Welcome to your VERB+ING or TO + VERB 2 lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• “Try”
• “Need”
• “Help”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
“Try”
“Try to + verb” means “attempt to + verb”. Have a look at these examples:
“I tried to fix the car, but I couldn’t.”
“I tried to finish the crossword, but it was too hard!”
“Try” can also mean “do something as an experiment”:
“Her cake is delicious, you should try it!“
“I’ve tried every restaurant in town.”
If you want to use “try” with this meaning, and put it with a verb, we use “try verb+ing”:
“If the phone isn’t turning on, you should try charging it!”
“If you think a marathon is hard, you should try competing in Ironman.”
Compare these two sentences:
“I tried to move the chair but it was too heavy.”
(so I didn’t move it)“I tried moving the chair, but I couldn’t find a good place for it.”
“Need”
“I need to do something” means “it is necessary for me to do it”:
“I need to fix the car.”
“We really need to move house.“
“Something needs doing” means “something needs to be done”:
“The lightbulb needs changing, can you do it?”
“I think my trousers need dry-cleaning.”
“Help”
You can say “help to do” or “help do”. They mean the same thing:
“I had to help clean the house this morning.”
“Could you help to make dinner please?“
“I can’t help verb+ing” means “I can’t stop myself doing something”:
“I can’t help feeling sorry for homeless people.”
“I’m sorry that I’m so sad. I can’t help it.”
(I can’t stop being sad)“There was too much chilli in the dinner, I couldn’t help coughing!”
