We form catenative verbs by combining a main verb and one or more other main verbs. Thereby, forming a verb chain.
We combine catenative verbs with other verbs among one or more of these three verb forms: infinitive (bare and to-infinitive), -ing, or past participle.
How to Form Catenative Verbs
Catenative Verb + Main Verb 2
- In theory, there is really no limit to the number of catenative verbs in one chain.
2 verbs: The children like to try to feed the zoo animals.
3 verbs: He doesn’t want to have to go to the airport too early.
5 verbs: She decided to enroll to start learning to cook Mediterranean dishes.
Catenative Verb + Infinitive
- Combine the catenative verb and bare infinitives: hear (say/tell), help, let (go), make (do).
We hear tell that the department head had stepped down.
Please help clean up the garage.
In times of a crisis, make do of what you have.
- You can also put the catenative verb together with to-infinitives: afford, agree, aim, appear to, apply, arrange, ask, beg, care, choose, claim, condescend, consent, contract, contrive, dare, decide, decline, demand, deserve, determine, endeavor, expect, fail, happen to, help, hesitate, hope, long, manage, mean, offer, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, resolve, seek, seem to, strive, struggle, swear, threaten, undertake, volunteer, want, wish.
They didn’t agree to pay that much for the classes.
You seem to like surfing a lot.
The board of directors want to expand worldwide.
Catenative Verb + -ing
- We also combine catenative verbs with -ing verbs: be used to, (can) face, admit, advocate, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, can’t help, can’t stand, carry on, consider, contemplate, defer, deny, detest, dislike, enjoy, entail, escape, fancy, favor, finish, get used to, give up, go, imagine, insist on, involve, justify, keep on, look forward to, mention, mind, necessitate, object to, postpone, practice, put off, report, resent, risk, save, stop, suggest, tolerate.
They admitted using the organization’s funds on their personal trips.
You can’t practice speaking in public in this job.
She keeps on bothering her sister with the same question.
Catenative Verb + to-infinitive vs. -ing
- You can follow several catenative verbs with either to-infinitive or -ing (can’t bear, begin, bother, cease, continue, hate, intend, like, love, neglect, prefer, start) without really affecting their meanings in both sentences.
Did they bother to check it? = Did they bother checking it?
She loves to sew. = She loves sewing.
The fire started to engulf the entire house. = The fire started engulfing the entire house.
- There are times when combining catenative verbs with either to-infinitive or -ing (come, go on, need, regret, remember, propose, try) change their meanings completely.
Her parents came to love her chosen profession. (=Her parents gradually realized it is a good profession.) vs. The tires came tumbling down the hill. (The tires move in this direction.)
He remembered to send the letter to her. (=He remembered to do the action.) vs. He remembers sending the letter to her. (=He recalls doing the action.)
The police tried to pacify the riots, but to no avail. (=The police attempted to do the action.) vs. The police try soliciting information from the citizens. (=The police try to experiment with this approach to get information..)
Catenative Verb + Past Participle
- We usually combine get with a past participle verb.
She was so annoyed with him. She wanted him to get lost.
When am I going to get refunded?
Don’t get started with the party until we arrive, okay?
False Catenative Verbs
- In some cases, a verb chain does not automatically make a catenative.
Infinitive of Purpose: They stopped to buy some food.
Catenative: They wanted to buy some food.
Infinitive of Purpose: She stopped to talk to her colleague.
Catenative: She stopped talking to her colleague.