why nobody is around.

For more on such sentences, see 219. Wording next to Indirect Questions, #2.

317. Tricky Word Contrasts 13

.

Some word pairs are easily confused because of close similarities in spelling and/or meaning

THE PROBLEM OF TRICKY WORD CONTRASTS

Most users of English have encountered vocabulary items that are easily confused because they resemble each other in spelling and/or meaning. A well-known example – often explained in English language coursebooks – is later (= happening in subsequent time) versus latter (= second of two just-mentioned ideas). The problem is that such pairs are numerous in English, and many are rarely highlighted so that they are likely to remain unrecognised, or at least not fully differentiated.

It is these rarely-considered confusion sources, especially ones likely to occur in professional writing, that are the focus of the present post, just as they are of various others with a similar title (there is a complete list on the page in this blog entitled Posts on Specific Words). Further posts about vocabulary confusions include 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words,  44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs,  94. Essay Instruction Words,  211. General Words for People and 240. Nouns that End with “-ing”.

For some grammar contrasts, see 100. What is a Grammar Error?, 133 Confusions of Similar Structures 1 and 217. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 1. For some pronunciation ones, see 144. Words that are Often Heard Wrongly.

.

LIST OF CONTRASTS

1. Eager(ness) – Willing(ness)

The adjective willing and related noun willingness are obviously both derived from the word will. However, their meaning differs in a subtle enough way to make them unsuitable for expressing the idea of will in adjective or noun form.

The most familiar use of will is as an auxiliary verb, as in …will happen. Its typical suggestion is, of course, the idea of “future”, but this is usually alongside a secondary meaning like “promise” or “prediction” (see 147. Types of Future Meaning). In rare cases, for example when will is spoken with emphasis or used after if, the secondary idea is of wanting something (see 316. Future Verbs without “Will” or “Shall”, #4).

This idea of wanting something becomes the main meaning of will when it is used as an ordinary rather than auxiliary verb:

(a) Everyone was willing the initiative to succeed.

The underlined words here are a past continuous form of the verb WILL, not BE before the adjective willing. This is clear from the subsequent wording: object + to verb (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive, #5), replacing that…should…. The idea of wanting something is also present in the noun will, whether used countably (= inheritance document) or uncountably (= wish).

The frequency of the idea of wanting in will is logical grounds for seeing the same idea in willing and willingness. However, the logic is misleading: these words both indicate agreement to do something without indicating how much it is wanted. An action that someone is willing to perform might be a totally hated one, like eating disgusting food, the agreement to perform it being based on a very different stimulus from the attraction of the food, such a desire to avoid offending someone. One close synonym is prepared(ness).

Suitable alternatives for expressing the idea of wanting are the adjective-noun pairs eager(ness) and keen(ness). Like willing(ness), both can be followed directly by a to verb.

.

2.  AGREE – ACCEPT

AGREE is usable with either a that statement or a to (infinitive) verb (as well as with various prepositions – see 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs, #1). Before that, it typically means “concur”:

(b) Caesar agreed that he / the journey was taking too long.

(c) Caesar agreed that he / troops would make the journey.

These suggest Caesar, the subject of agreed, had heard the opinion of someone else about the journey, and had decided that it either matched or should match his own opinion. The focus of (b) is an existing situation, that of (c) a future action. The subject of the verb after that may be either the same as that of AGREE (he above) or different (troops/the journey).

Sometimes, an additional suggestion with an agreed future action is of steps being taken to bring it about – the idea of consent as well as of concurrence. It is only possible if the subjects of AGREE and the verb after it are different, and if the subject of AGREE is understood to have the power to arrange the relevant event. In sentence (c), Caesar and he meet these conditions.

With a directly-following infinitive, by contrast, the idea of consent is the main meaning of AGREE. The subject of the infinitive can only be the same as that of AGREE.

ACCEPT is an object-dropping verb with the fundamental meaning of “choose to keep”. With an explicit or implicit noun or pronoun object representing a gift or offer, the choosing is implied to be gracious; but with one representing something undesirable, such as poverty or discomfort, there is an implication of resignation, stoicism or heroic suffering. Neither of these implications, though, is present with other objects. All noun objects refer to a past or existing situation, not a future one.

An alternative kind of ACCEPT object is a that statement. This allows only the implication of resignation etc. Unlike noun objects, that statements can refer to a future situation (…that mistakes would be made), as well as a past or present one. However, they still indication resignation, not consent.

The most common confusion of AGREE and ACCEPT is in the giving of consent to a future action. Only AGREE can express this meaning: agree to do for one’s own future action, agree that X will for someone else’s. ACCEPT with a following infinitive (*accept to do) is ungrammatical, while ACCEPT that … will indicates resignation rather than consent.

.

3. Proposal – Proposition

These two countable nouns – both derived from the verb PROPOSE – may express either the action of that verb or its outcome (see 280. Alternative Meanings of Action Nouns).

Both words reflect the fundamental “suggest” meaning of PROPOSE, but differ in the type of suggestion that they indicate. Proposals are suggested plans or actions, propositions suggested ideas:

(d) Ali’s proposal is to store all the data in one place.

(e) The project will explore the proposition that productive workers are the happiest.

Note the infinitive verb after proposal and the that statement after proposition. That… is also possible after proposal, but infinitives are unlikely after proposition. Because proposal is future-referring, it allows the option of putting the verb after that into the “subjunctive” form (see 316. Future Verbs without “Will” or “Shall”, #5).

Propositions are especially likely in Law, Mathematics and Philosophy, where they are presented as possible truths, often in preparation for their systematic analysis. Elsewhere, they may mean “challenges”. In romantic situations, a proposition is an invitation to engage in sexual activity, whereas a proposal is a request for marriage.

.

4. Suspect – Suspicious

Although suspect can be a verb, noun or adjective, it is the last of these that I wish to concentrate on because of the exclusively adjective nature of suspicious. The adjective suspect is, like the noun but unlike the verb, pronounced with stress on sus-, causing the “u” vowel to be pronounced fully as /ʌ/ rather than weakly as /Ə/ (see 125. Stress and Emphasis).

Suspect usually indicates the existence of a hidden problem within what it is describing, leading to a negative impact on people’s trust in it. It mostly describes objects, substances or abstract ideas. For example, a bridge might be described as suspect if it moved unexpectedly when in use, and an argument could be called suspect if unconvincing. If a living thing is called suspect, it is similarly believed likely to possess a hidden weakness, such as an inability to cope with pressure.

Suspicious too can say its noun idea is mistrusted by its observers. However, the noun idea is more likely to be behaviour by a living being than a physical quality in an object. An example of suspicious behaviour might be somebody on a low income regularly purchasing expensive luxuries.

Suspicious can also describe an observer of suspicious behaviour, its meaning then being “having suspicion” rather than “causing suspicion”. A car owner, for example, might be suspicious after their newly-serviced car still performed poorly. The person causing the suspicion can be named in an of phrase after suspicious (e.g. suspicious of the garage).

.

5. In a Position – In Position

It is surprising how often in English just including or excluding a(n) or the within a fixed phrase can make a significant meaning difference. For numerous examples with the, see 235. Special Uses of “the”, #9.

