Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring

Using verb patterns to represent desires and needs

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Introduction

There are four main types of verbs that represent our mental reactions to the world::

	verbs associated with our thoughts and beliefs, eg know, see, understand, believe;
	verbs associated with our perceptions, eg hear, see, smell, feel;
	verbs associated with particular attitudes we have, eg like, love, hate, loathe; and
	verbs associated with our desires and needs, eg want, expect, hope, need.

However, these four types should not be thought of as watertight categories, as there is some overlap with a number of verbs. For example, see can be used in two ways: metaphorically, to mean "understand" , in which case it would be grouped under thoughts and beliefs; and literally, to refer to the act of perceiving through sight , in which case it would be grouped under perceptions.

The verbs covered in this file can be divided into two categories: desires, eg want, would like, desire, aspire, dream, hope, wish; and needs, eg need, require, must have. However, for the most part, they will be treated as one group. This file focuses particularly on the grammatical patterns associated with such verbs.

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Introduction
Participants associated with desire verbs
Grammatical patterns associated with the phenomenon
Verb followed by the to-infinitive
Verb followed by a noun group
Verb followed by an object and the to-infinitive
Verb followed by the -ing form
Verb followed by an object and the -ing form
Verb followed by a that clause
Verb followed by an object and an adjective/-ed participle clause
Ellipsis with desire verbs
Present simple v present continuous tense