11. Right Forms of Verb

Chapter focus: infinitives, gerunds, participles, passives, and common exam errors.

How to study this lesson

Read the explanation first, then say the examples aloud. Change one detail in each example, such as the subject, time, or place. Complete the practice without looking back and use the answer key to understand the reason for each answer. Finish by writing two sentences about your own life or city.

“Right form of verb” means selecting the form that fits the subject, tense, auxiliary, voice, and pattern of the sentence. In IELTS, this skill appears in every productive answer and is especially visible in Task 1 descriptions.

A practical decision process

First, find the subject: The percentage of households has a singular head, percentage. Next, decide the time: present, past, or a period continuing to the present. Then decide whether the action is active or passive. Finally, check the verb pattern after the word before it.

Use to + base verb after verbs such as want, need, decide, plan, allow someone, and enable someone: The policy enables residents to recycle. Use -ing after prepositions and verbs such as avoid, consider, recommend, and suggest: The report recommends improving access. After suggest, do not write suggest to improve in standard academic usage; write suggest improving or suggest that the city improve.

Use the past participle after have: has increased, had fallen. Use the past participle after be in a passive: was measured, is expected. Use the present participle after be in a continuous form: is increasing, was changing.

Frequent errors

Do not add -s after a modal: can reduce, not can reduces. Do not use to after make in the active pattern: The policy made people change. In the passive, use to: People were made to change. After look forward to, to is a preposition: look forward to meeting you.

Practice

Correct the forms: (a) The graph show a gradual decline. (b) The report recommends to build more schools. (c) The equipment was install in 2020. (d) The policy has led to reduce waste.

Answers: (a) shows, (b) recommends building or recommends that the government build, (c) was installed, (d) has led to a reduction in waste or has led to reducing waste.

IELTS transfer task

Write a short four-sentence response about an IELTS topic such as education, health, transport, technology, or the environment. Use at least two examples of the target grammar from this chapter. Underline those examples, then check that every sentence has a clear subject, a correct verb, and a meaning that is easy to understand.

Deep lesson: select the form after the word before it

“Right form of verb” is not one isolated rule. Check five things: the subject, time, auxiliary, voice, and the pattern required by the previous word. The same verb may appear as work, works, worked, working, to work, or worked as a participle.

Pattern map

Twelve examples

1. The graph shows a trend.
2. The graph showed a trend.
3. The graph has shown a trend.
4. The trend is increasing.
5. The trend was measured monthly.
6. Governments should invest.
7. The policy aims to reduce waste.
8. The report recommends improving access.
9. The policy prevents people from driving.
10. The scheme allows residents to recycle.
11. The scheme made residents change habits.
12. Residents were made to change habits.

Bengali-speaker errors

Wrong: The report suggest to build schools. Right: The report suggests building schools or suggests that the government build schools. Wrong: The policy has lead to improvement. Right: has led. Wrong: By reduce waste, cities save money. Right: By reducing waste.

Practice

A. Complete: The study aims ___ (identify) the cause. Answer: to identify.

B. Complete: The study recommends ___ (increase) funding. Answer: increasing.

C. IELTS task: Write a process description using one -ing form after a preposition, one passive, one modal, and one perfect form.

Professor's explanation: how to think about this grammar

Do not begin by memorising a definition. Begin by asking three questions: What job does this form do? What meaning does it add? Where does it go in the sentence? Bengali and English often arrange information differently, so direct translation can create mistakes. Build the English pattern first, then attach your idea to it.

Bengali learner warning

Many Bengali speakers understand the meaning of an English sentence but omit a small grammar word because Bengali does not always need the same word. English normally needs a clear subject and a finite verb. For example, say The number of students is increasing, not Number of students increasing. Treat articles, auxiliary verbs, plural endings, and prepositions as part of the pattern, not as optional decoration.

Three-step study method

Step 1 — Notice: underline the target form in every example. Step 2 — Control: replace only one part of the example, such as the subject or time. Step 3 — Communicate: use the form in a short answer about education, health, transport, technology, or the environment. If you cannot explain why you chose the form, return to Step 1.

Practice ladder

Level 1: Recognition. Find the target form and name its job. Level 2: Controlled production. Complete or correct a sentence using the pattern. Level 3: IELTS production. Write a short paragraph or speak for one minute. At Level 3, clarity is more important than using many different forms.

Revision checklist

Before moving on, ask: Can I explain the form in one simple sentence? Can I make a positive, negative, and question form where relevant? Can I use it with a past and a present example? Can I recognise the most common Bengali-speaker error? Can I use it naturally in one IELTS answer?