The two expressions above usually precede a to (infinitive) verb. In a position is a formal way of saying “able”:

(f) Our organization is in a (good) position to offer its help.

Without a, by contrast, the meaning is “in a/the correct place”, and the context is likely to be sporting:

(g) The goalkeeper was in position to stop the shot.

Note, though, that an adjective added before this latter use of position needs to be accompanied by a or the, e.g. …was in a suitable (or the right) position to….

.

6. At/On/In the Scene

The noun the scene changes its meaning according to the preposition used before it. After on, it refers to a particular area of activity, such as politics, sport or education. For example, a politician mentioning new people appearing on the scene would probably mean people newly entering politics.

After at, the scene refers to a place where something has recently happened or is still happening. Crime and disaster locations are especially likely to be involved. Newspaper reports, for example, will often say at the scene of the theft.

After in, the scene usually refers to a shortish segment of a book, play or film, usually involving a single event or location. As an example, one might hear that a film director made a brief appearance in the fight scene.

For more about nouns after a predictable preposition, see 252. Descriptive Wording after Nouns 1, #2.

316. Future Verbs without “Will” or “Shall”

.

Verbs can refer to the future in various ways without “will” or “shall”

REPLACING “WILL” OR “SHALL” IN VERBS

The “future tense” (with will or shall) is by no means the only means by which a verb can be understood as referring to the future. English has a variety of alternative verb forms that become necessary in the right circumstances. Here, I wish to clarify those circumstances and to look at the particular alternative to a future tense that is associated with each.

It should be noted that most of the will/shall alternatives to be presented are verb forms. In other words, they are grammatical possibilities, not grammar-replacing vocabulary. As I have suggested elsewhere, English tense meanings cannot normally be expressed just by a neutral verb combined with a suitable non-verbal vocabulary item (cf. 298. Grammar Meanings without Grammar, #1).

.

CIRCUMSTANCES THAT RULE OUT “WILL” / “SHALL” REPLACEMENT

1. Expressing Special Types of Future Meaning

There are some types of future meaning that require a verb either to be combined with a future-suggesting other verb like going to, FACE, BE TO and BE SCHEDULED TO, or to be put into a tense other than a future one.

Going to is perhaps the most obvious alternative to will / shall. Like these words, it combines directly with the base form of a further verb. Its special meanings will not be elaborated here because they are so commonly described in mainstream grammar descriptions (though see 176. Ways of Using “Go”, #6).

Note, however, that whereas will and shall themselves carry the future meaning of a verb, going to transfers it to the verb after. Since the subsequent verb is always in the to (infinitive) form, that form can be taken as the normal grammatical alternative to will or shall in going to combinations. Going to itself can be in any tense. If it is used with will or shall (will be going to…), two separate future ideas will be involved.

Future-referring FACE is similar in meaning to going to (see 314. Words with Complicated Grammar 4, #1). Grammatically, however, it must be followed by an “action” noun object rather than an infinitive verb (e.g. …faces an uphill struggle), this still being where the future meaning is located.

Future-referring BE TO usually reports either an arrangement or a command. Consider this:

(a) All staff are to convene in the main hall at 9.00.

If an arrangement is being reported here, the occurrence of the meeting is a decision made by staff. However, if a command is being reported, the staff are not the ones who have called the meeting – they are just being told (politely) that they are required to attend (see 119. BE before a “to” Verb, #4 and #5). In both cases, it is the infinitive form of the verb after BE TO that replaces will/shall.

It would also be possible to say in (a) are scheduled to convene. This would leave it vague about who had called the meeting.

There are various types of future event or situation whose futurity is typically shown by a verb in a tense other than the future. If the event or situation is a single one and planned by someone other than the speaker, the tense is likely to be present simple or present continuous:

(b) The visitors depart (or are departing) tomorrow.

It is will in such sentences that usually suggests planning by the speaker.

By contrast, futures planned by someone other than the speaker to be repeated at predictable times are more typically indicated with the present simple:

(c) The Sociology lecture takes place this Friday.

For more about planning, see 147. Types of Future Meaning, #5.

.

2. After Future-Pointing Speech/ Thought Verbs

Common speech or thought verbs that sometimes or usually accompany a verb with future reference, similarly to going to, include AIM, ANTICIPATE, ENVISAGE, EXPECT, FORECAST, FORESEE, FORETELL, GUARANTEE, HOPE, IMAGINE, INTEND, PLAN, PLEDGE, PREDICT, PROMISE, PROPHESY, SEE (= predict), SUPPOSE, SWEAR, THREATEN, UNDERTAKE, VOW and WARN.

All of these except possibly AIM and UNDERTAKE can go between a speaker subject X and that…will… (e.g. X promises that s/he will…). AIM and UNDERTAKE only allow an infinitive. For more about UNDERTAKE, see 281.Verbs with Unexpected Grammar 4, #f. For a discussion of AIM versus INTEND, see 114. Tricky Word Contrasts 3, #5.

Many of the verbs that allow that…will… also allow something else. EXPECT, HOPE, PLAN, PLEDGE, PROMISE, SWEAR, THREATEN and VOW can, in the right circumstances, freely accompany either that…will… or a to (infinitive) verb:

(d) The Government hopes that it will (or to) spend more.

The condition for the choice being free is both verbs having the same subject. If they do not (imagine it above replaced by everyone), only that…will… is possible.

ANTICIPATE, ENVISAGE and FORESEE can, when their subject is the same as that of the verb after them, freely accompany either that…will… or just an -ing verb. SEE is similar except that it needs a -self object before -ing, e.g. …sees itself spending more in (d).

Some of the verbs in the main list above allow an ordinary object to be placed directly after them. PROMISE with an object still offers a choice between to… and that…will…; EXPECT and INTEND with an object allow only to….

An object after ANTICIPATE, ENVISAGE, FORESEE, PREDICT and SEE needs a following -ing verb (see 232. Verbs with an Object + “-ing”):

(e) The Government anticipates the country spending more.

Verbs that always require any future-referring verb after them to be used with that…will… include IMAGINE (= suppose), SUPPOSE and WARN.

In all of the examples above, the future-pointing speech verb is in the active voice after its subject, the name of a speaker, and before that…will or equivalent. In an alternative usage, the speech verb is made passive and given the subject of the will verb, placed at the start of the sentence:

(f) Handwriting skills are expected to become unimportant.

As this shows, the will verb become is now in the infinitive form. A similar rearrangement is possible with all of the earlier-listed verbs except HOPE, SEE, SWEAR, UNDERTAKE, VOW and WARN. It always requires the future-referring verb to be an infinitive regardless of its time reference (see 299. Infinitives after a Passive Verb, #2).

.

3. After Likelihood Adjectives

A very similar usage to that illustrated in (f) is with a likelihood adjective instead of an -ed participle between BE and an infinitive – for example likely instead of expected. Besides likely, the possibilities include able, bound, certain, destined, due, guaranteed, poised, prepared, ready and sure. For details of certain used in this way, see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #2).

