verbs followed by infinitive without to make let help English grammar
Hi, in today’s lesson we are going to learn about verbs that are followed by the infinitive without to,
sometimes known as the bare infinitive.
The first most important area when a verb
is followed by the infinitive without to is after modal verbs.
The modal verbs are: can, could, must, might, may, shall, should, will, would and needn’t.
Normally there are nine pure modal verbs, I have added needn’t here because it can
also be used as a modal verb in questions and in the negative.
For more videos on modal verbs, check out the link above now.
So, For example: You should do more exercise.
The modal verb here is should and is followed by the infinitive without to.
Or, I might leave soon.
Here the modal verb is might and it's followed by leave without to.
Or Jo needn’t come if he doesn’t want to.
Here the modal verb is needn’t followed by the verb come
and this is the infinitive without to.
It means that Jo doesn’t need to come;
he doesn’t have to come if he doesn't want to.
OK, so now let’s look at make and let.
Make and let are followed by the infinitive without to in the active voice
and they always have an object which goes before the infinitive without to.
So, for example, They made us wait while they checked our passports.
Not they made us to wait …that would be wrong.
One thing you need to remember about make is that this works for active sentences
In the passive make is followed by the infinitive with to.
So you would say,
I was made to do my homework.
Now let’s look at let.
Here’s an example of let followed by the infinitive without to.
Let the cake cool for 20 minutes before icing it.
So, here let is followed the object, “the cake” and the verb cool.
that's the infinitive of the verb to cool without the to.
OK, so now let’s look at the verb HELP.
Help can be followed by the infinitive with or without to.
So, for example, you could say,
We helped paint their house.
This is the infinitive without to,
or we helped to paint their house.
Both sentences are correct.
And you can use help with or without an object
For example: We helped them paint their house.
or we helped to paint their house.
Now let’s look at the verbs had better and would rather.
These verbs are also followed by the infinitive without to.
For example:
You'd better say sorry.
Or, I'd rather leave early as I am really tired.
And finally, after the following verbs, you can use either the gerund or the infinitive without to:
feel, hear, overhear, notice, see and watch.
Notice they are mainly to do with the senses.
When they are used with the gerund, that is the ing form of the verb
they emphasise the action or event in progress.
Whereas, when you use these verbs with an infinitive without to,
they emphasise the action or event seen as a whole or as completed.
So let’s compare these two sentences.
Firstly using the gerund, that's the -ing form of the verb.
She heard people shouting in the street below
and looked out of the window.
Remember the gerund emphasizes the shouting probably continued or repeated.
Whereas when you use the infinitive without to, here,
I heard someone shout ‘Help!’, so I ran to the river.
The infinitive without to emphasises the whole event,
the person probably only shouted once
Ok, so that’s it for today,
I hope you feel more confident in using verbs followed by the infinitive without to.
Remember to like this video if you found it useful.
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and don't forget to check out these videos here
one is on gerunds and infinitives in general
and the other is about gerunds and infinitives
with a change in meaning. When they are used differently they have a different meaning.
So a very important lesson.
So, that's it for now. Take care and see you really soon! Bye, bye!
verbs followed by infinitive without to make let help English grammar