Grammatical pattern: VERB + somebody/something + INFINITIVE
| example: | I | WANT | her | to see | a doctor. |
| She | ASKED | him | to pass | the salt. | |
| VERB | smby/smth | INFINITIVE |
In the sentence “She asked him to pass the salt,” the word “she” refers to the person doing the asking, and the word “him” refers to the person who will pass the salt (or will probably pass it). This type of pattern is similar to the pattern [VERB + INFINITIVE], but in this type of sentence, it is not the same person who does the first thing as does the second thing. This is an important and common pattern in English.
Verbs that commonly follow the pattern [VERB + somebody/something + INFINITIVE]
acknowledge, adjure, admonish, advise, allow, appoint, ask, authorize, bear, beckon, beg, bid, bug, bring, build, call, cause, challenge, command, compel, convince, dare, determine, direct, dispose, enable, encourage, expect, find, forbid, force, gesture, get, hate, have, help, hire, hound, incline, implore, instruct, intend, invite, lead, leave, let, like, love, mean, motion, motivate, need, know, oblige, order, pay, permit, persuade, pester, prefer, prepare, press, promise, remind, require, send, signal, subpoena, summon, teach, tell, tempt, train, trouble, urge, want, warn, wish, would like
Additional examples of the pattern [VERB + somebody/something + INFINITIVE]
Everyone acknowledges her to be an expert on this subject.
They want us to call when we arrive.
He told us to put the boxes down over there.
You led me to believe it was all true.
Her coach is preparing her to compete in the state championship.
I need you to stay here while I take him to the hospital.
The teacher reminded the students to bring in their permission forms for the field trip.