Similar to these adjectives is about, an indicator that the future action expressed by a following infinitive verb is very imminent (see 269. Exotic Grammar Structures 7, #6). An even more imminent occurrence can be expressed either by adding just before about, or by replacing both about and its following infinitive with on the + brink / point / verge (+ of -ing), or with close to -ing.

.

4. After Certain Conjunctions

The need to put a future-referring verb after if into a present rather than future tense is routinely covered in elementary English courses and is thus unlikely to be news to readers of this blog. Most such courses also mention a similar possibility after time conjunctions (after, as, as soon as, before, once, when, until):

(g) Problems will be encountered until repairs are complete.

However, these courses do not always mention that will is usable after some of these conjunctions to express a special meaning. A common parenthetical expression in American English is if you will, meaning “If I can express it like this”. Elsewhere after if, the meaning of either “agree” or “insist” is conveyed:

(h) The research will succeed if the participants will (= agree to) cooperate.

(i) Funds will remain low if staff will use (= insist on using) taxis.

After when, a future form commonly indicates a consequence:

(j) Click on the image, when a bell will ring.

This means the bell rings after the image is highlighted – when means “and then”. Compare this with the way the present-tense rings after when (with no preceding comma) gives it its more standard meaning of “after” or “while”. The will use can only end a sentence; the standard one can start or end one (see 271. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 3, #4).

.

5. After Future-Referring Urging Words

To urge is to put verbal pressure on someone (without commanding them) to behave in a particular way (see 195. Tricky Word Contrasts 7, #1). Words representing some form or another of this idea can be a verb (e.g. URGE) or a noun (e.g. a request) or an adjective (e.g. insistent).

An urged future behaviour can be indicated after a word of this kind by means of that and a future-referring verb in either the present simple tense or the “subjunctive mood”. Subjunctive verbs do not show tense and have only one form – identical to infinitives without to. Their usability after urging words is because they tend to be associated with futures that may never happen:

(k) Doctors recommend that everyone be vaccinated (or is vaccinated).

Common words like recommend include:

VERBS: ADVISE, ASK, BEG, DEMAND, DESIRE, INSIST, PREFER, PROPOSE, RECOMMEND, REQUEST, REQUIRE, SUGGEST, URGE (note that some urging verbs cannot be used like RECOMMEND, especially CALL FOR, ENCOURAGE, NEED, WANT and WISH).

NOUNS: advice, demand, desire, determination, insistence, keenness, preference, proposal, recommendation, request, requirement, suggestion, willingness, wish

ADJECTIVES: adamant, advisable, anxious, crucial, desirable, determined, eager, essential, impatient, important, insistent, keen, necessary, preferable, reluctant, vital, willing.

For more about English subjunctives, see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #6.

310. Aspects of Negation

.

The idea of “not” can take numerous forms and affect nearby wording in various ways

THE CHALLENGE OF ENGLISH NEGATION

This post examines different ways of saying “not”, plus their grammatical impacts on surrounding words. Of course, both areas are common in English language coursebooks at both elementary and higher levels, and might thus seem strange in a blog seeking to avoid mainstream topics. My interest is particularly in aspects that often seem to be ignored, under-emphasised or insufficiently explored. I cannot promise to cover all of the gaps, but hopefully some at least of the ideas will prove illuminating.

Some aspects of negation that I consider worth mentioning are actually absent here because they are examined in other posts. The variety, uses and challenges of double negatives are the topic of 9. Reading Obstacles 5. Words that express negative meaning without indicating this in their spelling feature in 13. Hidden Negatives and 298. Grammar Meanings without Grammar, #4. Word parts that mean “not” are listed in 146. Some Important Prefix Types. Correct and incorrect ways of answering negative questions appear in 297. Types of Response to a Question, #2.

Also absent here is consideration of “negative connotation” in words like questionable and interruption. It is less relevant because it involves a different meaning of “negative”: more like “bad” than “non-existent” (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #2).

. 

ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF SAYING “NOT”

1. “No”

This familiar alternative to not is used before nouns and comparative adjectives. With nouns, it is a “determiner” (see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”), with adjectives an adverb (see 194. Adverbs that Say How Much). The exact uses are:

WITH VERBS: no is not possible.

BEFORE UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS (e.g. no money): no mostly replaces not any at the start of a sentence, but elsewhere is an optional alternative to it, though slightly more formal or emphatic. For example, …found no money emphasizes the absence of money more than …did not find any money. Note how any always follows not – *no any is an impossible combination.

BEFORE COUNTABLE NOUNS (e.g. no idea): at the start of a sentence, no usually replaces not any and is usually preferred to not a(n). Elsewhere, it is an optional but slightly more formal or emphatic alternative to both not any and not a(n). Before complement nouns, it sometimes suggests inadequacy (…is no hero).

BEFORE BASE-FORM AND SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES: no cannot replace not except (optionally) before different and good.

BEFORE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES (e.g. no easier, no more difficult): no can optionally replace not, but implies “not to any extent” or “not in any way”.

.

2.  Pronouns

Negative pronouns include few (= not sufficiently many), little (= not sufficiently much), nobody / no-one (= not anyone), none (= not one) and nothing (= not anything). As the bracketed information shows, each combines not with a particular noun idea. Few represents a plural noun, little an uncountable one. Consider this:

(a)  Problems were expected but few occurred.

The indication here is of a nearly unproblematic outcome. The message would be the same with problems replaced by uncountable delay (+ was), necessitating little instead of few.

Many readers will know that few and little sometimes have a in front to express a different meaning. What changes is in fact the negativity: quantities are still indicated to be small, but they are no longer cast as inadequate.

Few and little are the only pronouns listed above that can also link with a following noun as “determiners”, e.g. few problems. None does have a corresponding determiner, but it is the different word no – a surprising change given that no change happens with not just few and little but also every other quantity expression (all, each, enough, most, many and some: see 28. Pronoun Errors and 133. Confusions of Similar Structures 1, #1).

For an example of little misused, see the task in 6. Hidden Negatives.

.

3.  Adverbs

It is hardly surprising that adverbs are among the alternatives to not, given that not is itself an adverb. Again, the alternatives add an extra idea to that of not. The main ones are little, neither, never, nowhere, rarely, scarcely, barely, seldom, hardly and no longer.

Adverb uses of little can again be made positive by adding a in front. Rarely has the positive equivalent occasionally, while the meanings of scarcely and barely can be expressed positively with very occasionally (showing frequency) or just (showing quantity, as in just enough).

.

4. Verbs

Verbs with a negative prefix are an obvious kind that can express the idea of “not”. The prefix is usually dis- (disbelieve, dislike, disobey, displease, distrust etc.). There are a few verbs, however, that lack any visible indication of negativity yet are still intuitively negative. Often, it will be the kind of words that they combine with that indicate negativity.

For example, AVOID, FAIL, LACK and NEGLECT may require an object with any (e.g. lack any hope) where their opposites (ENCOUNTER, SUCCEED, POSSESS, ATTEND TO) would have one with some. DENY, DOUBT, FORBID, PROHIBIT and REFUSE TO ACCEPT report negative statements with not or similar removed from them, thus implying that the idea of “not” is already present in their own meaning:

(b) Gomez (2020, p. 78) denies that the cost is excessive.

