Contents

Common verbs that can be followed by infinitives
Common verbs that can be followed by bare infinitives
Common verbs that can be followed by object + infinitive
For-structure: for + object + infinitive
Common verbs that can be followed by gerund
Verb + object + -ing form
-ing form with passive meaning
-ing form or infinitive

Reflexive Pronouns

A.         When the subject and object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing, we use a reflexive pronoun as the object rather than a personal pronoun. Compare:

    She forced her to eat it. ('she' and 'her' refer to different people)

    She forced herself to eat it. ('she' and 'herself' refer to the same person)

The singular forms of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself; the plural forms are ourselves, yourselves, themselves. Some people use themselves (or themself) to refer to the subject of the sentence, to avoid saying whether the subject is male or female:

    It is a situation that no doctor wants to find themselves (or themself) in.

B.         We can use reflexive pronouns for emphasis. For example, after an intransitive verb to emphasize the subject; after the subject or object (when the verb is transitive) or after the verb (intransitive) to emphasize that something is done without help; and after a noun to emphasize that noun:

    We phoned the plumber and he came himself, (he didn't send his employees)

    I hope you like the ice cream - I made it myself, (nobody helped me)

    I was given this book by the author herself, (by her personally)

We use reflexive pronouns to emphasize that the subject caused a certain action. Compare:

    He got arrested.

    He got himself arrested. (= he did something to cause it)

We use reflexive pronouns with a meaning similar to 'also':

    John said he was feeling ill. I was feeling pretty bad myself.

C.         Some verbs are rarely or never used with a reflexive pronoun in English, but often are in other languages. These include complain, concentrate, get up/hot/tired, lie down, meet, relax, remember, sit down, wake up:

    She concentrated hard on getting the job finished, (not She concentrated herself...)

With some verbs we only use a reflexive pronoun when we want to emphasize particularly that the subject is doing the action. Compare:

    She quickly dressed and went down for breakfast, (rather than ...dressed herself...)

    He's recovering well from the accident and he is now able to dress himself.

Other verbs like this include shave, undress, wash, acclimatize, adapt, behave, hide, move.

D.         After a preposition of place or position we use a personal pronoun, not a reflexive pronoun:

    She put her bag next to her.

    Jim had the money with him.

After prepositions closely linked to their verbs we use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and object refer to the same thing:

    He came out of the interview looking pleased with himself, (not ...pleased with him.)

Other verb + prepositions like this include be ashamed of, believe in, care about, do with, hear about, look after, look at, take care of.

E.         Some verbs describe actions in which two or more people or things do the same thing to the other(s). We use each other or one another with these:

    We looked at each other / one another and started to laugh.

    Peter and Jenny met (each other) in 1992. ('each other' is often left out if the meaning is clear from the context)

Other verbs like this include attract, avoid, complement, embrace, face, fight, help, kiss, marry, meet, repel. With some verbs we have to use with before each other/one another:

    The scheme allows students from many countries to communicate with each other.

Other verbs like this include agree, coincide, collaborate, compete, contrast, co-operate, disagree, joke, mix, quarrel, talk.

Adopted from Advanced Grammar in Use