Kinds of information represented by double-verb structures

page 5 of 6

The first verb provides information about the way an action is carried out:

Eager speculators hurried to join the queue.

how it comes about, for example, by chance:

We happened to discover we had a friend in common. (Bank of English)

or how frequent it is:

Mothers in China also tended to breast-feed more than Hong Kong mothers. (SCMP 11/7/92)

Here is a list of verbs commonly used in double-verb structures of this type:

happen hesitate hurry tend venture

Note that the verb is always followed by the to-infinitive.

Introduction
Using double-verb structures to talk about "time"
Using double-verb structures to talk about "reality"
Using double-verb structures to talk about "effort"/"success"
Using double-verb structures to talk about "manner"
Teaching implications