This means Gomez  says the cost is not excessive (see 279. Grammatical Differences between Citation Verbs, #6).

.

5. Other

The ways of recognising negativity in verbs seem equally applicable to nouns (e.g. indecision, refusal), adjectives (e.g. averse, non-conformist, uninvited) and adverbs (e.g. illegally).

Negative conjunctions tend to combine a starting adverb with a later conjunction: no sooner…than…,  not only…but also…,  hardly/ scarcely…when…,  not…any more than… (see 64. Double Conjunctions). Similarly, the conjunction neither needs a later nor, though mid-sentence nor sometimes stands alone, like let alone (see 191. Exotic Grammar Structures 3, #2) and not that (269. Exotic Grammar Structures 7, #1).

A notable preposition is without. It can negate a following verb, forming an adverb-like addition to a longer sentence:

(c) Chemicals are needed that protect crops without disrupting ecosystems.

(d) Without (our) knowing all the facts, we cannot make a decision.

The without part in (c) means “but do not disrupt…”; that in (d) “if we do not know…”.

Verbs directly after without need the -ing (gerund) form, like any other verb after a preposition. Their subject can be indicated more explicitly with a preceding possessive adjective – our in (d). However, it can also be an ordinary (pro)noun, changing the verb into a participle with -ing or -ed (see 75. How to Avoid “Dangling” Participles, #4).

The without part in (c) is like a how-saying “manner” adverb, linking principally with the main verb protect. This prevents it starting the sentence. In (d), by contrast, the adverbial information relates to all of the rest of the sentence (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs), and could as a result occupy either the start or the end.

.

INFLUENCES ON SURROUNDING WORDS

6. Verb before its Subject

Sentences starting with a negative adverb usually need their subject positioned after some or all of the verb, as in questions (see 307. Word Order Variations, #3). 

.

7. Word Substitution

There are some words whose meaning often has to be expressed differently in negative statements (as in questions). The best-known is some (alone and within various longer words) – typically replaced by any. This pair is widely covered in mainstream grammars so needs little attention here. I wish just to emphasise that any is occasionally used without a negative and some occasionally accompanies one.

Any without a negative has a changed meaning – often implying an if statement. Some alongside a negative may be illustrated as follows:

(e) Even the most popular film will not please someone.

This indicates that many people will be pleased by popular films – someone represents a minority. Anyone, by contrast, would say nobody will be pleased. In the first case, not negates the verb please; in the second, it negates someone (making it replaceable by no-one). In a similar way, …did no go somewhere means one place was not visited, implying that others were; whereas anywhere would mean all possible places were unvisited.

Other words that are often (but not always) replaced in negative statements include also → not either, too (= also) → not either, still → no longer and already → not yet. Consider this:

(f) “Some” cannot often accompany a negative and “too” cannot either.

Either is necessary here instead of too or also.

Not either statements like the above can usually be rephrased as two sentences. There are two ways of wording the second sentence. The simplest is to replace and with a full stop. Very often, however, English speakers will change not either into a starting Neither…. This necessitates a further change: positioning the verb before its subject: Neither can “too” above (see 307. Word Order Variations, #3).

As well as words that are not very likely in negative statements, there are some that are especially likely there. Ever used with a negative verb to mean “at any time” (see 272. Uses of “Ever”, #1), is likely with positive verbs to be replaced by a time-point adverb like before, once or sometimes. Long with not + verb frequently becomes for a long time without it. Much frequently becomes often or plenty (see 98. “Very”, “Much and “Very Much”, #1). Note, though, that long and much can remain unchanged with positive LIKE (…much likes them, …has long liked it) and similar-meaning verbs (ADMIRE, APPRECIATE, ENJOY, LOVE, WANT, DISLIKE).

.

8. Modified Reported Speech

Negative verbs like DENY and REFUSE (#4 above) are not the only reporting verbs that transfer negation from a reported statement to themselves. Other verbs of this kind, however, locate the negative alongside themselves rather than within their very meaning, like this:

(g) Ling (2022, p. 46) does not think that inflation will persist.

Here, not negates will persist, not think. Other verbs like THINK include BELIEVE, EXPECT, FEEL, IMAGINE and SUPPOSE. They are all “thought” verbs. However, not all thought verbs are like them. Hoped not to…, for example, introduces a hope whereas did not hope to… does not. Other verbs like HOPE include ASSUME, DOUBT, JUDGE and KNOW.

There are, in addition, some non-reporting verbs that are usable like THINK, especially APPEAR and SEEM.

.

9. Added Emphasizers

Negative expressions can be made stronger with special wording before or after them:

(h) Petrov is NOT in any way criticising the theory.

Different negative types require different emphasizers. Common combinations are as follows (* = needs intervening words; + = forbids intervening words):

AT ALL: after barely, few, hardly, little, *neither, never, *no, no-, +none, *nor, not, rarely, scarcely, seldom, without

AT ANY TIME: after barely, hardly, neither, never, *no, no-, +none, nor, not, rarely, scarcely, seldom, without

BY ANY MEANS: after neither, nor, not

DEFINITELY: before no, no-, none, not, without

EVER: after barely, hardly, scarcely, *nor, not

IN ANY WAY: after neither, never, nor, not, without

UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES: after neither, never, *no, no-, +none, nor, not

VERY: before +few, +little, +rarely, +scarcely, +seldom

WHATSOEVER: after few, little, *no, no-, +none, *nor, not, *without

304. Adjectives Made from a Verb

.

Some English adjectives are made by changing a verb spelling

WORDS MADE FROM OTHER WORDS

A word can be said to be “made from” another word if it is clearly linked in meaning and most of its letters are the same but added to at the start or end. For example, the adjective microscopic could be described as made from the noun microscope, and the noun brilliance could be viewed as made from the adjective brilliant (see 255. Nouns Made from Adjectives).

English has numerous words made from other words. Already in this blog, there have been the above-mentioned post about adjectives, a similar one about nouns made from verbs (249. Action Noun Endings), and one about the variety of word endings in general (172. Multi-Use Suffixes). I believe this kind of study to be valuable in language learning for vocabulary development. English language coursebooks tend to approach it under the heading of “word families”.

Like the two noun types in previous Guinlist posts, adjectives made from verbs are numerous and characterised by a variety of endings. Presenting these endings along with a sizeable sample of their associated adjectives seems to be a worthwhile means of both helping new words to be learned and dealing with unfamiliar words during reading and writing (see 177. How to Guess Meanings in a Text).

.

RECOGNISING ADJECTIVES MADE FROM VERBS

Before the main discussion, it is useful to consider some problems that arise in the identification of adjectives made from verbs. One matter that is easily resolved is which of the various possible spellings of a verb – for example with or without -s – should be considered. The normal practice, also followed here, is to ignore special verb endings and just concentrate on the “base” form.

One recognition problem is adjectives spelt exactly the same as the base form of their related verb, such as clean, open and welcome (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives, #3). I suspect that some of these started out as verbs and started later to be used as adjectives as well, but others developed in reverse. With there seeming to be no clear indication of which usage is more “basic”, I include adjectives of this kind in the discussion below.

