Top Tips Grammar: Common verb + noun patterns

Main points

Examples are: ‘have a bath’; ‘give a shout’; ‘make promises’; ‘take care’.
Common verbs are often used with nouns to describe actions.
You use ‘have’ with nouns referring to eating, drinking, talking, ad washing.
You use ‘give’ with nouns referring to noises, hitting, and talking.
You use ‘make’ with nouns referring to talking plans, and travelling.

 

a) When you want to talk about actions, you often use common verbs with nouns as their object. The nouns describe the action. For example, if you say ‘I had a shower’, the noun tells you what the action was. The common verbs have very little meaning.

- I had a nice rest.
- She made a remark about the weather.

The nouns often have related verbs that do not take an object.

- Helen went upstairs to rest.
- I remarked that it would be better if I came.

 

b) Different verbs are used with different nouns. You use ‘have’ with nouns referring to:

Meals	: breakfast, dinner, drink, lunch, meal, taste, tea
Talking	: chat, conversation, discussion, talk
Washing	: bath, shower, wash
Relaxation	: break, holiday, rest
Disagreement	: argument, fight, quarrel, trouble

- We usually have lunch at one o’clock.
- He was having his first holiday for five years.

 

c) You use ‘give’ with nouns referring to:

Human noises	: cry, gasp, giggle, groan, laugh, scream, shout, sigh, whistle, yell
Facial Expressions	: grin, smile
Hitting	: bath, shower, wash
Talking	: kick, punch, push, slap
Disagreement	: advice, answer, example, information, interview, lecture, news, report, speech, talk, warning

- Mr Gongora gave a shout of triumph.
- She gave a long lecture about Roosevelt.

 

d) You use ‘make’ with nouns referring to:

Plans	: arrangement, choice, decision, plan
Travelling	: journey, tour, trip, visit
Talking and sounds	: comment, enquiry, noise, point, promise, remark, sound, speech, suggestion

- He made the shortest speech I’ve ever heard.
- In 1980 she made his first visit to Australia.

 

e) You use ‘take’ with these nouns:

care	decision	photograph	time
chance	interest	responsibility	trouble
charge	offence	risk	turns

- He was taking no chances.
- She was prepared to take great risks.

 

f) You use ‘go’ and ‘come’ with ‘-ing’ nouns referring to sports and outdoor activities.

- She goes climbing in her holidays.
- Every morning, he goes jogging with Tommy.

Note that you can also use ‘go for’ and ‘come for’ with ‘a jog’, ‘a run’, ‘a swim’, ‘a walk’.

- They went for a run before breakfast.

 

g) You use ’do’ with ‘-ing’ nouns referring to jobs connected with the home, and nouns referring generally to work.

- He wants to do the cooking.
- He does all the shopping and I do the washing.
- The man who did the job had ten years’ training.
- He has to get up early and do a hard day’s work.

‘Do’ is often used instead of more specific verbs. For example, you can say ‘Have you done your teeth?’ instead of ‘Have you brushed your teeth?’

- Do I need to do my hair?

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
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See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

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