In the English language, catenative verbs are verbs which can be followed within the same clause by another verb in either the to-infinitive or present participle / gerund

Gerund

In linguistics* As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb as a noun ....

 forms. An example appears in the sentence He deserves to win the cup, where "deserve" is a catenative verb which can be followed directly by another verb, in this case a to-infinitive construction.

Some catenative verbs are used in the passive voice

Passive voice

Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...

 followed by an infinitive: You are forbidden to smoke in here.

These verbs are called "catenative" because of their ability to form chains in catenative constructions. For example: We need to go to the tennis court to help Jim to get some practice before the game.

Form of the verb following the catenative verb

• Some catenative verbs are followed by a to-infinitive: "He agreed to work on Saturday"
• Some catenative verbs are followed by a gerund: "He admitted taking the money".

• Some catenative verbs are followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund, either with or without a difference in meaning between the two structures:
  • No difference in meaning:
    • It began to rain.
    • It began raining.
  • Difference in meaning:
    • I forgot to go to the shopping centre. (I wanted to go to the shopping centre but then didn't go.)
    • I forgot going to the shopping centre. (I cannot remember the experience of going.)
• Some catenative verbs may be followed either by a bare infinitive or by a to-infinitive:
  • I helped pack her bags.
  • I helped to pack her bags.
  • Go clean your room.
  • Go to clean your room.
• Some catenative verbs can be followed by either a bare infinitive or a gerund:
  • I saw her do that.
  • I saw her doing that.
• Some catenative verbs require the use of the bare infinitive for the second verb:
  • I let him have the car.
  • I made him do it.

Related terms

In other fields, Catenation

Catenation

Catenation is the ability of a chemical element to form a long chain-like structure via a series of covalent bonds. Catenation occurs most readily in carbon, which forms covalent bonds with other carbon atoms. Catenation is the reason for the presence of a large number of organic compounds in nature...

 and Concatenation (disambiguation)

Concatenation (disambiguation)

Concatenation may refer to:* Concatenation, a computer programming operation that joins strings together* Concatenation , a mathematical operation that combines two vectors...

refer to the joining of similar things in a series or chain.