Another problem is adjectives that could as conceivably be made from a noun as from a verb. One type – illustrated by hopeful, panicky and photographic – is related to a noun and verb with identical spellings (hope, panic and photograph). I prefer to exclude such adjectives as derived from a verb because their endings are more typical of adjectives made from nouns (for numerous other -ful examples, see 106. Word-Like Suffixes).

A different adjective type is related to a noun and a verb that each has its own spelling, such as responsive (verb = RESPOND, noun = response). I do not exclude such adjectives, as there is no proof that they are related to the verb via the noun rather than directly.

.

ENDINGS OF VERB-DERIVED ADJECTIVES

1. “Zero” Endings

Adjectives spelled exactly like a related verb are surprisingly numerous. Some are “homonyms”, with unchanged pronunciation; some are “homographs”, pronounced differently (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs).

Common examples are absent, average, clean, clear, complete, content, corrupt, direct, dirty, double, empty, equal, hurt, level, lower, manifest, narrow, near, open, perfect, slow, suspect, total and welcome. The adjective present (opposite of absent) is excluded here because it lacks a meaning link with the verb PRESENT. The verb ABSENT normally needs a -self word as object (see 268. Types of “-self” Object, #5).

In addition, there are some longer adjectives – mostly homographs – that are spelt with -ate, e.g. animate, articulate, consummate, degenerate, deliberate, duplicate, prostrate and subordinate (see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #4).

Adjectives spelled the same as a verb are usually very similar in meaning to the verb’s “past” participle (with -ed or irregular equivalent). Often, the difference is that the adjective implies nothing about when its meaning began to be true of its partner noun, whereas a participle implies that this happened recently. For multiple examples, see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning.

Adjectives and verbs with the same spelling are easy to confuse grammatically. Care is especially needed in combinations with BE (see 140. Words with Unexpected Grammar 2, #f, and 231. Confusions of Similar Structures 3, #4).

.

2. “-ive”

This common ending very often combines with verbs ending in either -d(e), t(e) or -ss (exceptions in the list below are underlined). The -d(e) verb ending tends to become -s- (e.g. conclude-conclusive):

acquisitive, active, affirmative, assertive, attractive, attentive, collective, comparative, competitive, comprehensive, compulsive, conclusive, connective, corrosive, creative, cumulative, deceptive, decisive, deductive, demonstrative, descriptive, destructive, dismissive, distinctive, divisive, effective, erosive, exclusive, excessive, expansive, expensive, expressive, extensive, imaginative, impressive, impulsive, inclusive, indicative, instructive, manipulative, negative, operative, permissive, persuasive, possessive, predictive, prescriptive, productive, progressive, reactive, receptive, reflective, relative, repetitive, responsive, restrictive, retentive, speculative, subversive, successive, suggestive, supportive.

Note how cumulative drops the initial ac- of its related verb ACCUMULATE, while affirmative, imaginative, competitive and repetitive add an extra syllable. For more about vowel changes (destroy-destructive, impel- impulsive, receive-receptive), see 41. Unexpected Vowels in Derived Words.

Despite the size of the above list, it should not be thought that all –ive adjectives are made from a verb. Examples that are not are defective, festive, massive and qualitative.

.

3. “-ing” and “-ed”

Most people would probably associate these endings more with verbs than adjectives. However, many words made by combining a verb with -ing or -ed (or an “irregular” equivalent of -ed, as in begun, made and risen) can actually be an adjective rather than a verb. On verbs, these endings make participles, which are adjective-like and hence difficult to distinguish from adjectives. Nevertheless, adjectives made with -ing or -ed are not the same as participles (see 245. Adjectives with a Participle Ending).

Familiar -ing/-ed adjectives include caring, interesting, moving (= emotion-stirring), terrifying, advanced, determined, lost and surprised. For more examples, see the above post, plus 98. “Very”, “Much” and “Very Much”.

.

4. “-ible” and “-able”

Adding one of these endings to a verb usually creates an adjective that means “able to be -ed” (see 270. Paraphrasing Adjectives with Words of Other Kinds, #4). The equivalence to the passive meaning of the verb makes such adjectives a useful means of avoiding undesirable passive verb uses (see 27. How to Avoid Passive Verbs). Equivalence to the negative form of the verb is usually shown with a starting in- or –un-.

It is actually -able that is the more usual addition to a verb. Common adjectives with it include (un)acceptable, adaptable, (in)advisable, (dis)agreeable, appreciable, (un)approachable, (un)available, (un)believable, classifiable, (in)comparable, (in)conceivable, debatable, (un)deniable, dependable, (un)desirable, (in)dispensable, (un)endurable, (in)excusable, (un)imaginable, (un)knowable, laughable, likeable, (un)mentionable, (im)movable, notable, (un)observable, (im)passable, (un)profitable, (un)questionable, readable, (un)recognizable, (un)reliable, (ir)replaceable, (un)suitable, (un)thinkable, understandable, (un)usable and (in)valuable.

The relatively few -ible adjectives made from an English verb include (in)accessible, (in)digestible, (in)discernible, (in)divisible, (in)exhaustible, negligible, (in)omissible, (ir)responsible and suggestible. There are various other -ible words that are not made from an English verb, such as (in)credible, (in)edible, (in)eligible, (in)fallible, feasible, horrible, (un)intelligible, (il)legible, plausible, sensible and (in)visible.

Even a few -able words have no related verb, for example inevitable, knowledgeable, probable, viable and vulnerable.

.

5. “-ant” and “-ent”

Common verb-derived adjectives under these headings are:

-ant: abundant, defiant, dependant, dominant, expectant, hesitant, observant, reliant, resistant, resultant, significant, stagnant, tolerant, vibrant

-ent: competent, convergent, dependent, deterrent, different, divergent, emergent, existent, indulgent, insistent, recurrent, reminiscent, resident

Some of these are an active equivalent of a passive -able/-ible adjective (cp. observant/ observable, reliant/ reliable and tolerant/ tolerable). The pronunciation of -ant and -ent is the same (with /ə/), so that the wrong spelling is quite easy to choose (see 188. Causes of Common Spelling  Mistakes, #3). Note, however, the spelling choice with dependant/ dependent.

In addition, there are numerous adjectives, especially with -ent, that have no related verb. Brilliant and recent are examples; for more, see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #5 and #6.

.

6. “-tory”

This ending is found fairly equally on nouns and adjectives (see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #9). Common adjectives include:

anticipatory, articulatory, combinatory, confirmatory, discriminatory, explanatory, exploratory, expository, inflammatory, introductory, mandatory, migratory, participatory, preparatory, regulatory, respiratory, satisfactory, transitory

Also worth noting are sensory, (-ory instead of -tory) and auditory (with no related verb).

.

6. “-ic”

Fewer verb-derived adjectives seem to have this ending. The following equivalences are notable:

ANALYSE: analytic
APOLOGISE: apologetic
DIAGNOSE: diagnostic
EMPHASISE: emphatic
PHOTOGRAPH: photographic
PROPHESY: prophetic(al)
SYNTHESISE: synthetic
HORRIFY: horrific (or horrifying)
SPECIFY: specific

All of these adjectives except the last two are of Greek origin (see 90. The Greek Impact on English Vocabulary, #2). Also notable is the non-Greek terrific. It is one of two adjectives related to TERRIFY, the other being terrifying (see #3 above). It can be considered the more weakly-related because its meaning (“wonderful”) is more distant from that the verb (see 284. Words with a Surprising Meaning, #4).

