English verbs can be followed by five main structures:

1. Verb + base form
• Managers must trust their staff, or they will fail to get the best out of them.
2. Verb + to + base form
   • The band intended to stay as a four piece and were looking for a replacement bassist.
   • Much of the evidence tells people things they simply do not want to hear.
3. Verb + -ing form
   • The seminars, which involve brainstorming and debating exercises, will develop students oral and presentation skills.
   • Only exceptional circumstances justify starting a claim in the High Court.
4. Verb + that clause
   • Even the top medical scientists now claim that a good chortle has an enormous effect on the way we live our lives.
   • In this paper we argue that intercultural competence is one of the main skills that students need to operate effectively in the information society.
5. Verb + wh- clause (who, where, what, when, which, whether, why and how)
   • Partners will then need to decide whether they should adopt a local strategy or include a wider geographical area.
   • We will also discuss how we intend to obtain some improvement over current anomaly detection systems.

Verb + base form (infinitive)

A verb can be can be followed by the base form (without to) or to + base form (also known as the infinitive). Consider:

• Researchers should try not to intervene in the processes they are observing. (should + base form without to; try + base form with to)

Common verbs which can be followed by an infinitive include:

Verb + -ing form

Common verbs which can be followed by an -ing form include:

In some cases, a verb may be followed by an infinitive or an -ing form. In some cases, there is no change in meaning:

• The financial deficit started to fall at the end of the financial period.
• The financial deficit started falling at the end of the financial period.

... in others, replacing the infinitive with the -ing form changes the meaning completely:

• The workers stopped to smoke in the car park. (paused work in order to smoke)
• The workers stopped smoking in the car park. (smoking was banned)

Verb + that/wh- clauses

A number of verbs can be followed by a subordinate clause (and a subordinating conjunction, such as that  or a wh- word). These verbs are often used to report what others have said, and are extremely common in academic writing. 

Common verbs that can be followed by a that or wh- clause include:

The list above is not exhaustive. There are other possible patterns, such as let students discover (verb + object + base form), or allow students to discover (verb + object + to + base form), or inform students that / whether the offer has been accepted (verb + object + that/wh- clauses).