.

7. Other

The verbs INFECT, PRESUME, REBEL and SUSPECT have related adjectives with -ous (infectious, presumptuous, rebellious, suspicious) – an ending more typical of adjectives without a corresponding verb (such as superfluous), and of noun-derived adjectives, such as dangerous (see the end of 255. Nouns Made from Adjectives). SUSPECT has two derived adjectives, the other being suspect (see #1 above).

CONCEIVE, DEFINE (= clearly fix) and MULTIPLY have the adjectives conceptual, definite and multiple.

Of the numerous verbs that have no corresponding adjective, some compensate by having a preposition phrase instead. For example, DENY corresponds to in denial, while ENDANGER has in danger for short-term danger (endangered being more long-term). Other correspondences include:

BEGIN: at the beginning (= alternative to the participle beginning)
BE EXAMINED: under examination
CONCERN (= worry): of concern (= active alternative to passive concerned)
DISPUTE: in dispute (= active alternative to passive disputed)
PROGRESS: in progress (progressive = modernising)
REACH: within reach (= alternative to reachable)
SET OUT: at the outset
TRANSIT: in transit (transitory = temporary)

Care is needed with preposition phrases not to confuse their adjective use (after the noun they are describing) with adverbial ones (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #2).

302. Verbs with a Partner Infinitive

.

Verbs that can link with a following “to” verb are grammatically quite varied

THE PROBLEM OF PARTNER INFINITIVES

Every English verb allows a limited choice of grammatical possibilities after its active form. The possibilities of an individual verb will sometimes match those of another verb, but often will not. The total number of possibilities across the full range of verbs is at least 12 (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive). No verb has all of them, and most have far fewer.

A grammatical possibility that is possessed by relatively many active verbs is a directly-following non-purpose to (infinitive) verb. This “partner” verb must be a non-purpose one because purpose infinitives, as in works to survive, are not a verb-dependent possibility – they can follow practically any verb as an adverbial component of the sentence as a whole.

Some verbs that allow a partner infinitive, such as NEED, PROMISE and SEEM, are easy to identify because they are so familiar. However, many others are not so obvious. The problem is that verbs with another verb after them often require it to have a different form than a simple infinitive – and discovering which verbs require which form is not easy. After the active form of ENJOY, for example, partner verbs need -ing (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #b), while ENABLE requires a noun in front of any following infinitive.

It is this problem of identifying verbs allowing a partner infinitive that I wish to consider here. Because there seems to be no single characteristic of these verbs that might ensure their recognition, listing as many of them as possible seems worthwhile. However, to make the reading of such a list less onerous, I also offer a classification of it into some rather interesting subgroups.

.

FEATURES OF PARTNER INFINITIVES

Partner infinitives need to be distinguished from various other post-verb infinitives besides purpose-naming ones. These include (i) infinitives separated from the verb by its object (e.g. enables someone to act); (ii) infinitives that identify or specify the subject of a verb like BE or MEAN (e.g. To see means to believe); (iii) infinitives corresponding to an it subject of their verb (e. g. It helps to exercise); and (iv) infinitives after a passive verb (e.g. were seen to prosper).

Verbs that need a noun (or equivalent) between themselves and a following infinitive are considered in this blog in 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive.

Infinitives that identify after BE – #(ii) above – are of numerous kinds (see 119. BE before a “to” Verb). However, they do not comprise every infinitive after BE. Two types that perhaps qualify as partner infinitives of BE express arrangement and destiny in the past (#4 and #10 in the above post), respectively illustrated as follows:

(a) A meeting of finance ministers is to be held in Brussels.

(b) Alexander was to die soon after.

In both cases, going could be added before the infinitive.

In sentences like It helps to exercise – #(iii) above – the infinitive to exercise equates to it, the subject of helps (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”), so is not linked to the main verb in a relevant way. This kind of infinitive use requires the verb just before it to be “intransitive” – usable without an object noun or similar after its active form. Other verbs like helps include hurts, pays and suffices.

The exclusion of infinitives after passive verbs – #(iv) above – is simply because this post is about active verbs that allow a partner infinitive. Moreover, it is noticeable that many passive verbs are derived from active ones that, like ENABLE in # (i) above, need a noun before any following infinitive (see 299. Infinitives after a Passive Verb).

.

TYPES OF PARTNER INFINITIVE

Partner infinitives do not all relate in the same way to the verb before them. The relation depends on the preceding verb’s wider grammatical properties. The main relation types are as follows.

1. Object-like

In the combination promised to act, the infinitive to act names a promised behaviour, just as would an object noun like assistance or payment. The object-like nature of to act is further shown by the fact that its meaning is equally well expressed by its related “action noun” action (see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”, #2).

Common verbs after which an infinitive is object-like are ACCEPT, ARRANGE, ATTEMPT, CEASE, CLAIM, DECLINE (= refuse), DEMAND, DESERVE, DESIRE, DETERMINE (= decide), ELECT (= choose), EXPECT, HAVE, HELP, KNOW, LEARN, MEAN (= intend), NEED, PLAN, PLEDGE, PREPARE, PROFESS, PROMISE, PROPOSE (= plan), SEEK, THREATEN, UNDERTAKE, WANT, WISH (= desire) and WOULD LIKE. See also the special verbs listed in #2 and #5 below.

With some of these verbs, the objects that an infinitive can replace are restricted. Almost the only possible noun object after MEAN (= intend) is business, a figurative way of indicating determined action (see 241. Some Common Figurative Phrases, #2).

Infinitives after ACCEPT are rare. The most common ways of adding a verb after it are with -ing (representing an existing situation) or that… (representing a past, present or future one). Infinitives only represent accepted futures, but English often prefers to express those with AGREE instead of ACCEPT.

KNOW to… is different from KNOW HOW to…, indicating knowledge of a necessary action, rather than the way to perform it (see 309. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 5, #6). LEARN allows the same contrast.

EXCLUDED VERBS

There are some verbs whose absence above may surprise:

STOP and FINISH (unlike CEASE) combine only with purpose infinitives (see 250. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar 1, #2).

REQUIRE is not a recommended substitute for NEED before a partner infinitive (see 292. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar 2, #5).

TRY (unlike ATTEMPT) cannot paraphrase a following infinitive with a noun: a following noun gives it the different meaning of “select as a strategy” instead of “attempt”. As a result, TRY meaning “attempt” is classified under #4 below.

FAIL perhaps fits better under #4 too because its “not do” meaning before an infinitive often becomes “do unsuccessfully” before an object noun (see 314. Words with Complicated Grammar 4, #2).

REFUSE is similar: its pre-infinitive meaning “choose not to comply” becomes “choose not to receive” before a noun.

ALLOW, ENABLE, PERMIT and other cause verbs, plus FORBID, always need a noun before any following infinitive (see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”, #1).

LOOK FORWARD has the preposition to after it, not the to of infinitive verbs. Like all prepositions, this to requires any following verb to have -ing (see 35. Words followed by “to -ing”).

ANTICIPATE and ENVISAGE differ from their synonym EXPECT in requiring -ing instead of to with any directly-following verb, just as they do when there is a noun before a following infinitive (see 242. Words with Unexpected Grammar 3, #d).

GUARANTEE, unlike PLEDGE, PROMISE, UNDERTAKE and VOW, has to be passive for any following verb to need the infinitive form. After its active form, a that construction is the only possibility (see 281. Words with Unexpected Grammar 4, #f).

Other verbs whose partner verb cannot have the infinitive form include AVOID, ENDURE, ENJOY, DENY, KEEP, PROHIBIT, RECOMMEND and REJECT.

.

2. Object-like with an “-ing” Alternative

A few verbs that allow an object-like partner infinitive also allow a partner -ing verb (a “gerund”), usually with changed meaning. Typical is LIKE:

(e) Children like to learn (or learning) through play.

An infinitive after LIKE focuses on its action as a whole, whereas a gerund focuses on the experience of it happening. This is the same contrast that is possible after certain verbs used before an object + infinitive (see 232. Verbs with an Object + “-ing”, #3). Indeed, some of the verbs are the same.

Other verbs that allow the same kind of following to and -ing choice include DISLIKE, HATE and LOVE (but not APPRECIATE. ENJOY, WELCOME, DETEST and LOATH, which all require -ing), plus BEGIN, CEASE, CONTINUE and START.

After FORGET and REMEMBER, to shows a future action, -ing a past one.

After FEAR and PREFER, to indicates a specific-time action, -ing one at any time.

CHOOSE to means “decide” but CHOOSE -ing means “select”.

After NEGLECT and OMIT, to suggests failure, ing choice.

REGRET to expresses pain about saying something. The to verb is usually a speech one like to announce, to inform you or to say (see 238. Using a Verb to Perform its Action). REGRET -ing expresses unhappiness about previous personal behaviour.

.

3. Complement-like

Complements are nouns or adjectives that are shown by a suitable verb to be identifying or describing the meaning of a noun before them (see 220. Features of Complements). The verb SEEM is a typical complement-taking verb

(c) Wealth seems desirable.

Here, desirable is an adjective complement describing the earlier noun wealth.

Partner infinitives can act like a complement of some but not all complement-taking verbs. In (c), for example, desirable could be replaced by to change people. The main verbs like SEEM are APPEAR, BE, GROW, LOOK, PROVE, SEEM and SOUND. As mentioned above, only some infinitives after BE can be its “partner”, namely those expressing an arrangement or destiny in the past, as in sentences (a) and (b).

.

4. Adverb-like

This description applies to partner infinitives whose preceding verb allows neither an object nor a complement, as in this HOPE example:

(d)  Scott hoped to reach the South Pole first.

A partner infinitive of HOPE specifies the hope. Although this can also be done with a noun after for (e.g. hoped for success), the for implies the prepositional verb HOPE FOR, not the intransitive verb HOPE.

Some other verbs that allow an adverb-like partner infinitive similarly allow a preposition + noun instead. In the following list, their preposition is given alongside: AGREE (= cooperatively decide) (on), AIM (at), ASK (for), BEG (for), COME, DARE, DECIDE (on), FAIL (= not do), HAPPEN (= be influenced by chance), HOPE (for), INTEND, OPT (for), LONG (for), PLEAD (for), PRAY, PREPARE (for), REFUSE (= not co-operate), STRUGGLE (for), TRY (= attempt), WAIT (for), WISH (= desire), WISH (for = state a wish to make it happen), VOW and YEARN (for).

For details of COME + infinitive, see 290. Ways of Using COME, #16. For advice on REFUSE, see 279. Grammatical Differences between Citation Verbs, #6.

.

5. In Idiomatic Combinations

Occasionally, an infinitive gives a special meaning to a familiar preceding verb. One such verb is going (see 176. Ways of Using “Go”, #7). Another is SAY:

(f) Doctors say to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Say here reports not just speaking, but speaking of a particular kind: advising (see 187. Advising and Recommending). The infinitive is paraphrasable with that…should…. Elsewhere, SAY might report commanding (= that…must…).

Similarly, THINK to… means not just “think of” (= “conceive”) but also “consider carrying out the conceived action”. The infinitive is paraphrasable with that…might….

LOOK to… can mean either “appear” (cf. #3 above) or “seek”. MAKE to means “initiate -ing without continuing” (see 141. Ways of Using MAKE, #8). REMAIN mostly appears in the fixed expression remains to be seen (= is not established).

300. Adjective Indicators of Indirect Speech

.

Indirect speech can often be indicated with an adjective instead of a verb or noun

THE VARIABILITY OF INDIRECT SPEECH

Indirect speech rarely occupies a sentence by itself. Usually, its status as indirect speech will be indicated by an accompanying word expressing some kind of speaking or thinking (see 127. When to Use Indirect Speech).

The commonest type of such word is a verb (e.g. Experts agree …; We believe…), but there are other possibilities too. Nouns are common, reflecting the frequent ability of verbs in general to be paraphrased with a noun (see 287. Speech and Thought Nouns). Less common, but still worth knowing about, are adjectives. Here I wish to show how adjectives can indicate indirect speech and which ones are available.

.

A SPECIAL FORM OF INDIRECT SPEECH

First, however, I wish to highlight a kind of indirect speech that is rarely mentioned in standard descriptions. Consider this example of the commonly-mentioned kind:

(a) Galileo believed (that) the earth circled the sun.

Here, an indirect statement (underlined) is linked by that to a thought verb believed. Even if that was not visible in the sentence, its presence would still be understood. It is necessary because the indirect statement also contains a verb (moved), the rule being that two verbs cannot exist in the same sentence unless accompanied by a “joining” device (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). That here is a joining device of the conjunction kind (see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”, #1).

Other joining devices are found with other kinds of indirect speech. Common ones are question words (whether, why, who etc.) in indirect questions, and special verb forms within the indirect speech that remove the need for any separate joining word, such as -ing after MENTION + noun (…mentions water dripping…) and to infinitives after command verbs like TELL + noun (…told everyone to…). Like that, these are all commonly-described features of indirect speech (see 279. Grammatical Differences between Citation Verbs).

Yet not all indirect speech contains a verb. Indirect statements after some speech verbs – CRITICISE, DEFINE, DISMISS and DESCRIBE, for example – have as instead of BE:

(b) Jones dismisses the project as unnecessary.

A few verbs, such as CALL, even disallow as (…calls the project unnecessary above: see 92. Verbs with an Object + “as”).

In some other cases, verb-less indirect speech follows a preposition. For example, …believed that the earth moved… in sentence (a) above could be paraphrased as …believed in the movement of the earth…. Changing that to in becomes necessary when a verb like moved is replaced by its equivalent noun movement. The preposition has to be in because that is the “typical” one after BELIEVE (see 111. Words with a Typical Preposition).

Replacing an indirect-speech verb with a noun like this, however, is probably not the primary use of prepositions before indirect speech. Instead, what they seem particularly suited to is enabling abbreviation of indirect speech down to just one of its nouns. Consider this indirect question:

(c) Many asked when the project would begin.

A possible abbreviation here would be just the noun the project. To link this with asked, the preposition about would be needed (…asked about the project). Other verbs like ASK (about) include ARGUE (about/ for/ against), ASSURE SOMEONE (of), KNOW (about), PRAY (for), SPEAK (about) (equating to SAY THAT) and WARN (about).

However, the majority of verbs before a lone indirect speech noun do not need a facilitating preposition – it is mainly speech / thought nouns and adjectives that do. Most verbs simply have the noun as their object. For example, an abbreviation of sentence (b) above would be …dismisses the project. Other verbs like DISMISS include CLARIFY, CONSIDER, CRITICISE, EXPLAIN and ILLUSTRATE.

A few verbs allow no abbreviation at all of indirect speech. Common ones are CLAIM (= assert), SAY and THINK (= believe).

.

IDENTIFYING SPEECH AND THOUGHT ADJECTIVES

Some adjectives are more easily classified than others as introducers of indirect speech. The most obvious ones imply communication in their meaning. For example, agreed (derived from the speech verb AGREE), divided and unanimous imply multiple people talking to each other about the associated idea, while insistent (derived from INSIST), unequivocal (= explicit or unambiguous) and non-committal (= avoiding definiteness) all indicate a manner of communication.

It may seem surprising that agreed and divided are included in the adjective examples above given that they are often considered to be the verb forms known as participles. However, it is quite common for many English participle forms to be used slightly differently as adjectives. For advice on recognising their adjective usage, see 245. Adjectives with a Participle Ending.

Thought adjectives are harder to recognise as introducing indirect speech because, of course, they can describe unspoken thoughts as well as spoken ones. It can help to recognise sub-categories. The most likely kind to introduce indirect speech is perhaps what I call “fact-related”: adjectives like aware, certain, convinced, dismissive and doubtful. Slightly less likely, perhaps, are ”will” adjectives, such as adamant, interested, keen and willing. Least likely are probably “emotion” adjectives, such as frustrated, happy, satisfied, surprised and upset (see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it, #2).

With all thought adjectives, the absence of a speech clue within their meaning is often compensated for by an external one, such as a source reference:

(d) Chung (2021, p. 54) is certain/frustrated that handwriting will become a lost art.

The academic reference after Chung here makes it clear that a feeling was expressed in a statement of which the end of the sentence must be an indirect form.

Other examples of indirect speech introduced by an adjective are:

(e) Einstein was unsure (about) why weight changes in elevators.

(f) I am aware that change is necessary.

The indirect speech in (e) here is a reported question, while that in (f) is a non-reported statement.

.

USING SPEECH & THOUGHT ADJECTIVES

Like all adjectives, speech / thought ones usually describe a noun – typically one naming the source of the indirect speech being expressed. They cannot go directly before this noun; most follow it with a link verb like BE in between, as in sentence (d), but a few occupy an alternative adjective position (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives, #2).

Like verbs and nouns of speech and thought, adjectives do not all link in the same way with indirect speech. The main possibilities and common adjectives associated with each are as follows.

1. With that or a Preposition

This is a property of certain (= convinced) in (d) above. To be classified as usable with that, an adjective must allow it more widely than just in sentences starting it is… (see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it, “Expansion with that”).

Possible prepositions after certain are about and of (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #2). Each may introduce either a complete indirect statement (containing an -ing verb) or an abbreviated one comprising just a noun, e.g. …about handwriting in (d).

About is the main or only possible preposition with many but not all adjectives that also allow that…. The possibilities are:

ABOUT
adamant, clear (= not confused), correct, definite, doubtful (= doubting), explicit (= plain), optimistic, perplexed, persuasive, positive (= convinced), puzzled, sceptical, sympathetic, unambiguous, unanimous, unequivocal, vociferous

ABOUT OR ANOTHER PREPOSITION
agreed (on), certain (of), confident (of), convinced (of), hopeful (of), sure (of), suspicious (of), uncompromising (on)

ANOTHER PREPOSITION
afraid (of), (un)aware (of), agreeable (to), desirous (of), insistent (on), proud (of), thankful (for)

After certain and hopeful, of and about usually express slightly different meanings. Certain of X indicates certainty that X exists, while certain about X may indicate certainty relating to some aspect of X, taking X’s existence for granted. This is the same contrast that of / about expresses after nouns like knowledge and news (see 134. Words with a Variable Preposition, #2).

After adamant and insistent (plus desperate, determined, eager, keen and willing), a future-referring that statement may contain a verb in the “subjunctive” form (see 269. Exotic Grammar Structures 7, #7).

Most of the above adjectives can precede indirect questions as well as statements, but still usually need their preposition, e.g. certain about why… (see 219. Wording next to Indirect Questions, #3). After doubtful and sceptical, the difference between that… and about whether… is unusually small (see 217. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 1, #7).

.

2. Only with a Preposition

Adjectives that link in this way can again introduce indirect questions as well as statements. They rarely allow a choice of prepositions. Common ones are:

ABOUT
ambiguous, curious, eloquent (also on), helpful (also on), ignorant (also of), inquisitive, non-committal (also on), relaxed, vague

OF
accepting, appreciative, critical, demanding dismissive, indicative, questioning, suggestive, (un)supportive

TO
attracted, opposed, resigned, sympathetic

OTHER
baffled by, bewildered by, divided over, eloquent on (also about), familiar with, intent on, interested in, interesting on

Note that curious sometimes replaces about with to discover, to know, to see or similar.

.

3. With that or a to Verb

An adjective of this kind is keen:

(f) Gomez (2019, p. 5) is keen that nothing changes.

Keen can be followed by that here because the subject of the later verb changes (= nothing) is different from the subject of is (= Gomez). The infinitive form to change would also be possible in this situation, provided that is replaced by for (…keen for nothing to change).

By contrast, if the two verb subjects are the same, keen normally needs a directly-following infinitive:

(g) Gomez (2019, p. 5) is keen to keep things unchanged.

A further particular property of keen is ability to replace both that and to with the preposition on: keen on nothing changing in (f) and keen on keeping… in (g).

Other adjectives like keen (possible prepositions shown in brackets) include desperate (for), determined, eager (for), happy (with, about), impatient (for), reluctant (about) and (un)willing (see 83. Adjectives before a “to” Verb, #2).

.

4. With Just a Question Word

The normal requirement for a preposition between an adjective and an indirect question (see #1 above) disappears when the adjective follows it is:

(h) It is interesting where insects go in winter.

In sentences like this, the adjective describes the indirect speech rather than the speaker, and the question is not a reported one. For further details, see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #8.

Where a question is reported as someone else’s, a few negative adjectives allow but do not compel the preposition to be dropped before it:

(d) Einstein was unsure (about / as to) why weight changes in elevators.

Similar adjectives include mystified, pessimistic, uncertain and unclear (= uncertain), plus their positive equivalents after not. The optional preposition is always about or as to, and always becomes compulsory if the question is abbreviated or its question word is paraphrased with a noun (e.g. unsure about the reason why… above).